Tuesday, August 13, 2013

If Challenge (8/13)

Question: If you had to spend one year alone in the wilderness, where would you go?

Answer: This is very apropos as I am currently reading the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
In this book she takes off hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which goes from Mexico to Washington across the tops of the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges. She carries everything she needs on her back and just hikes and camps and then comes to little outposts where she has mailed a fresh supply of food. She is doing this hike to 'find' herself. I find it to be really fascinating and sometimes wonder if it is something that I could do. I've also wondered what it would be like to hike the length of the Appalachian Trail. Both trails are well over 2,000 miles (2,663 and 2,200 respectively), and since I am very much not a hiker or camper, I doubt if I would ever do it. Besides, with my luck, I'd get confused and lost (I mean I do that whenever I step outside of a hotel room and turn the wrong direction) that I would end up like the guy (Christopher McCandless) from the book Into the Wild.

But whether I could do it or not isn't really the question. Therefore, I really think taking a year off and hiking along both of these trails would be fun. I mean, each would take probably 6 months for me to complete and the question doesn't say if it has to be a consecutive 12 months, does it? It would have to be somewhere that I could have touch points with civilization as I do not think I could completely live off the land and kill for my survival, but rather, if I could carry food on my back and know that I would be able to refuel periodically (and hopefully stay in a cabin or motel and maybe get a shower once in a while) then I might be up for it.
Is this now on my bucket list? Maybe....

2 comments:

Jaye said...

Denali Natl Park in Alaska has a wilderness cabin for an "Artist in Residence" program...I think it is just for three months..the summer months..and not totally out of touch. An artist is alone, but someone checks in on them periodically..if I were many years younger and could talk them into letting me stay the year round, with LOTS of preparation...I would love that....I think!!!!

Sara said...

that sounds exhausting.....