#clear language

By Howard Shapiro

A few months ago my dear friend and hiking partner Doug Robinson and I walked over two hundred miles together. Doug agreed to join me as I closed in on my desire to finish the PCT in 2019. Up to this point, Doug had not been able to join me on previous PCT hikes due to our different work schedules. Now that he has retired the time was right for us to go forth together. One of the big questions was how will we remember this unique time together? 

Every time I have left to walk another set of miles along the Pacific Crest Trail one strong desire has been to capture the sights, sounds, conversations, and feelings  elicited by life on the trail. More often, I put these experiences into a journal attempting to record the details that  otherwise would undoubtedly get lost over the course of time and age.My journals are touchstones to my past as well as influencing the present and future. They are the valuable rewards from hiking the PCT I will always hold dear.  

Several years ago while hiking a section around Mount Hood with Rees Hughes, our wives, and two of our daughters,an idea was posed to record our experiences and memories through Haiku. This experience was included in the Oregon volume of the printed “Pacific Crest Trailside Reader”. We all found that this was a wonderful way for everyone in our group to tuck an experience into our mental back pockets and to share each days experiences and impressions each night before we retreated to our tents.These haiku’s became a perfect way to frame our time together.  

Last July as Doug and I began our hike heading south from near Howards Prairie outside of Ashland, eventually arriving in Seiad Valley about six days later. Doug liked the idea of writing Haiku’s as a way to note our experiences. For this section and the next much farther one from Hat Creek Rim to Parks Creek Road we each wrote haiku's. These will always be the way we will remember our nearly three weeks being together on the PCT. 

Here are a few from that time: 

Ready for water

Bad Dog spring runs clear and bright

Comfort has returned 

-DR  

Split fallen giant

Passing through a ring record

Who heard it fall down? 

-HS

Fitzhugh Gulch camping 

Family of through hikers pass

Much talk of distance

-DR

Doug is behind me

His encouragement is gold

Value beyond words

-HS 

If I had to give up one word that I use regularly, it would probably be the word “superfluous”. Although this word can sometimes be useful to express excess or redundancy, it can often be replaced by more precise and evocative terms. By eliminating the unnecessary, we can make our language clearer and more concise, which can improve communication and make our messages more impactful. Letting go…