PCT

Last night I watched the Pacific Crest Trail documentary made nearly ten years ago by National Geographic.  It's a bit cheesy, and focuses too much on "human interest" stories that—honestly—aren't that interesting.  I bought this thing years ago, and I watch it from time to time, mostly because it's short and plays quickly, while showing some great scenery.  That said, most of the people that it focuses on are not very likable (they really seem to think that the stubby packrat girl is cute or something, but I find her irritating.)  Honestly, I've had better experiences watching amateur thru-hikers on YouTube, although a lot of those folks are weird too.  I wonder, sometimes, if what motivates people to do those YouTube videos is some kind of social dysfunction and desperate need for attention, but some of them are tons worse than others.  Usually, but not necessarily, watching the videos by guys is better than watching the videos by girls, because the guys will tend to focus more on the actual trail and the scenery, and the experience, while for most of the girls, it's all a "Look at me!" exercise.  But that's only a trend, not an absolute, so caveat emptor.  In spite of the technical difficulties he has in the first video or two, I think I like Backcountry Banter's PCT and CDT hikes series the best.  Homemade Wanderlust does OK, although she does tend to do more "Look at Me While I lecture you about something idiotic," moments than I'd like.  But she does also actually show the trail, the scenery and the experience better than most even so.  And Baskets is pretty good too; his videography is as good as anyone's, and he really focuses on the experience of hiking—although sometimes he obsesses maybe a little more than most about what day it is, exactly how many miles he's walking, his water sources, etc. and while I actually really appreciate that he hooked up with that guy Nope and kind of took care of him, I didn't find Nope a very compelling character to watch in the youtube channel, if that makes sense. Not that that's all he is, which is why what Baskets did in taking him on and staying with him so long is so admirable, and I can really respect that.  I've only watched his CDT video, but he's done an AT one in 2017, and he's doing it again this year.  With a more charismatic hiking companion, although they're kinda coy about exactly the nature of their relationship.  His female "hiking companion" that stays with him all of the time and sleeps in his tent?  Hmmm...

An interesting thing about the National Geographic video is that it's also sloppy in its claims and inferences.  It suggests very strongly, and unless you know better, you'd believe this based on what they claim, that the PCT spends the better part of 500 miles trekking through the Mojave Desert, which is the hottest desert in North America.  Neither of those inferences are really true; the PCT skirts the edge of the desert but doesn't really go through it; it goes through the semi-desert mountains and chaparral of Southern California without going through the actual boundaries of the actual desert.  Plus, the Mojave is normally considered a high desert and is relatively cool compared to, say, the Sonoran or Chihuahuan deserts.  On the other hand, Death Valley is in the Mojave Desert, and it is a singularly super-hot location because of its super-low elevation.

So due to a nit-picky technicality, I think they can get away with making a claim that's factually incorrect in general about the Mojave Desert.  But they're still on the hook for suggesting that the trail plunges right through the desert rather than avoiding it by staying in the higher, wetter country around it.