From time to time I lose my mind and become entralled with tales of adventure. I joined the Navy after high school on a whim. I enjoy playing adventure-ish video games entirely too much. I was once *this* close to joining the Peace Corps. Then it was the Long Way Round adventure with Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman. Now it’s the Pacific Crest Trail.

The PCT is a system of hiking trails that stretches from the Mexican border to over 2,600 miles North to the Canadian Border, through California and Oregon and Nevada. Most hikers start the trail in April and finish in September. Some 300 hikers attempt the trip each year–about half will complete the journey.

With the blessings of technology, today’s hikers are more connected than ever. They are able to update their blogs while in range of cell towers, upload pictures, and share waypoints on a map via GPS. Some even share videos.

Here I am, each day, reading the tales of adventure from the PCT. I can see their progress on Google maps and see beautiful scenery that I know that I’ll never see in real life. I’m both happy and sad at the same time. Happy that I’m able to follow along through my web browser, and sad that the web browser is the closest I’m going to get to hiking this trail.

What dedication, what stamina, what… ahhh, I don’t know what… ?

My favorite hiker is a fellow who calls himself Diamond Dave. I particularly like him because he’s a big guy, like me, at 6’4″. He started the trail this year at over 300 pounds, and now, a month later, he’s dropped over 30 pounds. Good luck Dave! Ohhh, I hope you make it all the way.

A charming couple that I’m also pulling for are Cindy and Andy. Andy is a professional gambler (you know, like the World Series of Poker guys you watch on ESPN?) Cindy is a technowiz that maintains their website with journal updates, GPS waypoints, digital photos, and even podcasts. Their entire journey is being chronicled online. And she updates often (thank you sooo much, Cindy!)

Here’s the website of a Kiwi who completed the PCT in 2007. I’ve spent countless hours on his website absorbing every bit of info regarding his trip. I’ve read every blog entry, seen every picture, and watched every video he’s got up there.

These are truly amazing people. I admire them like no others.