Pacific Crest Trail 2009 Part 1

It's April 27th, 2009, and we emerge ourselves onto a new path of exploration. Welcome to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail which takes us 2,650 miles from the border of Mexico in California to the border of Canada in Washington State.

This was to be a four and half month journey where we walked 20 to 30 miles a day. This is to be a pilgrimage that redefines the self by expanding the mind, dissolving fears, and opening one's self up to the presence and present of living in the Moment.

The Odyssey begins near Campo, California near the town of Tecate, Mexico. The environment is foreign to us, having come from the dense woodlands of the coastal Pacific Northwest. The weather in Washington State had not quite reached the birth of Spring and suddenly we were in an arid region that was entering a stage of early summer growth. Desert and Chaparral wildflowers were wild and abundant and the Sun made our skin come Alive. Warmth began to melt the accumulated layers of the winter cold that had lodged its self to the confines of a house bound mind.

With expanded and extended views in all Directions, the mind began to relax and the heart began to beat to rhythm of our footsteps. It felt good to live within the boundaries of Nature once again. It is a Home that fills me up with the sense of sensational newness that invigorates my Being to the very essence of my soul.

By Night, we slept to the movement of the stars and were joyed to see the constellations rotate before our eyes as we allowed ourselves to be blanketed by the openness of the sky instead of the confines of a tent. Counting Satellites after yet another brilliant sunset became the ritual, after being afoot for twelve to thirteen hours of the day.

The long and winding trail is like a roller coaster ride. We climb a few thousand feet only to fall a few thousand feet following along forested ridge-lines with rugged views of ancient seabeds.

In just a few days time we surrender our old patterns of daily life and find ourselves immersed in what can only feel like a state of continuous Inspiration. The lenses in which we had viewed life previously had been exchanged for something that allowed us to see in greater focus.

Part 2 Here

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