Three days and counting: the walk

Sometimes I wonder if the path ahead is just a dream. I’m curious to see if I’ll just be a character in a storybook and embark on a wild adventure to discover myself.

Once upon a time there was a young barista who spontaneously asked his father to accompany him on a dangerous journey through the evil forests of the West. Together, they navigated the forest and encountered venomous snakes, monstrous bears, the mythical Sasquatch, and the most dangerous predators of all: evil humans lurking in their vehicles, waiting to pick up their next backpacking victim.

It’s okay, it’s okay. Back to reality.

My next walk feels surreal. Even though I’m leaving in just a couple of days, it still doesn’t feel like the PCT is my reality. If you’ve ever played Mario Cart, then you’ll be familiar with the speed track that takes you up to 1000 miles per hour.

That’s been my life the last two weeks.

Am I nervous? People ask me this all the time. A restless energy bubbles inside me like a new can of soda. Every time I cross something off my to-do list, I feel a little less nervous as I prepare everything at home before I leave.

• finish the job
• Finish Crossfit
• oil change
• New visor
• Repack the backpack
• Print permissions

The list goes on. My mornings are filled with breakfast dates and my nights are even more filled with dinner dates to see all my favorite people one last time before I leave. These are the ones that have had a profound impact on my life in this six-year period in which I have been wandering.

In the last two weekends I have had two birthdays, a baby shower, a wedding, a funeral, and a last minute trip to the beach. Family has flooded my home, filling any quiet space with conversation and laughter. We had cousin Karolynne, who I met for the first time last week, Aunt Joy and Uncle Vinnie from Chicago, and my older brother and his new lady – as he calls her – from California.

My cousin and his now wife threw a beautiful wedding that brought my wonderful family together in front of a sparkling lake and goofy-eyed goats on the other side of the green pastures.

It was a windy, cloudy day with blue skies, the kind of weather suitable for a cozy book in which a storm is brewing before dark clouds dump buckets of rain on the characters, lightning illuminates the sky, and thunder booms.

There was no storm, but I loved the weather that hinted at it. could They have exploded into a perfect storm. My thoughts have been wandering into the fantastical spaces of my mind more frequently lately. The road ahead is so big that I retreat to the right side of my brain for solace.

Between family commitments and coffee with friends, I continue preparing everything that will go in my backpack.

I had been reluctant to take the time and set up my tent in the backyard, but it needed to be done. With Dad on FaceTime, a blazing sun blinded me as beads of sweat formed on my forehead. The mosquitoes were happy to have me as a guest while I struggled to open the store. I removed a multitude of small insects from my tripod that I had been using to hold Dad up to view the store. Every time I went to pitch my tent with my trekking pole, a stake would stubbornly stick out of the ground. Trekking pole down, stake back in, trekking pole up, a different stake would come out.

The sun was HOT and made me question the California heat index. It’s supposed to be a hot and dry year, so I’m praying we don’t run into any wildfire problems. If we do, that means we’ll have to jump hundreds of miles to avoid the fires.

That’s something that I definitely I don’t want to do So if you are a praying person, please pray that the wildfires will pass behind us. The miracle would be if they didn’t happen at all.

There are only a couple of things left on my to-do list, including decorating my hat with iron-on cat patches. I’ll need to get some food for my hike, buy Leuko tape, do laundry, and visit some more friends.

These next few days will fly by, but until the journey begins, I think I will spend time with those who bring me the most comfort:

My cats.

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