I had mentioned to my daughter, Birdie, about a week ago that I planned to walk 100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in southern Oregon next spring and she was excited for me. I had casually invited her along too, not thinking that she would be able to take the time off work or be interested in traveling 800 miles just to go walking for seven straight days. When I spoke to her on Friday evening, she was really gung-ho about the prospect of going with me! I was thrilled. It'll be a great opportunity for us to build memories together and have some father-daughter bonding time. It'll also mean I don't have to hike the trail alone which will be safer for me. And I'll have someone to talk to during that time so that I don't go crazy.
Many of the hard-core through hikers of the PCT, 90% of whom will be travelling northbound (nobos), will still be roasting their hinies in California at the end of May, so I don't expect there'll be many other people on the trail when I'm planning to be there. Although the nighttime temperatures by then will be in the low 40s °F (mid-single digits in °C) there will still be snow in the ground in parts of the Crater Lake National Park in late May, I think; hopefully just not on the bits that we'll be on!
The bonding thing with Birdie reminds me that it will soon be ten years ago (it was Presidents Day, so mid-February) that she and I spent a couple of frozen nights together in a rustic Forest Service cabin in the middle of nowhere. That was fun too.
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