The first thing that caught my interest after leaving the Southern Terminus of the PCT was a flowering Chaparral Yucca. Yellow bell shaped flowers clustered on a sturdy stem coming from a spiky bush like plant. They may not seem very significant but I think these flowers did well in setting the tone for what was to come in the desert. A beautiful ecosystem, no less alive than the seas of forest back home or the jagged mountain peaks that I look forward to. There are various forms of shrubbery and flowers but there are also countless numbers of reptiles that dart across the trail, rabbits munching on the foliage, and ground squirrels that make their home within piles of rock and packed gravel.
Like the freshly bloomed Yucca flowers I to was entering a new world. An unfamiliar one with all new challenges: the burning sun, the rocky terrain, and the weight of everything I currently own resting on my shoulders. But just as the desert hides it’s beauty so can trail life. To those who haven’t experienced it the only thing they may see is the discomfort but what lies below the surface is the simplicity, the experiences, and the connections there are to be made. That is what draws me to thru hiking, that is why I decided to do this to myself again.