We decided to record some thoughts and expectations of our experience before we set out, as a reference point while on trail and after. We both answered the same set of five questions. Tim’s answers are here.
1. What made you decide to thru-hike the PCT?
The earliest conversations Tim and I had about thru-hiking revolved around the Appalachian Trail. We’d done a couple sections, and Tim was itching for a real long-distance adventure. I had less hiking experience under my belt, however, and was much more ambivalent about the idea. Then, in 2014, we did an overnight hike in the Desolation Wilderness section of the Sierra Nevada. The scenery and scale of the geography had me yelling cusses at Tim in astonishment.

Lake Aloha, 2014. Or, as I said at the time, “Shiiiiiit, look Tim!”
It was after this trip that I decided I was game for a thru-hike, but that I was tired of the “green tunnel” of the East Coast trails, and the geographic variety of the Pacific Crest Trail was more exciting to me. We knew we’d need time to save money and sort out the details of our lives before taking on such a challenge, so we chose 2017 as being sufficiently distant. Of course, now we’re 45 days out and counting.
2. What will you feel if you finish the trail?
3. What will you feel if you don’t finish the trail?
4. What is your biggest fear, and how are you coping with it?
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.
5. What are you most looking forward to?
So many things! I can’t wait to explore the scenery of the west coast, and I’m looking forward to the physical challenges of hiking, and learning about myself and the world and what I’m capable of.
I’m especially looking forward to stopping in trail towns and exploring the ad hoc communities that spring up on and around the trail. I want to see what small, rural towns are like on the west coast, and how they’re different from small towns out here on the east coast. I can’t wait to meet trail angels, those wonderful strangers who spend a good chunk of their year feeding and shuttling and housing hundreds of smelly pilgrims from the trail. The trail becomes its own structured society, with its own rules and expectations, and I’m sure the nature of that society changes each year, with each new group of hikers. I really look forward to exploring and discovering that society.
If I can be absolutely corny for a moment, I’m also looking forward to spending so much time with Tim. We’ve been married seven and a half years now, and have done tons of hiking and other traveling together, but we’ve never spent anywhere close to this kind of uninterrupted time together. We’ll surely get on each other’s nerves at some point, but we’re good at communicating and have contingencies for giving one another space if we need it. Tim’s supportive and trustworthy and I’m so excited for us to be hikin’ pals. I can’t wait to see what what little rituals we build, what new trust develops, and what truly horrendous jokes come out of this experience together.