Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail
to
Honor Their Service
by Colonel (Retired) Mike Tarman
On April 26, 2012, I will strap on my backpack at Campo, California and begin hiking north on the 2665-mile Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (PCT). I plan to finish hiking the PCT in late September or early October at the Canadian border. One of the goals of my hike is to raise money for Communities for Marines (C4M), a 501(C)3 non-profit corporation that each year puts on a program called "Honoring Their Service."
Please consider making a tax-deductible pledge to this worthwhile organization for each mile I hike. The PCT is 2665 miles long. So, a pledge of one cent a mile will be $26.65. A pledge of a nickel a mile is $133.25, and so on. Send an email with your pledge per mile amount to me at mike_tarman@bellsouth.net with “Hiking to Honor Their Service” in the subject line. At the conclusion of my hike, I will send you an email so you can submit your total tax-deductible pledge amount to C4M.
I would also be honored if you follow my hike. You can subscribe at my blog (http://hiking-the-PCT.com) to receive email notices when I make updates.
So, what is the PCT, why hike the PCT, and why is a retired Army colonel hiking to raise money for Marines?
What is the PCT? The PCT is a hiking trail (dirt foot path) that runs contiguously from the Mexican border at Campo to the Canadian border near Manning Park, BC. 2,650 Miles is the specified length of the trail but not the actual length. The true length from Mexico to Canada is 2,655.4 miles and the trail travels beyond the Canadian border to Manning Park making the total trail length 2,663.5 Miles.
The PCT is a designated national scenic trail. It traverses three states (California, Oregon and Washington), climbs nearly 60 major mountain passes, descends into 19 major canyons, passes more than 1,000 lakes and tarns, 3 national monuments, 7 national parks, 24 national forests, and travels through 37 federally mandated wildernesses. It offers some the wildest backcountry terrain to be found in the lower 48 states.
Over the course of my hike, I will climb 314,711 vertical feet! (That’s a lot of up and down.) About 300 to 400 people attempt to thru hike the PCT each year. About 40% will complete the entire trail. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the challenge, more people have climbed Mount Everest than have completed a thru hike of the PCT.
Why I am hiking the PCT? After retiring from the Army in 1993, Joyce and I moved to Arizona. It was there that I took up hiking with life-long friend and fellow retired MP Colonel, DB Rice. DB and I started with day hikes around the Phoenix area and graduated to hiking the Grand Canyon. In early 2002, Colonel (Retired) John Mumma joined DB and I for a non-stop hike of the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim-to-rim. It took us 22 hours to hike the 42 miles that included over 20,000 feet in elevation change. At some point in time, while researching potential hikes for DB and I, I came across some journals of people who were hiking the Appalachian Trail and the seed was planted that one day it might be “neat” to do a thru hike myself.
Joyce and I moved to South Carolina in 2002 after I was hired by the Transportation Security Administration to be the Federal Security Director for the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. The Upstate of South Carolina is a hiker’s paradise. In addition to numerous State parks with miles of hiking trails, Greenville is located near the Foothills Trail and a little over an hour away from the Appalachian Trail. The thought of doing a thru hike continued to glow in my mind, and in 2006 I decided it was time to learn if I would enjoy backpacking. I had spent many a night in the field during my military career, but I never backpacked. I purchased some backpacking gear and went on an overnighter on the Foothills Trail. I enjoyed myself immensely and not long after spent 4 nights hiking the entire 77-mile long Foothills Trail.
As the idea of doing a thru hike continued to grow and after much research on the various national scenic trails, I decided on the PCT for no other reason than the scenery. I am excited over the opportunity to push myself physically and mentally as I immerse myself in the beauty of this great country and interact with other hikers to accomplish a goal that few have attempted and even fewer have accomplished. A longer and more detailed answer on “why I am hiking the PCT” can be found on my blog site at http://hiking-the-PCT.com
Why is a retired Army colonel hiking to raise money for Marines? Joyce and I fell in love with the Upstate of South Carolina. In 2007, we built and moved into our retirement home in Keowee Key, a residential community on beautiful Lake Keowee in the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 2008, one of our neighbors found himself in grave medical condition in Roger C. Peace Rehabilitation Hospital (RCP) in Greenville, South Carolina. He was most grateful for the care he received at RCP and one day during his recovery process he asked them the simple question, “What do you need?” RCP previously held a water ski "bash" for Marines from the Wounded Warrior Regiment at Camp LeJeune and said they wanted to expand it. Our neighbor returned to Keowee Key and, as people learned of the event, they asked, “What can we do?”
Those two simple questions, “What do you need?” and “What can I do?,” ultimately resulted in approximately 150 Keowee Key volunteers, Keowee Key administrative personnel, and 30 RCP employees (therapists and nurses) joining together to host our first group of Marines in June 2009 for three days of relaxation – boating, skiing, golfing, hiking, kayaking and more. That first year we hosted 24 Marines and there were 183 motorcycles in the escort from Easley to Keowee Key. (For comparison, in 2011 we hosted 39 Marines and there were 411 escorting motorcycles.) That first year, Joyce was actively involved with the planning of the picnic and formal dinner and we also hosted a Marine in our home.
