Achieving escape velocity

Sometimes I think that the most exciting portion of long-distance hiking is the preparation. It is, after all, possible to imagine the trail as an endlessly scenic and enjoyable series of late-80s Busch Beer ads... from the comfort of your home, that is. The reality is that there is almost always something to keep it real -- mosquitoes, heat, cold, or just gold old chronic pain.

250,000 calories on the hoof...

But I can't wait. I know what I am getting into, or think I do -- I've hiked the PCT before. It's a pretty high snow year, but after the CDT in 2011, I don't think that phases me too much. (The prospect of carrying clunky snow gear does, though.) I'm kind of worried about how popular my Number One Trail has gotten -- there will seven times  as many people attempting this year versus my thru-hike in 2008. But maybe that will be fun; I like talking to most people pretty well, and take great joy in silently judging the others. So pretty much a win-win for me. What I also expect: A lot of staring at my feet, a lot of broad horizons, a very good night's sleep, the smell of water as you approach a spring, the feel of sand and pine duff and granite beneath my feet. And lots of giant ants. Lots and lots of really big ants.
After a busy month of travel, Lily and I are back home preparing for departure; she'll be living in LA for the next month, then Berlin, then DPW, then to sea... I've got nothing on her, adventure-wise. I love that she gets this about me, and is supporting me (literally and figuratively) on my trip.

And packaged for shipment

We're down to the punchlist stuff: Clearing out for our awesome housesitters, packing vehicles, last loads of laundry and last trips to REI. Lily and I are both the kind of people who always have out most productive moments in the last five minutes we spend in the house each morning -- there is always a cluster of things that seems necessary before departure. We call this process "achieving escape velocity." We are not naturally gifted at it. But thrillingly and against all odds, this giant departure is spinning up, gathering momentum, and is about to escape Berkeley's gravity.