Reel Rundown: Monroe, Washington, filmmaker documents ‘Days on PCT,’ with infectious enthusiasm

We all have our escapist fantasies. Some of us imagine what it’s like to climb mountains. Others of us muse about competing in triathlons. A few simply settle for visions of lounging on a Hawaiian beach.

One popular fantasy involves hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, an exploit no doubt fueled by such memoirs as Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” – or the 2014 movie it spawned starring Reese Witherspoon.

If you don’t know what the PCT is, it’s the 2,653-mile-long footpath that stretches from the Mexican border all the way north to Canada. It’s the western version of the Appalachian Trail, which was made famous in Bill Bryson’s 1998 travel book “A Walk in the Woods.”

It’s nice to fantasize about walking all that distance, facing the blazing heat and frigid cold, trudging up thousands of feet over the Sierras and Cascades, getting by on what you can carry and going sometimes weeks without bathing – unless, of course, you chance upon a suitable swimming hole.

And, of course, we can always read accounts of those who do take up the challenge. Andrew Martin, though, is one who didn’t just fantasize about hiking the PCT. He actually accomplished the feat – or at least most of it (wildfires forced him to skip a segment in Northern California).

Martin captured his experience in a documentary feature film titled “Days on PCT,” which can be seen on a variety of streaming services (I saw it on Amazon Prime). A Monroe, Washington, photographer and videographer, Martin depicts the essence of his 196-day hike the way, say, Les Stroud does in his nature show “Survivorman” – by filming himself with the aid of a selfie-stick.

While he emphasizes the natural beauty he encounters, and the various people he meets who carry nicknames such as “Shenanigans,” “Street Fighter,” “Pony Express” and “Bible,” Martin also shares how difficult such a trek can be. In one instance, caught in a Sierras snowstorm, he says, “You have to be prepared for everything and anything.”

“Days on PCT” doesn’t come across as a Hollywood-style product. It feels more like something anyone with an iPhone and a pair of hiking boots could produce. But, curiously enough, that actually makes it easier to relate to since it captures the kinds of emotions most of us can understand.

Furthermore, Martin manages to portray the natural grandeur of what the trail has to offer. And, too, his enthusiasm is infectious. This is clear whether he’s explaining why he makes the effort to shave regularly – he doesn’t want to look like a “barbarian” – or waxing longingly about the beauty of a mountain sunset.

Or, most profoundly, how the exploit itself connects him with the various other characters he meets in such a meaningful way.

At one point, after tramping anywhere from 18 to 20 miles along the trail, he sets up camp with a band of other hikers who hail from around the world. One guy talks about being able to reconcile with his estranged father, while another builds a fire so that they can all commune, both with each other and the natural world itself.

“Life is so simple and so amazing,” Martin says. “I feel like the trail is its own country and only we are its citizens. We are becoming a tight-knit community, and the community is an adventurous kind. Nobody else is going through this but us.”

OK. But those of us watching from the comfort of our living rooms can certainly share the feeling – at least in our dreams.