A Very Long Walk
In the Moorishgirl household, magazines fall under three categories. There’s the serious, like Atlantic Monthly, New Yorker, Harper’s, lit mags, political rags, and so forth, which are promptly read and carefully shelved. There’s the fun and fluff like EW or In Style, which lie around for days unopened, finally having their pages torn and used as coasters on the kitchen counter. And then there’s the divine. Alex’s Sierra and Backpacker magazines are so carefully guarded, I’m not allowed near them. Every time I try to do a round of recycling, he makes sure I haven’t absconded with one of them. Hikers–the only people more neurotic than writers.
T.J. Forrester, a serious hiker and writer himself, has an essay about doing a PCT Thru-hike in the summer issue of Ink Pot. (Don’t know what a PCT Thru-hike is? Let me put it in terms you can understand. Doing this hike is like getting a book deal, winning an NEA, and publishing in NYer all in one year. In other words, it’s tough.) Anyway, check out T.J.’s story for a taste of what it’s like to walk from Mexico to Canada.