Please allow myself to indroduce.... myself
March 21, 2005
Location: Portland, OR
My name is Roger Binschus. I'm twenty-six years old and I live in Portland, Oregon. I was born in Fairbanks, Alaska and grew up with 2 brothers and 1 sister. While growing up, my brothers and I were members of The Boy Scouts of America. As a scout, I spent many weekends a year up in the pristine mountains, dingy caves, ice cold lakes, snow caves, and atop the mountains of the cascades and Eastern Oregon. On one of my more recent backpacking trips my friend, Lara Lyles, told me about this trail that runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian Border, The National Scenic Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). That sounded like a fun adventure, camping, hiking, climbing, and dragging myself across three states, from hot dry deserts to glacier-filled mountains, green meadows to dense green forests. Why do I want to hike the PCT? Never have I had a dream which encompassed more of my existance, caused more sleepless nights than I can count, and caused me to read so many books on one topic. The trail has taken my life in directions I can't understand, places I didn't want to go, and to highs and lows that are not to be expected in normal day to day life. AND, I haven't even hiked it yet. I originally planned to go hike the PCT a couple years ago, but the plans fell through and I thought the dream was gone. Then, one evening, my roommate, Miranda Jalbert, asked me about the trail, and I started telling her about it, brought out the movies and books I had on it, and shared my lost dream with her. Before I knew it, I realized that I was at a time in my life when nothing seemed more fitting than to pack up my belongings and go pursue the dream, the Northbound Heartsong. What I hope to achieve from hiking the trail? My dearest friend, Bonnie Buderus, said this to me once, which has inevitably changed my thoughts about the trail: "The trail is putting pressure on you, but you're putting pressure on the trail. You're going in with expectations of what it is going to do for you, but maybe you should be more-open minded." After hearing her say that, I have pondered less about what I want to get from the trail, and pondered more about what I hope to put into the trail. I hope to give it my best attempt, and in doing so learn a little something about myself. My three hopes are: Understanding solitude and the difference between being alone and being lonely. Knowing the limits of my body, mind, and spirit. Figuring out what I should be doing after I get back to civilization. I also plan to share my experiences with people so that others out there might in the future pursue the same or a similar dream to mine. I read the online Journal of Scott and Rachel Kimler's PCT hike, and found it vastly important in helping me with the pursuit of my dream. Finally, as the dream was originally born, I planned to hike for a cause. While I have not fully been able to make this hike the most efficient in supporting Cherryville Heartsongs, I feel that I could perhaps raise awarenss of this new organization and would benefit through the spread of word of mouth. To find out more about Cherryville Heartsongs click here.
I think I'll allow my hiking partners to introduce themselves....
Jonathan McChesney
My name is Jonathan McChesney. I'm twenty-seven years old and I live in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California. I was born in Kealakekua, Hawaii and grew up with 3 brothers and 2 sisters from one end of California to the other. Why do I want to hike the PcT? First, all of the expectable trite reasons: Fresh air, beautiful mountains, clean running water, almost no traffic sounds, I need the exercise, time to think. The real Reasons? I'm beginning to think that the Industrial Revolution was an enormous deception. We've placed all of our trust in new technologies that can't seem to save us from our tending toward cancer, obesity, and war. The Industrial World is quickly approaching the end of the usable/extractable carbon within the earth; the laborer that does all of our work for us. Urban humans have little understanding of where their food comes from, and know even less of how terrifyingly vast Nature truly is. Imagine living a life in accord and in full compliance with Nature. The trail. ...... Whoa!! Whoa!! That shit is just way too heavy!! I'm really only going up there to have a good time. Don't postpone your own hapiness. Not for one fucking day.
Debi Vinson
Wild Geese, by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Hi my name is Debi. I've wated to hike the Pacific Crest Trail ever since that summer, so long ago, when I worked on the trail crew up in the Washington Cascades for the U.S Forest Service. It was there, working on a trail where i met my first thru hikers. In late April i will start my hike into the "high clean blue air" and finally let the "soft animal of my body love what it loves" and maybe, just maybe, have a whole lot of fun doing it.
I also want to add these links, and here is as good a place as any....
Joe: hey at least I plugged your website. http://eyespry.com/
Scott and Rachels Website http://pct-hike.randsco.com/
And a special shout-out to my supporters at Urban Grind Coffee, 911 NW 14th (14th&Kearney)