Knee-deep in nature.

Howdy all,
I graduated from college! I guess it's been coming for a while, but now it's official: no more classes, no more tests.

It's nice to know that I still exist in the minds and memories of people in Mount Vernon after being away. I saw my high school wrestling coach outside Haggen and my middle school baseball coach in Fred Meyer last week. Our wrestling team is going to have an alumni match this year against Burlington (cross-town rivals), and my coach seemed pretty bummed that I'll be in Alaska and unable to be on the MV team. That' something I would have liked to do; maybe next year.

Last week I spent four and a half days alone on the Pacific Crest Trail here in Washington's North Cascades. I hiked 75 miles north from Snoqualmie Pass to Stevens Pass. Getting away from everything is good now and then. It helps me put things back into perspective. All I have is the gear on my back, and my only concern is making it to my campsite in time to cook dinner before dark. The simple life.

I think I may have pushed it a little too far, though. I probably should have planned for a full five or six days of hiking. I wasn't moving as fast as I thought I would, and it took me 12.5 hours to hike 23 miles on Day Three. My feet had blisters starting on Day One that just got worse as the trip went on.

I had a dream my first night that something about the size of a cougar tore through the side of my tent and was standing over me. It was one of those dreams where you never fully fell asleep, so it's half-dream, half-delusion and when you wake up you're still not sure how much was real. If I hadn't been so tired I might have been spooked.

The real killer for me was climbing up switchbacks to the top of a ridge every morning, then down the other side and back up another ridge. The monotony started to wear me down. It's been a while since I've done the prolonged backpacking thing.

In the movie "Cool Hand Luke," there's this scene where the prison guards punish Paul Newman's character by making him dig a hole and then fill it back in, over and over. That's kind of what climbing and dropping felt like by the last day.
The trail showed me who was boss. Clouds came in and blocked the view, and I think I only kept walking because I was out of food and didn't really have any other options. I actually started to imagine a dialogue like in the movie, only between an exhausted me and the uncaring trail:

"Hey Jacob, what are you doing down in that valley?"

"I don't know, Boss."

"Well, you better get up on that next ridge."

"OK, Boss."

Then, 2 hours later: "Hey Jacob, what are you doing all the way up on this ridge?"

"Just trying to get out of that valley, Boss."

"Well, you better get back down into the NEXT valley."

"OK, I will, Boss."

And another 3 hours after that: "Hey Jacob."

"...yeah, Boss?"

"I thought I told you to get up out of that valley?"

And you can imagine the rest... it got to be a little too much by Day Five.

But overall it was a great trip, and I didn't have much else to do last week anyway. I got to navigate with my maps and plan my campsites every night.

And if any of you thinks a rosary takes a long time to pray, it only took up 1/20 of my hiking time each day. The rest of the time I was just thinking about life, pondering my mortality, cursing the bugs, fantasizing about Olive Garden soup, salad and breadsticks, wondering at God's will, singing entire Bruce Springsteen albums from memory.
You know, basically I did all the things we've all been meaning to do but just haven't found the time (or privacy) for, right?

I briefly met two "through hikers", which means they're guys who are hiking the whole Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada this year. They made it up from Mexico to Dalton Pass, I think, then took a break and started coming down from Canada to complete the last sections of the trail. I can't even imagine hiking it for seven months straight like they do.

I saw a ton of frogs, crickets, butterflies, marmots and even a family of deer one morning. It was really a great trip. I'm not sure why I did it, and I don't really think the photos make it worth it. I remember a lot of pain and frustration, but coming back from hiking trips like that is always kind of a rebirth. Everything looks a little different, and the changes aren't always the ones I expect. I should do it more often.

OK. That's everything from here. I have 18 days (including two weekends) until I leave for Alaska. The pictures from my hike are up on facebook. Hopefully I can post them to my blog as well. Take care and God bless!
Jacob

P.S. For some reason, I'm starting to remember how much I love Willie Nelson and Neil Young. Those guys are great. Harvest Moon is on repeat tonight. Great song. I say give it a listen if it's been a while.