Growing up in small town Midwestern America, I was no stranger to hiking, what with many years of my older brother dragging me along on his pointless wandering. He loved to simply take a compass bearing and walk into the woods or swamp on a game trail (which always disappeared). After hours of falling in the mud, being accosted by wood ticks, and lacerated by briers just for the sake of knowing what the terrain was like, he would look at his compass and walk right back to the road where we started.
I joined the Army straight out of high school, just before Desert Storm. Humping 100 pounds of land mines in an external frame pack and walking through stream beds up the side of the South Korean mountains in the dark didn't help my affection for hiking.
While in South Korea, I sustained a major back injury (I was knocked off a tank, falling ten feet into rocks and landing on my tail bone). Over the years, this injury worsened, leaving me unable to walk for days at a time. When I could walk, it was with a limp and a hunched back, but the only thing that relieved chronic nerve pain in my back and legs was walking. I walked around our neighborhood before and after work to ease the pain and stiffness. In 2001, I finally agreed to back surgery after realizing that I couldn't even hold my infant daughter, Reed, for any length of time. Sometime during this process, I decided that if I needed to walk all the time, I would at least get out of town and see some wilderness.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- Beginning to Backpack
- Sharing the Gift
- A Trail Name
- Figuring Out the Details
- Sunshine's Interview
- Gear List
# WORDS: 2600
# PHOTOS: 13
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Discussion
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Awesome opportunity you both have, and I hope the trip is as enjoyable as possible. Good luck!
Awesome, love it.
I don't know what you plan to do after the PCT, but your writing is professional quality. Clear, simple, and honest.
Pretty amazing. I definitely will be following your trail journal.
Living the dream :-)
Totally Rad, Dad!
So great. Thanks for posting. Love the "Applesauce Bandit."
Gotta love Tuesdays, especially when an article of this caliber comes along. I pray that all goes well for you two. You know, God does bring us some great opportunities and this is surely one of them. Very impressed you've grabbed it with all your will. Have fun and keep us updated.
What an empowering journey for a kid! She will reap the benefits for the rest of her life. What can slow her down after that? She's going to be light years ahead of the other kids as far as confidence and maturity. Keep her challenged after the trip— middle school might be a little boring after walking down the spine of a continent :)
HAPPY TRAILS!
I agree with Nick as he wrote above. I would love it if BPL would set up a means whereby the members can join in on sponsoring this father-daughter duo trek. What better way to say thanks to Eric for his service to his country. What better way to say we believe in the benefits of backpacking for children. I would love to help support this entire family not just the hikers. Mom and the younger daughter can use our support as well.
So, I encourage all you BPL members to email the BPL Customer Service asking that they look into this possibility and make it a reality. Let's give back and pay it forward at the same time!
You go Balls & Sunshine.
Rodney Mruk
I am so impressed and a little envious. I also have two girls Allison five and Aimee 3. Alli has Aspergers a form of autism. I found that hiking is a great form of therapy for her. We hike together a couple of days a week. Low muscle tone, tippy toe walking, gross motor skills problems along with anxiety all are helped by hiking. It is a great alternative to drugs to treat anxiety. Our time together on the trail is so beneficial.
I read Zero Days a story of the youngest person to thru Hike the PCT. Scout a 10 year old girl and her parents set the bar. It is a great book by the way. I learned from their hike and it inspired me. I have made a goal to take Alli when she is physicaly ready to do it. It is great to see another daddy daughter duo.
Helping to support this incredible story is a great idea. Count me in.
All I gotta say is Skurka better start checkin' his rear view mirror.
Hey Balls and Sunshine! You are starting the same day as my daughter Ramblin' Rose and me (Half Step). Looking forward to meeting you both!
Good luck to you both! This sounds like an amazing experience! I can't wait to follow your trail journal reports.
I second the call to set up a paypal donation page.
This story is inspirational and I can't wait to follow your journey. Actually, I can't wait for my son Henry and I to follow your journey. He is 4 and he and just finished his 11th backpacking trip, most of which have been just the two of us. Backpacking has always been a place of joy for him, and for amazing father-son time. Most of my favorite moments as a parent have occurred on the trail with Henry.
Now I can see what this can lead to! That might not mean a thru-hike for us, but I can see how Sunshine has grown up with it and I can see a similar path for my kids.
Thank you so much for your adventure. It will be a pleasure to travel with you.
Great story…I love it. It inspired me!
Backpacking Light is looking into a means by which our members can donate to Balls and Sunshine. Stay tuned.
– Sam
What a great story! My father introduced me to hiking when I was only 4 years old and that experience and his teachings about nature, the woods, and its residents made such an impact on me and has shaped my outdoors love and philosophy.
This is such an incredible loving and wonderful gift you are giving your daughter, Balls! She will remember this for the rest of her life and she will no doubt pass it on to her own children.
Best wishes for your hike and may the trail be a good friend to you!
Thanks for the article. Been bedridden for the last several months and have been rather down lately. Thank you for showing me the hope for a better future if one is willing to look for it.
Thank you BPL for your support! Thank you readers for your kind words and encouragment! I look forward to updating you with more articles as the journey continues! Many have asked how they can donate to our adventure, so we set up a Paypal account for donations. If you go to our journal at: trailjournals.com/ballsandsunshine you will see a row of blue buttons on the left hand margin, click on "about". There is now a Paypal donate button at the bottom of that page. Thankyou, and keep an eye out for our next story from the trail!
I briefly met you 2 while at the ADZPCTKO and hope your journey is of epic proportions with smiles all the way.
-Keen Eyes
I, also, ran into them at the Kickoff. Very nice, genuine folk! Here's a couple of pic of them:
I got a huge kick out of the contrast of Sunshine running and playing at kickoff while many of us older guys moped around, often with the limp of sore feet.
I think what you are doing is awesome! Were headed to Sequoia National Park in 3 weeks for some trail hiking then into some of the parks in Utah. You two are an inspiration to get some trail time in with my kids. Thank You!
I heard from Eric (Balls) this morning that he and Sunshine reached the Canadian border Saturday evening! What a wonderful accomplishment for this plucky young lady!
They do have one stretch of trail left to do, from Wahtum Lake to Cascade Locks. They had left the trail at Wahtum Lake to attend PCTA Trail Days, but couldn't get back because the road was closed that afternoon due to the Dollar Lake Fire. They tentatively plan to dayhike this section on Wednesday. If all goes as planned, I will meet them at Cascade Locks (where they'll park their vehicle) and drive them to Wahtum Lake.
It was nice meeting you two at my store tonight! And cool to meet other members from here.
Cheers
Daniel
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