Following that first visit, a small group, which included Joyce, gathered to discuss the event and what we wanted to do next. This meeting served as the impetus for the formation of what was to become the board for Communities for Marines (C4M). Joyce became the Vice President. One night, while she was formulating a response to an email from another member of the new board, she mentioned to me that they were looking for a name for their 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. If I learned anything in my 27 years in the Army, I learned the importance of having catching acronyms for something new. After playing around with the purpose of the corporation, I suggested Communities for Marines (C4M); she sent it out; and that is what they adopted. Their website is at http://www.c4warriors.org/index.html
Following “Honoring Their Service 2010,” Joyce was asked to be a co-chair for “Honoring Their Service 2011.” You can see a short video of “Honoring Their Service 2011” at: http://www2.sceneon7.com/entertainment/2011/jun/22/marines-come-keowee-honoring-their-service-ar-2012762/ In 2012, she will once again be heavily involved.
The entire Keowee Key community is firmly behind the concept of hosting a group of Marines on an annual basis. It provides everyone a sense of pride in our country and our community. It deepens our appreciation for these men and women who say good bye to family and friends, button up the chin strap on their helmets, throw on their rucksacks, and answer their country’s call to arms. They truly are America’s silent heroes and we are honored to be able to provide them a few days of rest and relaxation – a simple, yet heartfelt, THANK YOU!
This “thank you” is not free. Very few can fully appreciate the time and effort contributed by countless volunteers to ensure the successful planning and execution of each “Honoring Their Service.” Even fewer realize the costs of putting this event on at no expense whatsoever to our Marines. Individuals and businesses throughout the county have stepped up and generously opened their checkbooks, but there is a continuing need to support the annual visits, the newly created Family Get-a-Way Program, and future expansion. It is this need for additional funding that inspires me to dedicate my hike to these brothers-in-arms and solicit pledges for the miles I hike. It matters not that they are Marines. It matters that we as a country say “Thank You for your sacrifices.”
Update. As of 1 July 2012, Mike has completed just over 1,000 miles on his hike on the Pacific Coast Trail. He is taking this day off in Bridgeport, California.
7 July 2012. Mike is taking a well earned break for about seven days with his wife, Joyce in Reno, Nevada. The casinos had best watch out.
19 July 2012. COL Mike Tarman has gotten off the Pacific Crest Trail. Soon after his wife met him in Tahoe City for a brief visit, she voiced concern over his weight loss and the potential health problems. He shared her concern and decided to return to SC to "fatten up" after completing 1,127 miles of the trail. While he is no longer a PCT thruhiker, he has not given up on his dream to hike the entire PCT and plans to return next year to hike the remaining 1538 miles.
1 November 2012. It has been 3 1/2 months since I got off the Pacific Crest Trail at Barker Pass (just above Lake Tahoe) and returned to South Carolina to “fatten up.” I am pleased to treport that I have gained back all but 5 of the pounds I lost on the trail. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t recall some aspect of my 2012 PCT hike or think about my return to the trail. I have enjoyed and taken great pride in seeing many of those with whom I hiked complete the PCT. In the last few weeks, 6 of the 8 “Usual Suspects” and many other of my trail friends made it all the way to Canada. Whenever I saw one of their pictures at the northern terminus, in addition to being happy over their accomplishment, I could not help but feel a little twang of envy and disappointment for not being there with them. But, not to worry, that disappointment will serve as additional motivation when I return in early July 2013 to resume my hike to Manning Park, Canada.
I am extremely humbled yet very pleased to report that the pledges for my PCT 2012 hike raised over $3,400 for the Communities for Marines. Since I am going to be the co-chair for “Honoring Their Service 2013″ and the chair for “HTS 2014,” I hope to exceed that total in 2013.
Fall has come to the Upstate of South Carolina; and, with the cooler temperatures, I have resumed hiking. I have taken day hikes with the Oconee Hikers to such exotic places as Yellow Mountain, John Rock, Looking Glass Rock, and Scaly Mountain. I have also gotten the Spinnaker Cove group out a couple of times. The hiking has been great and the views spectacular. The cooler temperatures have caused the leaves to begin their annual change of colors as demonstrated by the below picture which I took recently while visiting Stumphouse Tunnel. Located about 7 miles northwest of Walhalla on Hwy 28, the 1,617 foot long Stumphouse Tunnel is an oddity. Started in 1852 to connect Charleston to Knoxville and eventually on to Cincinnati, the Civil War—and lack of funds—brought construction to a halt. While there were various efforts by the Blue Ridge Railroad to revive the tunnel, none of them came to pass and it stands today as a monument to the efforts of pre-Civil War engineering.
