Introduction
He let out a scream, his eyes fixated on the dehydrator. Nine Trays of food, shriveling. It has been ten hours and those carrots still weren’t where they needed to be. Those stinkin potatoes, he thought. Panic began to crawl up his insides; he gripped the knife in his hands. Fourteen days of dehydration had driven him to his breaking point; forget the PCT, he wanted to destroy the carrots. And those onions, he thought, his face crinkled as he wanted the vegetables dead and out of his sight. He cursed and began to cry.
Eugene was scrolling through his Facebook feed when he came across a picture of a local man. Two straps of a harness cradled his lower abs, another set of straps tucked under the inside of his thighs. His hands gripped the parallel bars as he glanced down at his legs, with a smile on his face like it was Christmas. His feet were planted mid-stride, although he couldn’t feel it, his knees were bent and a hand supported each. Trainers beside him, patience echoed in his mind, patience and a goal: to walk again. Although Eugene had never met the man or spoken to him, he was struck by his genuinely optimistic and generous spirit.
“Hey man, do you wanna bike across the country?” Matt’s voice echoed in his ear in 2013. Eugene smiled, thinking about the opportunity, that sounds amazing that sounds so cool but I don’t like biking.
Not long after, Eugene’s thirst for adventure was sparked again. From his favorite spot in the living room, he was watching his Life Guru meet an author. Oprah, in her red sweater and hair slicked back was clapping as she walked towards a happy woman in a purple top with outstretched arms. Oprah read Wild from her front yard; Cheryl Strayed humbly informs Oprah that the memoir, “is just part of my life, it’s not just a story.” She continued on to discuss the lesson of acceptance, while Eugene’s mind reeled over the Pacific Crest Trail, that’s right in my own backyard, he thought, excitement buzzing. Just as quickly as the idea had entered his mind, to hike the PCT, it fell, another dream pushed aside by self doubt and whispers of that’s too crazy.
Three months later, Eugene was still enthralled by the idea of walking to Pacific Crest Trail; California, Oregon, Washington; crossing fifty-seven mountain passes, dripping down into nineteen canyons. Eugene still wanted adventure, and the idea of walking the Pacific Crest Trail, never left him.
In November of 2014 he met a man who cannot walk; Arthur Renowitzky. He was not taken aback by Arthur’s paralysis. Sitting across from a man in a wheel chair didn’t feel foreign; in fact, the only time he had experienced culture shock was when he met a group of North Koreans in Los Angeles. He was content with the transparency of Arthur’s kindness; his optimism showed through and Eugene knew he wanted to help him walk again.
In preparation to walk to Pacific Crest Trail, Eugene trained in crossfit and high intensity interval training, daily and often twice a day. On March 1, 2015, Dog town Athletic became his second home, tucked away in Oakland; he was consistently pushed to the limit. Treadmill sprints, dead lift squats, back on the treadmill, field squats. Soon his training evolved from the gym to include walking ten miles a day at Lake Chabot with heavy feet and a twenty-five pound backpack. No stranger to the meditation that solitary travel brings, the biggest obstacle he expects to face is the physical pain of just literally walking every day. Anxious that he has yet to walk twenty miles, Eugene is still determined. Although his feet throb, he knows in the back of his mind, Arthur would give everything he could to just be in my situation to feel sensation in his feet.
A mere four days away from the PCT kickoff date, Eugene is overjoyed; he has fully audited his sanity. Although he knows that delirium will hit him eventually he will take that as it comes. Grateful for the support and the selflessness of those who have donated, Eugene, and Arthur, will walk.