Walking the West

Walking the West-Hiking 2600 miles from Mexico to Canada, A documentary by Myles Murphy ★★
This is a video account of two guys, both foreigners, one from New Zealand and the other from Ireland, who met while working in San Francisco and decided to hike the PCT together. Neither had done much backpacking before in their life. They give a highly realistic account of the venture, and this film won several film awards. Oddly, it paints nearly the entire trail at its worst. Though not specially mentioned in the film, it seems like the two guys went from being best friends to worst enemies during the 2600 miles of the hike, often separating from each other, and not really supporting each other. The filming I presume was accomplished by a third person who would meet the hikers along the trail, as I’d hate to think of anybody lugging a movie camera along. The film emphasized the value of the trail to help one “find” one’s self, even though the preponderance of the film was a downer. I’m puzzled as to why this film would receive a high rating, save that people sometimes enjoy watching others be miserable.