Week Three: Wilderness and Civilization

"There are plenty of rules out here, we just don't follow any of them" - Genie

Week three, 21 days on the trail. I've spent 4 of those nights in a bed of some sort while passing through towns, the rest out in the outdoors. It's weird to see how my perspective is changing. I don't notice how dirty and sweaty I smell until I'm actually in a public place again, like a post office... I guess it's because there is so much fresh air outdoors.

There are a few things that myself and others have found hard re-adjusting to in towns:

Store hours and days of closure - the post office in particular:
 There was a day on trail where many of us realized we'd have to book it to make it to town the next day before closing hours. The post office was only open until 1:00 on a saturday, which would've delayed us until monday if we missed it. Hard to readjust after having no real schedule for days on end, and the day of week is definitely useless information on trail days.

Public bathrooms:
Had to reign in the instict to just pee on a nearby bush while in town.. strange how quickly I forgot that social rule.

City Grime vs. Outdoor Grime:
Sleeping in cheap hotels has an element of griminess for sure, and I find myself much prefering to sleep in dirt on trail.

Also, when the trail passes a location that is easily accessible by road (hence locals coming from town for the day), graffiti and trash really become prominent and painful to see. The on-trail community is so welcoming, and the wilderness so pristine in many places, that it's strange to come back to "civilization," where things are much different.

Also, I had my 27th birthday on trail recently. Seems appropriate that I settled on a trail name for myself that day as well. Those on the path will know me as 'Traveller" from here on out.

Week three video is here (hope it's working, still doing all uploads from my phone...). Catch you in the next town!

Week Two Video uploaded

Here's the week two video, from outside Warner Spring to around mile 210!

(Might have to go full screen to clear it up. Not sure why, but it's acting a bit goofy for me.)

Week two: Julian (mi 77) to mile 210

"Home is where you unpack it" - Sled Dog

Week two has been just as busy, with more amazing views. It's an interesting experience being out on the trail even this long (13 days as I write this). 

I'm amazed at the mileage that's flowing past me, already hit 210. There was a 20 mile closure of trail near the town of Idyllwild, so I've not hit 200 exactly of my own feet, but still feels good.

Yep, my feet get that dirty THROUGH my socks

Beauty and brutality in the Desert:

I'm no Ansel Adams... but trying anyway

It's hot. My main daily concern is mileage to the next water source. Other than that, there's an unbelievable amount of freedom out here. I eat, sleep, rest, and walk when I want, within the only confining parameters of finishing the trail before the season turns.

For a solid span of days, I was unaware of the day of week. By 9:00 the heat of day is already in swing. Most hikers get solid mileage in the morning, then camp out for the heat of the day, hiking again in the cool evening. It's nice to be outside, feeling the lenth of a day in it's entirety. The heat wears you down though..

But the sunset's more than make up for it. We've made it a priority to have a daily "sunset pow-wow" to watch the day's final scene.

Wicked sunset view

A Tale of two Terrible Nights:

And times are not all fun. I should mention the terrible times as well. I've had two miserable nights, only needing my tent 3 nights in total since I've been out (cowboy camping the rest of the time).

The first was my very first night on trail. The weather was cold and windy when I started, and rain set in that evening. I ended up pitching my tent a little too close to sundown in wind and rain. The desert soil was loose due to the moisture, and I bent a tent stake trying to hammer them in tight. In the end though, my tent was dry inside, and sleeping bag was warm. It was just a frustrating start.

The second was last night, on a big decent from the San Jacinto mountains. It was insanely windy on the exposed mountainside, and I managed to pitch a solid set up with large rocks on the stakes to hold them in place... but the wind carried lots of dust right into my tent all night. It powdered everything, and I tied a bandana around my face to avoid breathing it in. In the morning, the crust in my eyes was mud when I cleared it out. A late night rain accompanied this wind, to make things rougher. A few miles up the mountain, others got a powdering of snow!

I was warned that week two is when the initial enthusiasm starts to wane, and the mileage becomes a chore. I felt that a bit today. Looking back at the mountains I just came from helps a little, but talking with other hikers going through the same hard nights helps loads. We'll have to see what week 3 has in store. 

Week two video coming soon! Need to find a solid connection to upload...

Week One: Hiking The Pacific Crest Trail

"It's just walking. Anyone can do it." - Yogi

Looking at the climb out of Scissors crossing (mi 77)

So, im just about through my first week on the trail. My extreme blogging ambitions have fallen by the wayside a little, but I'll do my best to capture some thoughts. I haven't had decent cell reception, and I've been caught up in the adventure and meeting new people. I've met tons of people already, from all different walks of life - and parts of the world even.

