徒步荒野教給我們的那些事

THIS is arguably America’s greatest hiking trail, a 2,650-mile serpentine path running through desert and wilderness from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. The Pacific Crest Trail meanders through cactus and redwoods, challenging humans with rivers and snowfields, rattlesnakes and bears.

這可以說是美國最重要的旅行步道：一條2650英里（約合4260公里）長的蜿蜒之路，穿越沙漠和荒野，從美國和墨西哥的邊界延伸到與加拿大的邊界。沿着太平洋屋脊步道(Pacific Crest Trail)行走，會途經仙人掌叢和紅杉林，需跨越河流、雪地，還會碰到響尾蛇和熊。

It’s a trail of extremes. Hiking it with my daughter near the Mexican border this month, we sweltered on our first day in soaring temperatures and a 20-mile dry section through the desert. Six days and a bit more than 150 miles later, near the town of Idyllwild, we shivered in 30-degree temperatures as the heavens dumped snow on us.

這是一條充滿極限挑戰的路。這個月，我和女兒從美墨邊境附近的路段開始徒步。第一天，我們走的是一段20英里長的乾燥的沙漠地，氣溫不斷飆升，感覺酷熱難耐。花六天時間走了150多英里之後，我們到達靠近愛德懷鎮的地方。天降大雪，我們又開始在華氏30度（約合攝氏零下1度）的低溫下瑟瑟發抖。

The trail is a triumph of serenity and solitude. Except that, these days, the solitude is getting crowded.

這條路是屬於寧靜和孤獨的，只不過，近段時間以來，那份孤獨開始變得有些熱鬧。

Apparently, in part because of the book and movie versions of “Wild,” about Cheryl Strayed’s journey of discovery and self-repair on her hike, some areas of the trail feel as busy as a scout jamboree.

如今，這條步道的一些路段像童子軍大聯歡一樣熙熙攘攘，顯然部分原因在於，人們受到了《走出荒野》(Wild)這本書和據此改編的電影的影響。謝麗爾·史翠德(Cheryl Strayed)在其中講述了自己在這條路上的發現之旅，以及她自我修復的過程。

I’ve been backpacking the Pacific Crest Trail since I was a kid, inspired by the first person to complete a thru-hike from Canada to Mexico, Eric Ryback, who wrote a book published in 1971 about his feat. My 17-year-old daughter and I aim to eventually hike the full trail, section by section, in this narrow window in which she is strong enough and I’m not yet decrepit. Last year, we completed Oregon and Washington, and this month’s section took us through the southernmost part of California desert.

還是個孩子的時候，我就開始在太平洋屋脊步道上揹包旅行，當時是受到埃裏克·裏巴克(Eric Ryback)的啓發。他是完成從加拿大到墨西哥的徒步穿越旅程的第一人，並且根據自己的經歷寫作了一本書，於1971年出版。我和17歲的女兒計劃分段走完整條步道，趁着現在女兒已身強體健而我還沒老去。去年，我們完成了位於俄勒岡州和華盛頓州的路段，這個月我們走完了加州荒漠最南端那部分。

Fewer people have hiked the full Pacific Crest Trail than have reached the summit of Mount Everest. Yet, this year, so many want to hike it that a limit has been placed on permits so that no more than 50 thru-hikers can begin at the Mexican border each day.

走完太平洋屋脊步道全程的人比登上珠穆朗瑪峯的人還要少。但今年太多人想要穿越這條路，使得管理方不得不加以限制，每天只允許不超過50人從墨西哥邊境出發。

Another memoir may add to the mystique. In “Girl in the Woods,” scheduled for publication in September, with a possible television spinoff, Aspen Matis recounts how she was raped on the second day of college and then fled campus to seek healing on a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. She starved and suffered on the trail but also found redemption — and, yes, her future husband by the 2,000 mile mark.

還有一本回憶錄也會增加它的神祕性。在計劃於今年9月出版的《林中女孩》(Girl in the Woods)一書裏，阿斯彭·馬蒂斯(Aspen Matis)講述了自己的故事。此書還可能會改編成電視劇。她在上大學第二天遭到強姦，然後逃離校園去穿越太平洋屋脊步道尋求療愈。旅行中，她忍受飢餓，經受磨難，但也獲得了救贖。是的，她還在走到2000英里的時候找到了自己未來的丈夫。

(I wonder if women don’t have the edge in trail memoirs. Male hikers project toughness, female hikers vulnerability. Ask a man resting on a trailside log how he’s doing, and he’ll boast of how many miles he has walked. Ask a woman, and she’ll confide about her blisters, mosquito bites and insecurities. That’s not universally true, as Bill Bryson can attest, but women seem more comfortable opening up about the woes that are inevitably much more interesting than the miles.)

