Zach- Miles 0-21, And so it begins...

I couldn't help myself.  From the moment that Trail Angel Bob Riess met me at the airport, I was ready.  Months of planning and my parents getting me off to the airport fueled the anticipation I was feeling.  I am thankful for Bob and all the other trail angels out there.  Most of us need the kindness of others to make this journey happen.  I don't have any relatives living near the trail so any help that I get is from total strangers along the trail or my friends and family back home in Ohio.  On behalf of the 2016 PCT hikers, I thank every one of you that will be up the path have a hand in my journey.  Not only did Bob pick me up and provide transportation, he also opened his home and served up  sage advice that I knew I would need in the weeks and months to come.

The road begins.  Picture courtesy Kohler Landscape Photography. PCT 2016

Another hiker would be joining later that evening.  The waiting begins.

Ed and I couldn't wait any longer. The tossing and turning and anticipation of starting the trail had left us both with a sleepless night and a 3:40am start to our day. Fueled by excitement, Indonesian coffee, and Bob's shared wisdom of how to be on the right side of reality, I felt as awake and alive as ever despite an early wakeup time. Bob took us out to the trail at first light as promised and we were the 2nd and 3rd to sign the PCT registry this morning.

The day had come, and it was everything I had expected and more. It was a perfect hiking day, overcast and in the 60s, the flowers were still in bloom and more beautiful than I had imagined.  I didn't expect desert flowers to be bright or plentiful.

Initially one of my biggest fears was that I would not have the ability to find my place in this hiking community, but I was far from wrong. I already meet a bunch of amazing people from AT vets such as grey squirrel and aqua man who combined have over 16 thousand miles on the AT and an unbelievably light combined 22lb base weight, Diego a Peruvian who has never even hiked a day in his life until today and was carrying 65lbs, and two day hiker brothers who coined me the umbrella man. I knew this was going to be the trip of a lifetime, but I thought the magic was not going to start this soon. I'm off to bed in my hammock and hope to get another 20 mile day in tomorrow.

A week of storms had not only given us a break from hot temperatures, it brought out some of the wildlife like this tiny guy.