“Awake. Where am I? I’ve been asking myself this question a lot over the last few months. I know where I’m going and I know where I’m coming from, but for a few bleary seconds each morning, all I can do is draw a blank. Especially when the only thing to look at is the underside of my tarp. Somewhere. Somewhere in the middle. And it doesn’t really matter anyway. The routine is the same regardless of where ‘somewhere’ is. I pack up and hike. All day, every day. That’s what I did yesterday, and the day before that. It’s what I’ll do tomorrow and the day after. I’ll keep doing it until the end, but I don’t like to think about the end. Still too fragile. Still too many question marks. Even after hiking 2,500 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, I’m not sure about the final 150….”
PCT thru-hiker Owen Eigenbrot tells it like it is in his essay “Until They Are Not,” from the first issue of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry, whose mission is to provide a home for creative work inspired by journeys to places where there are no roads. The editors welcome submissions of other wild words from the PCT and beyond. For submission/subscription information, visit deepwildjournal.com.
(Owen, by the way, can’t get enough of a good thing; he is currently up in the San Juans, southbound on the Continental Divide Trail!)
Deep Wild Journal 