April 24th - 28th : Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off (ADZPTCKO)
On April 24th - 28th, I attended the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick-Off (ADZPTCKO)
The ADZ is for the purpose of ushering off current year PCT hikers on the trail with good vibes, good information and off on the right foot (or sometimes left?
) to start their journey.
At OH-GOD-EARLY in the morning, Love Barge and myself left Colorado to fly to San Diego. We were picked up at the airport by our fellow CDT 06er/Coloradoan Princess of Darkness. She and Disco drove out to San Diego and are about to start their PCT journey. This will be Disco's second PCT hike and POD's Triple Crown completion hike.
Disco and POD had some last minute items to take care of in San Diego. LB also wanted to visit a family member in San Diego. Our arrival to the KO was a bit delayed, but the side trips proved to be interesting. "Uncle Tommy" is an older New York Italian transplant and reminded me of people I know back home. The accent, the mannerisms, and his obvious love in getting to see his great-niece. You could also tell LB was happy to see her relatives as well.
We finally arrived at the KO. It was awesome to see people I have not seen in a while. Saw my fellow PCT 2002er and good friend Yogi. We both worked the registration desk. Of all my ways to volunteer at the KO, working the registration desk is my favorite. I love to talk and mingle..working the desk lets me see a lot of people.
At OH-GOD-EARLY Friday morning, I dropped off POD and Disco for the start of their PCT hike. LB also joined them for the day.
I went back to the KO, shot the breeze and worked the reigstration desk for a bit. Saw many people I knew for online, previous hiker gatherings and just being on trail. Many people at this point..and I was glad to see them all!
Went to bed fairly early Friday night (11-ish) and had a nice Saturday just hanging out.
One of the funny things about the KO is how long it takes to walk from one length of the campground to the other. What should be a 5 minute walk would often take me an hour because of all the people I would bump into!
One of the funniest parts of the day was Henry Shire's reaction to LB's "vintage" and well..er..loved tarp tent. Henry just stared in disbelief!
The best part of Saturday evening was seeing Eric Ryback's presentation of his 1970 thru-hike. The amount of people he inspired is countless. Despite the different gear and trail experiences one thing showed through Ryback's slideshow: The joy of being out in the wilderness for months at a time never changes! Ryback reminded me of Scott Williamson: Low key, humble, happy to share his experiences. It was a great show from one of the acknowleged pioneers from our little tribe.
I had planned on a mellow Saturday, but I wandered over to the cabin campfires. I ended up staying up to 4am and er, indulged quite a bit more than I am used to. My body also reminded me Sunday morning that I am about to turn 34 and not 24. :O I think seeing so many friends, both old and new, made it so I did not want the weekend to end.
If I took anything from this weekend, it does not matter what year you hiked, what kind of gear you carried, whether you are a section hiker or a thru-hiker ..we are all united in our love for the trail, the journey and the experiences. We are all hiker trash.
I love the KO. It has become my favorite hiker get-to-gether by far. I thank the organizers for another great event, I was glad to see all my friends, and I wish the PCT class of 2008 a wonderful journey.
Continued Happy Trails!
Photos can be found here
The ADZ is for the purpose of ushering off current year PCT hikers on the trail with good vibes, good information and off on the right foot (or sometimes left?
) to start their journey.At OH-GOD-EARLY in the morning, Love Barge and myself left Colorado to fly to San Diego. We were picked up at the airport by our fellow CDT 06er/Coloradoan Princess of Darkness. She and Disco drove out to San Diego and are about to start their PCT journey. This will be Disco's second PCT hike and POD's Triple Crown completion hike.
Disco and POD had some last minute items to take care of in San Diego. LB also wanted to visit a family member in San Diego. Our arrival to the KO was a bit delayed, but the side trips proved to be interesting. "Uncle Tommy" is an older New York Italian transplant and reminded me of people I know back home. The accent, the mannerisms, and his obvious love in getting to see his great-niece. You could also tell LB was happy to see her relatives as well.
We finally arrived at the KO. It was awesome to see people I have not seen in a while. Saw my fellow PCT 2002er and good friend Yogi. We both worked the registration desk. Of all my ways to volunteer at the KO, working the registration desk is my favorite. I love to talk and mingle..working the desk lets me see a lot of people.
At OH-GOD-EARLY Friday morning, I dropped off POD and Disco for the start of their PCT hike. LB also joined them for the day.
I went back to the KO, shot the breeze and worked the reigstration desk for a bit. Saw many people I knew for online, previous hiker gatherings and just being on trail. Many people at this point..and I was glad to see them all!
Went to bed fairly early Friday night (11-ish) and had a nice Saturday just hanging out.
One of the funny things about the KO is how long it takes to walk from one length of the campground to the other. What should be a 5 minute walk would often take me an hour because of all the people I would bump into!
One of the funniest parts of the day was Henry Shire's reaction to LB's "vintage" and well..er..loved tarp tent. Henry just stared in disbelief!
The best part of Saturday evening was seeing Eric Ryback's presentation of his 1970 thru-hike. The amount of people he inspired is countless. Despite the different gear and trail experiences one thing showed through Ryback's slideshow: The joy of being out in the wilderness for months at a time never changes! Ryback reminded me of Scott Williamson: Low key, humble, happy to share his experiences. It was a great show from one of the acknowleged pioneers from our little tribe.
I had planned on a mellow Saturday, but I wandered over to the cabin campfires. I ended up staying up to 4am and er, indulged quite a bit more than I am used to. My body also reminded me Sunday morning that I am about to turn 34 and not 24. :O I think seeing so many friends, both old and new, made it so I did not want the weekend to end.
If I took anything from this weekend, it does not matter what year you hiked, what kind of gear you carried, whether you are a section hiker or a thru-hiker ..we are all united in our love for the trail, the journey and the experiences. We are all hiker trash.
I love the KO. It has become my favorite hiker get-to-gether by far. I thank the organizers for another great event, I was glad to see all my friends, and I wish the PCT class of 2008 a wonderful journey.
Continued Happy Trails!
Photos can be found here
posted by Paul Mags at 2:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home