When our friend Margot was getting ready to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), she thought she would be bored, and that this was going to be a period when she listened to more audiobooks than she had ever listened to in her life. But it turned out that when she actually started hiking, she didn't feel the need to listen to many audiobooks or music and she had a realization: so much of the world we live in currently can be harsh and grating, like the soundscape of cars and sirens and construction when you go outside in a city. And much of the reason why we may need to wear headphones or distract ourselves from the world around us may be because we are trying to seek comfort away from those harsh externalities. But when you spend every day in nature, you might not need the security blanked of distraction.

Hiking the PCT is a notoriously difficult endeavor, that requires months of prep and planning. In Margot's case, she and her partner both quit their jobs, and Margot took a wilderness first aid class and they spent time in the weeks leading up to their departure dehydrating their food and sending care packages of food to different points along the trail where they would be walking. They each got a "trail name" bestowed upon them, which is a nickname you use while on the trail, and got adopted by "trail families," which are groups of people you hike with, which you might have many of if you are hiking the whole thing from start to finish. They even met some "trail fairies" who opened up their homes to Margot and her partner and fed them a meal.

Margot and her partner hiked the whole thing in 6 months, a feat that only approximately 25% of PCT hikers can claim to have accomplished: along the way, they saw joshua trees, wore the same change of clothes every day, and Margot even had to perform first aid when one of their trail buddies fell while crossing over an ice bridge and hit his head. And when asked if she would do it again, she said "I would do it tomorrow!"

Music is The Beauty of Maths by Meydän.

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