Morgen Glessing of Woodland is an experienced hiker and backpacker, having walked about 500 miles in various trips last summer. But he’s not been a long-distance hiker.
That changes Friday at the California-Mexican border when Glessing, 22, a student at Brigham Young University in Utah, starts north on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail.
His fascination with the PCT started years ago during a Boy Scouts outing in Oregon.
“I had always dreamed of doing the PCT, but this winter I decided this summer would probably be my best shot at completing it,” Glessing said in an email interview. “I would like to accomplish it while I am young and in good shape.”
Glessing was born in Vancouver and lived in Amboy until age 12, when his family moved to Woodland. He graduated Woodland High School in 2010 has served a two-year mission in Brazil for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Normally, his summers are spent at home working as a medical scribe for the Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic of the Northwest.
But not this summer.
Glessing has upgraded his old, heavy gear with a backpack, tent and sleeping bag that combined weighs a bit more than 3 pounds. His base weight — everything but food and water — is exactly 10 pounds.
“This means that if I begin a section with 5 liters of water and 5 days of food, my pack should never exceed 30 pounds at the heaviest and will most likely average around a comfortable 20 pounds or lower.”
He will start by himself, but hopes to team up with others on the journey north. His plan is to average 25 miles a day.
His tentative schedule calls for him to reach the California-Oregon border by early July and the Bridge of the Gods by early August.
Through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail is well-known for a taking a mental toll, too.
Glessing has downloaded music, audio books and podcasts on his telephone “to pass the time and keep my mind from not being stimulated enough.”
He has a solar charger that works well keeping the telephone charged.
His trip also is a pledge-per-mile fund-raiser for St. Jude Childrens’s Research Hospital. He has more than $900 in pledges so far.
And what about the daily grind of 2,650 miles of desert and mountain walking?
“While I am concerned about the physical challenge, Glessing said, “I am confident that I am capable.”