Since I delayed my start date to the 25th and got a ride out here from my parents, I lucked out and made it to the last day of the big PCT kick-off event. People who've done the trail in previous years come out and greet the new batch of hikers, and coordinate seminars and advice.

And I got to meet Yogi, the woman who wrote the guidebook I'm using! She gave me a PCT class of 2015 bandana. Pretty cool!

Yep, it can also be used to hitch a ride to or from town

The Hiking Community on Trail:

I've been hiking with a cool group of people. Sometimes we stay together, sometimes everyone does their own thing. You can hike all day in solitude usually, since everyone goes a similar pace down the trail. Then when you get to a water source or camping area, there's often a group of people chilling and resting their feet. It's never predictable where you'll encounter people either. You might run into someone at the next water source that you haven't seen in days.

There's an interesting age group out here also, and it's pretty well split. There are people in the 20 to 30 age group, and then people in the 50-60 age group. So, discontented youngsters like myself, fighting a 9 to 5 existence, and retired people chasing a dream they never made time for when young.

Either way, it's a beautiful trip. The Pacific Crest Trail in these early miles is like a roller coaster. It climbs way up into the mountains with beautiful views, and then drops down to the desert floor... over and over again. The terrain is constantly changing, making every section new and exciting. Everyday I can stop and look back on the miles I've accomplished, as the mountains roll behind me into the distance.

Check out my video synopsis of week one as well. I'll try to keep the blog entries coming.

Gear: You Are Almost Always Bringing Too Much

It seems that every hiker has almost the same story of their first trip. Load a pack up with everything you think you could possibly need, and hit the trail. Might get bored? Bring a few books! Need more stuff than you can fit IN your pack? Strap it to the outside! Food? An early trip in my career was primarily fueled by canned ravioli and Vienna sausages. HEAVY shit for sure!

My buddy had a full size bed pillow strapped to his pack, which another hiker we saw on the trail exclaimed obscenities about. Good thing he didn't bring the air mattress along after all!

So this first foray into hiking usually involves a 40+ pound pack, insanely sore legs, and a lasting memory of pain you would like to avoid ever repeating.

From there it's a process of cutting items down every trip, and finding lighter alternatives. Also, it's a process of gradually learning what comforts you can really live without, and adjusting yourself accordingly.

Note the size of the cook pot hanging out on the back of my pack - classic!

There's a beauty in the simplicity of it really. It's carried over into other parts of my life as well. I traveled to Taiwan for two weeks this year with a single carry-on bag and 3 changes of clothes. Every time I move, I look at all the crap I've accumulated. Stuff that I've hauled around to three different homes and never really even use. I've begun to look at that with the same mentality of eliminating needless possessions, or convincing myself not to buy them in the first place.

Moving all my crap.. once again

 I've put together an overview of the gear I'll be bringing. The hiker method of comparing pack weight involves the concept of 'base weight'. This is the weight of everything (excluding food and water, which vary in weight due to consumability) that will pretty much reside in your pack. Tent, sleeping bag, and the backpack itself are 'the big three' collectively, as they are typically the heaviest contributors to overall pack weight.

My base weight is currently coming in around 16.6 lbs. With water and a weeks worth of food loaded up, I estimate about 20 to 25 lbs on top of that. I will be carrying this over literal mountains - so I need to be mindful about eliminating the excess!

Wearing     Packed        Total 2.64 lbs 16.62 lbs 19.26 lbs           oz           lbs Gossamer gear Mariposa (BackPack) 31.5 1.97        Big 3    Clothes         misc Marmot Plasma 15 degree + stuff sac 36.4 2.28 6.13 lbs 6.84 lbs 6.29 lbs Contrail Tarp tent + steaks 30.2 1.89 UrSack (food bag) 5 0.31 trekking poles (total for both) 18.8 1.18 ground sheet (tub) 3.4 0.21 pack towel 2.1 0.13 hankerchief 1.2 0.08 DEET 0.9 0.06 Sunscreen 1.1 0.07 compass 1 0.06 bits of rope 1.7 0.11 stick pic (for taking video) 1 0.06 Thermarest pad (14 segments) 13.4 0.84 wet wipes  1.5 0.09 Headlamp 3 0.19 S4 phone (w/ otter box) 7.1 0.44 Cables 1 0.06 Battery pack 4.7 0.29 Knife 0.7 0.04 Journal/Pen 2 0.13 Stove 3 0.19 Fuel 5.9 0.37 Cook pot 4 0.25 Spoon 0.7 0.04 Sawyer mini + filter bag 2.6 0.16 Clothing! Darn toughs socks 2.5 0.16 Darn toughs socks 2.5 0.16 Injini socks (x1) 1.5 0.09 Marmot Precip 11.5 0.72 Marmot driclimb 8.4 0.53 Mountain hardwear Puffy 13.3 0.83 Sleep shirt 8.7 0.54 Capilene pants 4.9 0.31 Patagonia shirt 3.7 0.23 Prana shorts 6 0.38 Prana Pants 13.7 0.86 Ex Officio boxers (x2) 2.7 0.17 Sun Glasses and stow sack 1.5 0.09 OR sun hat 3.1 0.19 Rain Kilt 2.8 0.18 Bug Net (.8 without bag) 0.8 0.05 Howler bros shirt 7.1 0.44 beanie (Arcteryx) 2.2 0.14 sun gloves 0.6 0.04 umbrella 12 0.75 First aid/toiletries 14.8 0.93

Resupply Madness!