（我在想，女性在撰寫旅行回憶錄方面是否真的沒有優勢。男性徒步者通常會突顯自己的強韌，而女性徒步者則喜歡強調自己的脆弱。問一個正在路邊木頭上休息的男性當下感覺如何，他會大談特談自己已經走了多長的路。問一個女徒步者，她會講自己的水泡、蚊子叮咬的包和不安全感。儘管就像比爾·布來森(Bill Bryson)證明的那樣，事情並非絕對如此，不過女性似乎的確更願意展露困難的一面，而這顯然比講走了多少英里更吸引人。）

Most would-be thru-hikers will probably drop out — one woman gave up this year on the first day, after 13 miles — but hundreds are expected to walk every step of the way to Canada.

大部分計劃走完全程的人可能會中途退出——今年有一名女士剛走13英里就在啓程的第一天放棄了——但預計有成百上千人會一步步抵達步道那一端的加拿大。

Old hands fret that these neophytes don’t know what they’re doing (The Wall Street Journal quoted one woman this month who had never spent a night outdoors until she began her “Wild”-inspired hike) and could endanger themselves. The trail begins at the Mexican border with a 20-mile dry stretch, and my daughter and I ran across five inexperienced men who had all separately run out of water on that stretch and become dehydrated.

經驗豐富的徒步者擔心新手們對自己正在做的事認識不足（這個月，《華爾街日報》有篇文章引述了一名女士的例子。在受《走出荒野》啓發開始徒步之旅以前，她沒有任何夜間戶外生存的經驗），可能會讓自己陷入危險的境地。這條步道在墨西哥邊境的開頭部分是一段20英里長的乾燥地段。我和女兒那裏曾先後遇到五個沒有經驗的徒步者，全都因用光了隨身攜帶的飲品而進入脫水狀態。

Drought has also forced hikers to carry more water: The first eight creeks that we crossed were dry.

乾旱也迫使徒步旅行者隨身攜帶更多水：我們在路上經過的頭八條小溪都已乾涸。

We encountered another hazard in the form of a rattlesnake that my daughter almost stepped on. Yet, in the end, most hikers do just fine, apart from blisters and a few lost toenails, and it’s hard to begrudge anyone the chance for a bit of nature therapy in the Cathedral of Wilderness.

我們遇到的另一個危險來自響尾蛇，我女兒就差點踩到一條。但是到最後，除了長點水泡和掉些腳趾甲，大部分徒步者都還好。而且，實在是很難剝奪人們在荒野聖殿裏感受一點自然療法的機會。

It’s striking that hikers come to the trail for solitary reflection, yet often end up coalescing into groups — because we are social animals, and solitude is so much more fun when you have somebody to share it with.

不同尋常的地方在於，那些前來徒步尋求孤獨反思的人最後往往反倒融入了羣體——因爲我們是羣居動物，而孤寂在有人分享時反倒顯得有趣得多。

There’s a hobo spirit on the trail, with no social distinctions and everybody helping everyone else. One example of this generosity is the work of “trail angels” who lug water, soda, hamburgers, cookies or other treats to places where a road intersects a trail, to delight exhausted backpackers. This is controversial, partly because animals also dine on treats that are left out, and it’s also not exactly wilderness when you come across a cooler with soda.

行走在這條路上的人們有一種流浪者精神，他們相互之間沒有社會地位差別，彼此幫助。這種慷慨的例證之一是“徒步天使”的事蹟。他們往徒步路線和普通道路的交叉口運送飲用水、汽水、漢堡、餅乾和其他零食，提供給精疲力盡的揹包客。這種行爲存在爭議，部分原因在於那裏的動物也會享用剩下的食物，而且如果有機會在中途喝上冰凍汽水，這稱不上爲真正的野外徒步了。

Still, all this generosity and mutual assistance is truly heartwarming. At about the 140-mile mark, my daughter and I came across a trail angel “library” — a glass-protected bookshelf of paperbacks for any hikers needing to weather out a snowstorm.

不過，這種慷慨和互助的確很暖心。在步行到大約140英里的地方時，我和女兒遇到了一個徒步天使“圖書館”——一個由玻璃保護起來的書架，擺着平裝書，提供給需要熬過暴風雪的徒步者。

Professor Robert Putnam of Harvard may be right that an unfortunate fragmentation of society has left us Americans “bowling alone.” But, on the brighter side, we’re “hiking together”!

哈佛教授羅伯特·帕特南(Robert Putnam)表達的觀點可能是對的，社會分化非常不幸地讓我們美國人陷入了“獨自打保齡”的境地。然而幸運的是，我們還在“一起徒步”！