Pacific Crest Trail(for The Wall Street Journal)

Spent the day photographing hikers starting the Pacific Crest Trail at the Southern Terminus along the U.S. Mexico Border in Campo, CA for The Wall Street Journal(here's a link to the story). We met a group of hikers the night before in San Diego as they came into town from all over the world. They stayed at the home of Sandy and Barney Mann who are Trail Angels and were fed a great meal, given advice and tips on hiking the trail, listened to stories and had tents set up in their backyard. We then met the next morning where myself the the writer followed them to the trail head, or Southern Terminus as it is called. It was neat meeting the hikers and hearing the various reason's why they were embarking on such a long trip. I mean, in this fast paced, money driven culture we live in, who can afford to take 7 Months off to go hike in the wilderness. Well, there seems to be a few types. First, there are recent college grads who were taking time after getting out of school and in between getting a job and settling down, second, there were your retirees. Folks who's kids were out of the house and had built up income or retirement savings. Then there are your people who have battled debilitating diseases, such as Cancer, and have won and now have a new lease on life. And finally, there are your career changers, people who quit their miserable jobs, take off 6-7 months and then go back and change careers. There were also a few lucky ones who had great bosses and let them take the time off. In any event, it seems like a really great thing to get out and see the world and live a bit closer to nature and find yourself as well as test your limits.