I'm now completing the final preparations before setting off.. which means I've got my gear nailed down and my resupply packages ready to go (mostly)!

 Resupply is an interesting topic. A lot of the advice I've come across seems to indicate that the preferrable strategy is to primarily fill up at grocery stores in towns along the way, for two reasons: schedule flexibility, and changes in food appetite.

You can skip a town here or there if you are still well supplied, since you don't have make a scheduled package pick-up. If you decide you are absolutely tired of instant oatmeal, you don't have to dread the fact that you've already shipped a million packets of it in your future boxes!

For that reason, I'm going to restock via a small combination of mailed boxes and resupply in town stores. I've prepared 3 boxes to have sent to me, which I can contact my resupply guru (thanks mom!) To add any additional gear I need. For towns that may not have large enough stores, I can plan ahead and even ship myself a package from the town just before!

Check out the map. I'll start with enough food for a week. That should get me to mile 109.5, Warner springs, if I cover at least 15 miles a day. That's where im sending package no. 1.

Then I hit the grocery at the next town at mile 179, Idyllwild, which is also supposed to be a super hiker friendly town. That'll get me to Big Bear at mi 266, etc ect..

Fun part was buying all the resupply food. Criteria for hiking nutrition: lots of calories!   

Bomb's away, I'll let you know how it goes.

Making the leap: Deciding to attempt the Pacific Crest Trail

"Our goal should be not the emulation of the ancients and their ways, but to experience for ourselves the aspects of human existence out of which arose those ancient forms which when we see them elicit such a feeling of... longing. Otherwise the modern will remain forever superficial while the real will remain ancient, far away, and therefore outside of ourselves."

- Mr. Aoki 

(Dog-eared from "A Language Older than Words" by Derrick Jensen)

I've been plotting the path for a thru-hike attempt of the Pacific Crest Trail since October last year. More recently, I've done some thinking about the internal journey for me in this regard - in particular, how did I go from dreaming about this sort of adventure to actually taking the steps to attempt it?

I think I first discovered the Pacific Crest Trail a few years ago in Ray Jardine's hiking book, "Trail Life". Jardine was the go-to source for lightweight hiking wisdom for PCT hikers for many years, and it was actually images from the PCT in that book that ignited the desire for me to attempt it at some point in my life.

Trail Life - Ray Jardine

I am familiar with the book "Wild", though I hadn't read it myself prior to this year.  I've read a number of other long distance hiking travelogues, and am fascinated with the insights gained from such an undertaking. The Appalachian trail is pretty well known today I would venture to say. Lots of people attempt it for numerous different reasons; after being diagnosed with cancer, after losing a job or retiring, or after college/high school with no idea where to head in life.


I read "The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind - and Almost Found Myself - On the Pacific Crest Trail" By Dan White.

And you can't go wrong with Bill Bryson's, "A Walk in the Woods".

But the big one that pushed me forward with my own ambition this past year was a youtube series by a guy named Joe Brewer. Something about his series of video journals for the AT and PCT presented the journey as something difficult, but very possible. Watching a seemingly normal guy (though I still find him to be a inspiring individual) hike all that way made me ask myself, "Why couldn't I do it?"

Here's a link to his Mt. Whitney summit - one of my favorites from his hike. I will be borrowing his method of documenting the journey through video logs most likely..

Joe Brewer's PCT Hike - Mt. Whitney



I will also be using one of the well known PCT guidebooks, "Yogi's PCT Handbook".
The information in this book is ridiculously well laid out. Her list of re-supply towns makes it a breeze to map out a plan (she even lays out step by step how to label and ship the package to minimize any potential delivery problems!)

Also, check out Mac from HalfwayAnywhere.com for some more enjoyable PCT info.

www.halfwayanywhere.com/pacific-crest-trail

I am very much "standing on the shoulders of Giants" as I plan this adventure. The path is well laid out for those who seek to find it, it just takes that last leap of faith to actually leave everything behind.

More blogs to come soon.. definitely expect a gear overview of everything I am bringing with me before I set out, and an overview of food I will be bringing.