What Life is All About

[Guest guest]

Ran across this one while looking at the Pacific Crest Trail hikers

posts. I have been reading the journal posts of the Mexico to Canada

through hikers and found this one this morning. Kind of deep,

reflecting on what the hike and life is all about and things are not

all they are cracked up to be. By a Ben Racine. Etna is a small

wide place in the road north of Redding, California and west or so of

Mount Shasta. Have to read it two or three times to get the drift.

Don't know about the legal issues of passing on some ones thoughts

but feel this one has some substance. May be off our subject some

but it hit me pretty good. Have a nice day. Don in Oregon::::

life ain't easy and neither is this pseudo-lifestyle I'm writing from

the California Training Group Campus thing in Etna. This is where

people spend 6 months getting the proper training before flying over

to Africa in order to do some pretty intense volunteer work... in

countries like Namibia in order to educate people about AIDS/HIV and

various hygenic techniques (or so I'm told... I figure they're really

referring to the differences associated with the fact that we take

clean water for granted and they do not... as I'm not sure what else

hygiene could refer to... as I'm more of a subscriber to the belief

that one's immune system is like a muscle... and it's got to be

flexed sometimes .... just ask anybody that's seen my cookpot on-

trail... it's making me stronger i tell them. Though, all i have to

say is that i'm impressed by people walking the talk... as this

country seems full of people trying to pose as this selfless-image

(myself included)... but, for all the wrong reasons. I'm soon to be

out of this state and into Oregon which is kinda crazy to think about

right now as I can't believe it's really taken 3 months to traverse

just one state... but what a hugely immense and beautiful state it

is... kinda beyond words at this point. I saw my third bear today.

After a somewhat disturbing night-time experience... coming across

one during the day is just plain comfortable... i found myself

wanting to sneak up on it... (read: stupid) but my curiousity is

definitely greater than my fear at this point. Hiked my first 40 mile

day recently through the Trinity Alps... what a section that is to

try that. Ended up crashing at 2 a.m. with some pretty incredible

foot pains... and achilles tendon pain too. Taking a zero today in

order to try to prevent any negative ramifications from this. Still

thinking about heading to the other side of Etna summit tomorrow in

order to check out this real-life operating hippie

commune... " visitors welcome " is all i know about it. should be cool

though. This last section is the one I did back in 2003... which was

kinda weird to compare my perspectives etc. since then. As far as a

removed perspective... this whole hiking thing is not what i

expected. i imagine that you (and myself) have these images of

constant beauty... ala Ansel calendars of nature, etc... or

perhaps a disneyfication of nature view? i'm as much a naturalist,

anti-materialist, romanticist as anyone, but i'm here to state...

that this existence is definitely one of long boredom, exertion,

interrupted by short periods of sheer elation, clear-headedness, and

breath-taking beauty... but don't forget the first part of this

sentence. it makes me think about how the first world thinks

it's " cool " to be poor... and how many people are little more

than " tourists " of this existence (again: myself included here). try

living it and feel it, experience it... it's liberating, but it's not

some kind of fashion statement... of which it seems many make it out

to be. sorry if this isn't poetic beauty one might expect... but like

i said... i'm learning incredible lessons from this experience... but

they certainly aren't of the nature nor origin that i ever thought

they would be. northward