Peggy and I had lunch yesterday with Barbara and Carl, the couple that dropped us off at Mt. Ashland for the beginning of our trek south down the PCT. It was the first time I had seen them since the beginning of the adventure. There was a lot to tell.
Naturally, I talked about both the challenges and the rewards of backpacking for 700 miles over difficult terrain at 75. I also discussed how 50 years of backpacking had prepared me for the trip, and threw in a few of my more humorous adventures from those years. They will be in my book.
“Knowing what you know now, would you do the PCT hike again?” Carl asked.
“Absolutely,” I replied. This doesn’t mean I will forget just how hard it was. It’s an important part of the story. But the beauty and the nature of the adventure are what will stick in my mind. I once had a woman who had been on one of my hundred mile treks tell me it was one of the most difficult tasks she had ever undertaken. But in the end, she said, it was an incredible, life-changing experience. The pain faded; the experience remained. “The only thing I can equate it with, Curt,” she had related, “was having my first baby.” Ouch, and then ‘Oh my!’
For the first 25 years or so of my backpacking, I hadn’t carried a camera. Those were the days before you could expect to obtain quality photos from a small camera, and I didn’t want to add the extra weight to the 60 pounds I was already carrying. I was also reluctant to spend the time that good photography required. And often I was leading groups that demanded my full attention.
I am sorry now. “I can’t believe you go to all of these beautiful places and don’t carry a camera,” my father had told me time and time again. He was right. I wish I had those photos now to remind me of where I had been and what I had seen. But there is more. Photography helps you see the world in different ways. It encourages you to focus in on details you might miss, it helps you notice the differences that light and varying perspectives make, and it forces you to stop and look around.
Today’s photos pick up where my last post left off, hiking down the PCT from Carson Pass on Highway 88 to Ebbetts Pass on Highway 4. The first four illustrate the value of stopping and looking around. They are all of the same scene from different perspectives.
NEXT POST: Variety, being the spice of life, it’s back to Mexico.
Wandering through Time and Place 
With your pictures, our imaginations can run wild. We all see these images with different eyes. Like the one you thought Dali would add a melted clock, I saw a natural Stonehedge and the mountain you captioned as ‘Wow’, I saw a frozen Oriental temple.
Your book is going to be huge!
The imagination is a wonderful thing, G. A never ending source of wonder. Thanks. 🙂 –Curt
Just how far have you got with the book? It’s going to be a corker!
I certainly hope so, AC! 🙂 It’s at least a year out, I imagine…
Wonderful photos as always Curt.
When I read travel blogs, I console myself that we can’t see everything. But your PCT hikes make fighting off the green devil envy more difficult.
Smiling, Ray. Thanks. I get a little envious over time, myself! –Curt
Amazing scenery and such a blue sky.
Except when it was filled with smoke, Peggy. 🙂 The scenery of the area is hard to beat. I’ll return. –Curt
What fantastic pictures. Even if you didn’t carry a camera before, I’m so glad you do now so you can share your adventures with us! 🙂
Me too, MB. 🙂 Thanks. –Curt
I find such aliveness in the trees, their bare branches stretching out like arms to the infinite. The rock formations are so unique and striking. It’s as if each one of these elements has its own personality.
That’s the artist and photographer in you speaking, Arati. 🙂
Wonderful pictures. But 700 miles! My goodness, Curt, you’re a star! A brave and determined one.
Thanks. Grin. Would slightly crazy work? –Curt
It would. Tee hee.
🙂
Perhaps it’s for the good you didn’t have a camera the first time(s) around. You got a fresh experience each time, and this time you could look with new eyes, seasoned with the old experiences.
And we get to enjoy it too.
True for places I have been, Dave. But there are some, such as Gates of the Arctic National Park, that I would like to relive on occasion.
There aren’t words for how awesome, truly, these photos are. I understand your father’s point in expressing a desire to “document” the places you had been, but another way to look at it is that you were FULLY present. And I agree with what you’ve said about photography, but you got to have an experience that became engraved into your soul with or without photos.
Arguments I’ve had with myself, for sure, Sylvia. There was a time I would have argued that photography takes away from the experience of being here now. My mind has changed, obviously. I have a sense now that photography keeps me more focused on my surroundings. Anyway, regardless, I’ve come to enjoy photography and working with the photos to capture the beauty of an area. Thanks. –Curt
You summed it up well with your “Wow!” shot!
Curt- we sure live in some absolutely amazing country, don’t we… ? No question about it! 😀
Sometimes it can almost be overwhelming, Gunta. We are very lucky! –Curt
I like that story about the woman who did the 100 mile trek. It really sums up what happens when we step out of our comfort zone and live life.
Incredible scenery and fabulous photos.
Alison
It’s a story I’ve heard over and over, Alison— not about the baby, but about how the trek could be a life-changing experience. And thanks on the photos. The scenic beauty certainly helps. 🙂 –Curt
With the smorgasbord of never-ending mouth-watering photos of your travels, Curt,. I almost feel like a travelling tourist on a cut price trip. You are most generous sharing your experiences making them part of ours.
Thank you, Gerard. Peggy and I truly enjoy sharing our journeys. It makes them even more meaningful to us. Plus, it lets us relive the experience! –Curt
Curt, my first reaction to your lack of camera in the early years echoed your father’s words of ‘“I can’t believe you go to all of these beautiful places and don’t carry a camera,” But then I realised you’ve more than made up for it with all the fantastic images since!! The one with the moon and the rocks here is truly awe-inspiring.
Thanks, Annika. And considering that I have some 80,000 on my computer now, It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t taking photos. 🙂 The 80,000 have depended on the digital age, however. In the old days of film and processing, the costs would have exceeded my budget by several times, I am sure! –Curt
I cannot get enough rocks and trees. More gorgeous photos here. You already answered my question, which was going to be “Isn’t that a moon in the first photo?” Nicely done here. All of them. I’m glad you are writing another book. It will be a lot of work for you to sort through all of it. All the photos, all the memories.
I love your new look here, btw. What’s driving me crazy is that I can’t find a “next post” link. So for people like me, who are many posts behind, but want to read, then like, then comment; I have to click your main blog, then scroooolllllll down to the post, click it, and read it. Then when I want to go to the very next post, I have to go back to your main blog, then scrooolllll down to the post and click it. I haven’t checked, but is there a place in settings where one can turn on and off the option to display a link to the previous post/next post? (or maybe just tell me where it is, if I’m not seeing it)
Good point Crystal on the link business. I will look into it. I am just experimenting now, so another theme may be in order! –Curt