One question I was asked by many people before I started my journey was "will you be hiking alone or with others?" I told everyone who asked that I was starting with the girls from Team Broad Adventure (who are now referred to as the Rough Riders FYI) but I very well may make friends of trail. Well as it turned out the Rough Riders wanted to spend some time alone back at Big Bear and I started hiking "solo."
Hiking solo on the PCT means you are hiking among a group of friends from 2-20 in number. Yes if you truly want to spend time alone you can but if you want company to hike with or at least camp with, just hang out near water. Some hikers like to travel with a group and make group decisions and etc. Others like myself like to ride solo and form new blobs of friends from town to town. I personally have been hiking with a new group of people pretty much every week. Some people I see most days others I only catch in town. But no matter what, friends are all around.
A trail family is like a slinky in many ways. There are people on the edges who you only see every once in a while in places like town, and there are others who you see most everyday. You may hike with a person for a month, not see them for 500 miles and then they pop up in the next town. It's a very cool experience because you always feel welcome no matter where you are.
It is very possible that my experience on trial is due to the high number of hikers this year, because I have yet to feel lonely on trail, there are too many people. If anything it is hard to get some time to your own. I guess what I am trying to say is people out here are awesome and in the words of a fellow hiker Sunday Stroll, "I guess douche bags don't like to through hike."
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