I’m hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this year.

The decision to hike the PCT could be considered a long time coming, or also last minute, depending on how I tell the story. This year wasn’t the first time I considered hiking the PCT. I snagged a permit in 2019 with thoughts of another thru-hike, but it simply wasn’t the right time for me, and I hiked through some glorious Arizona desert that summer instead. Then, of course, the pandemic arrived the following year, and thru-hiking wasn’t a consideration for me.

Fast forward to January 2021.

The year was off to a restless start. After close to a year of social distancing from my micro-apartment in the city, all I could think about was how much I wanted to be able to start making plans again for something, anything, else. And then one morning I woke at 2 AM with the random thought, ‘I wonder if PCT permits are being issued this year?‘ I googled it in the dark, staring blearily into the bright light of my phone because I couldn’t go back to sleep until I knew. As it turned out, not only were PCT permits being issued for 2021, but the permit queue opened that very day.

It felt serendipitous.

It felt right.

I did not go back to sleep.

I lucked out with a great place in the permit queue, and was able to have my choice of start dates. I knew I would only go if cases in the U.S. were lower and I was able to be fully vaccinated first, so I chose a late June start date going southbound, and crossed my fingers. With a permit in hand, what followed were several months of anxious indecision. When I made my first vaccine appointment near the end of April, I could have cried. (Okay, maybe I did.)

Since I am also considering going back to school in the fall, it may only be a partial thru-hike. Or maybe I’ll do the whole thing. What I do know is that in a matter of days, I’ll be standing on a trail again, backpack on, nothing but sky overhead.

I can’t wait.