Walt’s image was the first sign I ordered and I shared my office with him for several weeks prior to hoisting him up on his sign post adjacent to the PCT. I know Leaves of Grass so well, and Walt through this work that was his life blood, that I found myself engaging in conversations with this new, unexpectedly-taciturn, office mate. … “So, Walt, what do you think of that?” When Walt failed to respond, I simply responded for him, uttering what I knew he would say, if only he could speak.

I love this image of him. It is a reproduction of the frontispiece for the first edition (1855) of Leaves of Grass. According to Ivan Marki, it is stipple engraving, based on a daguerreotype of Walt taken the previous year. (Walt would have been a vigorous 35 years old when it was taken, a “goodshaped and wellhung man,” not the elderly Walt shown in most of the photographs of him.)

The quotation is from the end of “Song of Myself” and is, I think, most appropriate for sharing with PCT thru hikers:

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
…
Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Henry David Thoreau, from Walden

This is the same quotation from Walden shown on the sign near Henry’s home site at Walden Pond.

The transformation of my hiker and equestrian oasis at PCT mile 145.37 is based on the significance of 2017 in the world of American literature: this year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden (a favorite of thru hikers, as attested by their book selection choices in 2016). Given that the birth year of Walt Whitman, another giant in 19th century American lit, is just two years off, I decided to combine the transformation into a celebration of both authors that will last through 2019, Walt’s 200th birthday.

The rustic sign emblazoned with the new name ‘Walden’ is now visible from the PCT.

A small ground sign announcing the place is adjacent to the trail, for those hikers who are looking no where but 5 feet ahead of them on the ground.

 

 

 

I also provided a small ground sign next to the Little Free Library explaining the significance of the name and the odd assortment of items in the library: “Why Walden? — 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau. Walt Whitman followed him two years later. I celebrate these two great American authors and have renamed my hiker oasis in honor of Thoreau’s most famous work. — PCT 145 Trail Angel Mary”

January 1 saw the first selfie (with the same mysterious woman from Prepping for 2017) with Henry and Walt.

We had about an inch of snow in Anza that fell Christmas Eve morning. I captured it in a photo before it quickly melted around noon.

After the snow, several inches of rain fell between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, making for rather poor hiking in the area. On a recon of the trail between Nance Canyon and the Horse Canyon overlook (roughly, PCT mile 140 and 149), I noted that the rain had caused several very small landslides on the trail that I cleaned up on the spot. A long-term trouble spot for stock, with usable trail tread of six inches or less caused by sloughing DG and soft downside edge just north of the second Table Mountain Truck Trail crossing was reported to the Trail Chief for Section B.

A small work party spent several hours at Tule Spring on December 17 trying to understand whether, and if so, where, the large fire tank connects to the spigot hikers use. (Unfortunately, no one appears to know how this particular system is configured, so it required some digging to locate a pipe connecting the two that was two feet under grade.)

It was determined that, indeed, the tank does feed the spigot; however, despite the fact that the tank was now 3/4 full after the recent rains, there was limited water coming out the spigot, suggesting that the pipe was clogged or broken. (It would run for about 2 minutes, then dry up.)

There is a flowing water source 100+ feet south of the tank that the group lined with rocks, although, the flow rate may decline as we get further away from a significant rainfall.

With 2016 drawing rapidly to a close and winter coming on, I have removed the barrel that was watering the now-leafless cottonwood tree and am prepping for the re-christening that will happen on January 1: ‘Malibu East’ will become ‘Walden West’ in celebration of the 200th birth year of Henry David Thoreau. The 19th century American literary theme will remain through the end of 2019, as we celebrate the 200th birth year of Walt Whitman. The surfboard trail register will disappear at 9pm (midnight, Walden Time) on December 31, 2016, to be replaced the next morning by two life-sized replicas of Henry and Walt, along with a twist on the traditional PCT trail register. — Now, instead of simply writing your (trail) name and the date, passers-by will be given the opportunity to share the title and a few words about a book that, in Henry’s paraphrased words, has “dated a new era in your life.” The choicer offerings will be shared on this blog.

I will be gathering with a few friends over New Year’s Eve/Day to celebrate this transition in the life of PCT Mile 145.37. The Little Free Library will continue to offer a selection of paperbacks and reference books, but will now also sport self-printed copies of Thoreau’s Walden, “Song of Myself” (from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass) and Emerson’s Essays. A new Flora and Fauna of Table Mountain is also in preparation by me. I hope to have that completed by January 1, so that it can also be printed up and available for take away. — There is much to do.