I'm cutting BCEP short to fly down to San Diego on April 25th and will start hiking the next morning. I've contacted a great couple of Trail Angles (Scout & ) who live in San Diego that will take me in for the night, feed me, and give me a ride to the border the next morning. I've been told that there will be about 20-30 other PCT hikers whom they will also be accommodating during that time. They will be giving this service to through hikers for the next two months. This is why the PCT community is so great. People are willing to give an arm and a leg to thru-hikers, and will do anything to make our time on and off the trail as stress-less as possible. Most trail angles don't accept donations, and any money given to them is forwarded to the PCTA.
Back to planning:
I've pretty much gathered all the gear that I need to start my trip, with the exception of some lightweight hiking pants... it's hard to shop for these in the off season and I like trying things on before buying them (this goes for most of my gear). Next step is to field-test the gear pre San Diego, and TRAIN!
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Yesterday I spent about 13 hours creating my resupply strategy and itinerary. This involves naming each town town that I will either resupply at, or ship food to future resupply locations. I'm choosing to use a 'buy as I go' method regarding food. Some people pre-pack and mail drop their food to each location. But because I'm not sure how much I will eat and because I don't want to eat the same food every day, I figure buying as I go is the better option (it also helps out local communities). I also spent a good chunk of time divvying out my maps & town guides. In total I'm planning to resupply at 25 different locations (averaging 100 miles apart) and about 8 different map-drops.
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| Miles of 'Halfmile's' maps before I placed them in sectional packages |
Things that are making this process a whole lot easier:
Yogi's Guide
Craig's PCT Planner (for calculating pace)
Halfmile's maps
PCT Class of 2012 (Facebook Group)
3 comments:
Hey Justin, we're going through all the same stuff man. Now that I've left my job (and that's a weird feeling!), I almost feel more overwhelmed with tasks to do than I did before. It's almost like my job was my downtime.
I also have all my gear collected except lightweight hiking pants. I looked at a lot of pairs but haven't found quite the right ones. I'm on the fence with them at this point. I might just do shorts and use my capilene tights under them if I need something more. We'll see.
I'm planning on a "buy as you go" approach too. I've found some pretty good websites with pointers and suggested logistics. I'd be interested in hearing which towns you picked for what. Are you considering a bounce box at all, or no? I want to bring a lot of electronics, and like you, am debating the inclusion of a heavy camera. I think my plan is to bring it, at least in the beginning, and then see if it's going to carry it's weight out there. If not, I can always mail it back. I never really hike or climb without it, and the rest of the gear that I've collected for this trip is so much lighter than what I'm used to carrying that my overall weight will still be much lighter, so I think I feel comfortable giving it a shot. Capturing all this media though (SLR, gopro hero2, whatever i take with my phone), I was thinking of buying a new netbook, and bouncing it to myself along the trail so I have a place to offload the files to, and something to periodically send out nice pictures and video with when I can get wifi.
It's funny what "gear experts" we become over the course of this process. I look at everyone's photos of all their gear laid out, and without even seeing any logos or anything, I know the make and model of all their stuff!
Is that the montbell ul super spiral down hugger #1 in that bag? I wanted that so bad, but the stores I could get discounts at were sold out, so I ended up going with my second choice, the marmot helium, because with a dividend and 20% of voucher, I could get it for half price at REI.
Anyway, I certainly understand how you feel with all this stuff. I hope you're a little less stressed out about it all than I am!
Yah! I bet over 300 other hikers are freaking out at this stage haha. I did buy a pair of Patagonia pants, but took them back b/c I ended up not liking them... I just ordered some OR pants and hope these will work... I was also thinking about just going with a baselayer/short system, but I'm worried about the cold nighttime, when I'm not moving.
I'll post my Gear List and Resupply route in a bit. As far as bounce boxes, I don't think I'll have one because I don't want to deal with shipping more stuff (I'm already resupplying as I go for most of the trail).
and yes, Super Spiral Down.. A bit on the heavy side, but the most comfy bag I've slept in. I'm going into the gorge today/tonight if you want to join.
I'm actually less concerned about not having pants due to the cold as I am about not having them for sun protection and BUG protection. I've spent some really miserable days and nights camping in central oregon where I got eaten alive. I can't imagine prolonged stretches of that, and I'm not a big fan of bug sprays or lotions (or sunscreen for that matter, even though I can burn pretty bad if I'm not careful).
I'd love to hike and camp tonight, but I'm just so overwhelmed with last minute stuff that needs to be tied up before I leave. I sat down and made a list yesterday, and when I realized how much there was left to do, I think I'll be lucky if I sleep in my tent once before leaving for Campo. So no hiking out to cascade locks and back, that's for sure. It looks like I WILL be going out there on Saturday though to help Shrek out, just in my car.
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