New Post on my Thru-Ride Blog!

Dan is from Unalaska, Alaska, and is a videographer up there, working on different projects including “Deadliest Catch,” among other shows. A very talented, very genuine guy, it was more than a pleasure to walk with him and experience the trail for the time we did.

Dan made it 500 miles up the trail last year, and had expressed a desire to get back to the trail “Someday.” Well, that “Someday” turned out to be less than a year later, as he headed out again in April, 2012! You can catch some of his new videos up of the current journey on his YouTube channel. For now, here’s the link to last years “Alaska Dan” hike.

ALASKA DAN’S 2011 HIKE VIDEO  <——- Click to watch!

What is really special to me about this video is that Dan and I started together at the same time, and not only hiked & camped together, but also got to know the same people. The other hikers in this video are very special to me, and hold a spot in my heart. Good people, and captured wonderfully by a good guy. If you look closely, you might see a funny looking guy named “Rawhide” in there as well.

Blessings,

Dug

(My new project to help raise awareness for human trafficking is coming along well. Hop on over to that site if you’d like to see the latest on how it’s coming. Have just posted some new photos on the bike that will be used for the trip, it’s really wild! CLICK HERE TO GO CHECK IT OUT!)

If you or someone you know would like to post something on your website, blog, newspaper, rooftop or personal satellite let me know!

Check it out:

Bamboo and Carbon Fiber.

The newest updated photos from Brazil, of the bike I will be riding across the United States on to aid victims of human trafficking. Please go check it out!  And if you are able, please donate to help this cause: http://www.gofundme.com/m4ros

Dug

A special thanks for all the sponsors so far that have decided to team up with me on my ‘Thru-Ride 4 Freedom!” Awesome folks doing what they can to support a great cause. Please come check them out!

HTTP://TR4F.WORDPRESS.COM

The Top of Mt. Whitney

I remember in the months and weeks leading up to my 2011 hike of the PCT, as I prepared, I researched like crazy. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on. Not spending more than a few days at a time in the wilderness in my life (and those were mostly as a kid or in college), I had a steep learning curve to traverse.

But one thing caught my eye, and made me wonder.

There were folks that not only hiked the PCT successfully once….but there were people who decided to hike it again. In some cases, again…and again…and again!

What the heck?? Why? Why would someone do that? I mean, walking with a pack on your back through some pretty rugged and challenging – although admittedly beautiful – terrain, seemed like a good test. Once.

My thinking was, “Why not mark the PCT off of your list, and move on to another trail?” Maybe a little more challenging in another aspect, like the Continental Divide. That’s more dependent on your ability to navigate well with a map, compass, stars. Or another continent, maybe. The Camino de Santiago, maybe? Or the Alps? Maybe hike around Scotland and Ireland (one of my dreams, for sure). Why not go spend your time, energy and money on something like that? Diversify?

Scott Williamson has hiked the PCT 13 times. THIRTEEN times! He holds the unassisted speed record, set this last year, in a southbound hike. (We crossed paths near Seiad Valley). But really, Scott? Thirteen times?

Or Jackie McDonnel (aka, Yogi), who has hiked the PCT three times. (She also puts out a set of guidebooks that are widely used by many PCT hikers).

No Pain (no sense Googling No Pain, he is off the grid, much like his hiking style!). I hiked and spent time with No Pain all throughout my hike in different spots on my 2011 hike. He’s hiked the PCT several times as well as many other trails.

As I started off on my hike I asked myself what the big deal was with the PCT in the sense of doing it more than once. I had other trails I would like to do in my life. I couldn’t go back to the PCT after I was finished hiking it.

But an interesting thing happened on the way to this year’s hiking “season.”

I got it. I absolutely, unequivocally, undeniably understood.

I want to be back on the trail. Not because I didn’t make it the full 2,650 miles…because I WANT to. (I made 2,000 miles of it before I made the decision to come back. You can read about that decision back a few entries on my blog here). I miss the trail. I crave the trail. I long for the Sierra. I miss sleeping under the stars, night…after night….after night. I miss needing to be flexible in my plans just to make it through the day. I miss the diversity of terrain and ecosystems, the feeling of immediate accomplishment after hiking to the top of a tall pass, or passing another 100 mile marker. I miss the potential danger. The mental and physical challenges thrown at you each day. Those reasons, and so much more. So much more.

There is definitely a pull. Magnetic. Strong. Resonating.

In talking with some of my friends I made on the trail, it’s a common theme. The pull of the trail. Condor, Grizzly Adam, Leader, Bonnzai, Alaska Dan, Stickman, Marmot & Roo, Scarecrow, among many others…We all feel it, for many of the same, yet uniquely personal reasons.

Andrew Skurka, the 2007 National Geographic “Adventurer of the Year,” wrote to me before the trip,

“Dug – Way to take the plunge! Have a great time on the PCT. You will see some beautiful country and come away as a much enriched individual – it’ll be tough but totally worth it.”

George Spearing, who’s book “Dances With Marmots” first introduced me to the whole concept that is the Pacific Crest Trail, wrote to me on my blog just hours before I departed from the PCT’s southern Terminus: