It goes without saying that my trip was not what I wanted or expected. That being said I did learn some lessons for the future. One question you might have, "Is Russ still planning on doing the PCT through hike next year?" The answer is still yes. However, I hope this experience has made me wiser about my planning and abilities.
I plan on doing several multiple-day hikes from now until May of next year, and I will keep you updated on them. I plan to do quite a bit of day-hiking and lots of over nighters too. I would like to be in or near marathon shaped by the time I start the hike. That should make the mountain ascents much easier especially if I have thrown in lots of day hikes etc.
BTW it turns out that my blister was actually the result of Morten's Neuroma, an inflammation of the nerve between the metatarsal bones in the forefoot. This caused my foot to swell which caused unusual friction between my foot, sock and shoe. It has taken almost two weeks for it to completely go away, but I now feel I can start running and hiking again.This was probably the result of to much to soon. If I break the feet in on shorter hikes, more often, it will hopefully not happen again.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA Colorado Kid
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Day 2 Abrupt end to my Trip
Oct. 5, 2016
Day 2, 10.5 miles
I wake at about 6am and see that the stars are fading in the sky. I know I have to get up and get going. I have a decision to make and it's not one I relish. I am going to have to call it quits. I have made a bad miscalculation of my abilities and am in a precarious state. With no real meal last night I am weak. My muscles did not get the chance to be revived with much needed nutrition. I needed to take in about 800 - 1000 calories last night and I got maybe 100. In addition to that I now only have a 1.5 liters of water to get me the next 9.5 miles, completely exposed to direct sunlight, before I can get more.
My legs are weak and I stumble as I exit my tent. I have already rolled up my sleeping bag, mat and inflatable pillow. All in all it was a comfortable night sleeping as it was not very cold. Just really really windy. The wind has died down to just a breeze now so at least I don't have to fight it taking down my tent. I look for my lost stakes but never find them. Generally I will not need to use them all anyway but it still makes me a bit angry.
I struggle to get down an apple turnover for breakfast. It's all I can get down. I was planning on it plus two packages of instant oatmeal and a cup of hot chocolate. Don't have the appetite. I am really slow at breaking camp and don't hit the trail until about 7:45. I have a steep climb up to the trail from my campsite and I have to stop and get my breath about every 15 feet. I am about 50 feet down from the trail.
Finally I am on my way. It is already 15 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning. The north side of the mountain has very few trees at this elevation, 5100'. I left the tree line about 1000 feet ago. I am concerned about my water supply, only 1.5 liters with almost constant direct sunlight. It won't get extremely hot today but even at 75-80 degrees and direct sunlight while carrying 34 pounds on my back it feels more like 90 degrees. I relish every bit of wind in my face and dread it when the wind is at my back. The wind is out of the WNW and I am traveling mostly ENE. There are lots of switchback but my distance facing east vs west is twice as much on each switchback. I wish the wind were out of the east. It would be much more comfortable.
I stumble a couple of times and know it is because my legs are weak from lack of nutrition. My pace is much slower than I want. I'm hoping that when I reach the water spigot at mile 204 of the PCT northbound that I will have cell reception. I know I cannot continue to my next destination in one day and there is only one questionable campsite about 7 miles past the spigot. That would put me at 16 miles for the day and I had planned on 24 miles to the Whitewater Preserve. Even if I make it that far I have put my body in a state where I would need at least a whole days rest to recover and resume again and would end up way short of my planned extraction point. Once I get a few miles north of the 10 freeway I will lose cell reception again and be unable to let anyone know where I am.
Down, down, down I go. My legs are tired and my body wants to stop but I know I have to keep going. I wish I had stopped to camp at about 10 miles yesterday and I would be much better off, but also possibly in a worse water situation. I slow my pace so as not to sweat so much and also it is less likely I will stumble. My feet feel like I have gravel in my shoes. I take off my shoes and socks but there is no gravel. I must be close to getting a blister or two as I can feel the tenderness on the bottom of my feet. On and on I trudge getting more and more anxious about my water supply. I am pretty sure I can make it to the water spigot, but I am not sure what condition I will be in when I get there. I force myself to eat a snack at 1.5 hours into my trek and again at 3.25 hours into my trek. I am trying to save water mainly for getting down my snacks as it is really hard to eat and get down without water. With my last snack and 3.5 miles to go I drink my last 6 ounces of water from my extra bottle. I have no idea how much is left in my camelback bladder but know it is not much. It might only be one more swallow. I save it for when I am about 1.5 miles away and find I only have 6 swallows left. I know I will be able to make it.
Finally I can see the water spigot but know I still have close to a mile before I reach it. It is so tantalizing and I quicken my step only to tumble again. I slow down. As I am about a quarter mile from the spigot I see a work truck traveling up the road to the water plant above. I am hoping that I can get to the spigot before he gets there and flag him down to get a ride to the freeway but he's gone before I get there. Finally at the spigot I take in about 16 swallows, 8 at a time. I don't know why I am counting them. I then sit on the ground in the shade of a giant rock. I just sit there for about five minutes and rest. The cooler shade feels so refreshing. I get back up and take out my one liter bottle filling it to the top then drink half of it. I sit a little more and then pull out my phone and take it out of flight mode hoping I will have reception. Eureka, I have one sometimes two bars. I call my daughter but it goes to voice mail. I then call my friend Art who will probably be home and sure enough he answers. I ask him if he can come and rescue me and he says, "sure where are you at?" I have trouble telling him and ask him to google the Desert Water Agency and see if they have an address on Snow Creek Rd. He calls me back but can only find addresses in Palm Springs and some other outlying areas. I let him know that I am about 4-5 miles south of the 10 freeway and that next to the freeway is a small community about 4.5 miles east of Cabozon. I tell him that there is a freeway exit there with a hyphenated name with Haugen something and tell him I am going to eat lunch and try to be at that point in about 2 hours. He calls me back and says he found it on the map and will wait for my call.
I eat my lunch, the same as yesterday, Tortillas, Salami and Cheese sticks. I start my trek toward the freeway. The PCT trail actually follows about a mile of paved road here. When I get toward the bottom of the road I come to a small community and see a car leaving. I flag her down and ask if she can give me a lift to the freeway and she agrees. I ask where she is going and she says Palm Springs which is the opposite direction of where I need to go. I ask if she would mind going about a mile out of her way to drop me off. She agrees and soon I am at the Haugen-Lehmann exit. I thank her and exit the van. The wind is so fierce that it blows my hat off and it flies 40 feet from me before I can do anything but finally comes to a rest. I call my friend and he is surprised to hear from me so soon. It will be about 30 minutes or so till he arrives. I find spot under a lone tree to rest in the shade. There is some junk around and I find a piece of board and lay on it waiting for him to arrive. Soon he is there and I am safely on my way back home with a bit of a bruised ego but happy to be safe and with new lessons learned that will serve me well when I plan for next year.
3:40pm, now I'm home. It feels surreal to be home so early after all my expectation and anticipation. After showering I find that I do have a small blister just back of my toes on my right foot. That is what felt like a rock in my shoe. I come away from this with mixed emotions. I am mad at myself for underestimating my capabilities but now have a much better idea of how to ease into doing a long backpacking trek. In my previous backpacking, 10 miles was about my longest day ever and that was a few years ago. Most of my trips lately have been 4-8 miles a day. I guess I thought it would be easier at lower elevations but turns out not that much.
I am somewhat disappointed for sure but glad I learned these lessons that will help me in my planning for the future.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA Colorado Kid
Day 2, 10.5 miles
I wake at about 6am and see that the stars are fading in the sky. I know I have to get up and get going. I have a decision to make and it's not one I relish. I am going to have to call it quits. I have made a bad miscalculation of my abilities and am in a precarious state. With no real meal last night I am weak. My muscles did not get the chance to be revived with much needed nutrition. I needed to take in about 800 - 1000 calories last night and I got maybe 100. In addition to that I now only have a 1.5 liters of water to get me the next 9.5 miles, completely exposed to direct sunlight, before I can get more.
My legs are weak and I stumble as I exit my tent. I have already rolled up my sleeping bag, mat and inflatable pillow. All in all it was a comfortable night sleeping as it was not very cold. Just really really windy. The wind has died down to just a breeze now so at least I don't have to fight it taking down my tent. I look for my lost stakes but never find them. Generally I will not need to use them all anyway but it still makes me a bit angry.
I struggle to get down an apple turnover for breakfast. It's all I can get down. I was planning on it plus two packages of instant oatmeal and a cup of hot chocolate. Don't have the appetite. I am really slow at breaking camp and don't hit the trail until about 7:45. I have a steep climb up to the trail from my campsite and I have to stop and get my breath about every 15 feet. I am about 50 feet down from the trail.
Finally I am on my way. It is already 15 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday morning. The north side of the mountain has very few trees at this elevation, 5100'. I left the tree line about 1000 feet ago. I am concerned about my water supply, only 1.5 liters with almost constant direct sunlight. It won't get extremely hot today but even at 75-80 degrees and direct sunlight while carrying 34 pounds on my back it feels more like 90 degrees. I relish every bit of wind in my face and dread it when the wind is at my back. The wind is out of the WNW and I am traveling mostly ENE. There are lots of switchback but my distance facing east vs west is twice as much on each switchback. I wish the wind were out of the east. It would be much more comfortable.
View from the day before just before exiting the tree line. Windmills very hard to spot.
I stumble a couple of times and know it is because my legs are weak from lack of nutrition. My pace is much slower than I want. I'm hoping that when I reach the water spigot at mile 204 of the PCT northbound that I will have cell reception. I know I cannot continue to my next destination in one day and there is only one questionable campsite about 7 miles past the spigot. That would put me at 16 miles for the day and I had planned on 24 miles to the Whitewater Preserve. Even if I make it that far I have put my body in a state where I would need at least a whole days rest to recover and resume again and would end up way short of my planned extraction point. Once I get a few miles north of the 10 freeway I will lose cell reception again and be unable to let anyone know where I am.
Another view during my decent on the second day. Very typical terrain.
Down, down, down I go. My legs are tired and my body wants to stop but I know I have to keep going. I wish I had stopped to camp at about 10 miles yesterday and I would be much better off, but also possibly in a worse water situation. I slow my pace so as not to sweat so much and also it is less likely I will stumble. My feet feel like I have gravel in my shoes. I take off my shoes and socks but there is no gravel. I must be close to getting a blister or two as I can feel the tenderness on the bottom of my feet. On and on I trudge getting more and more anxious about my water supply. I am pretty sure I can make it to the water spigot, but I am not sure what condition I will be in when I get there. I force myself to eat a snack at 1.5 hours into my trek and again at 3.25 hours into my trek. I am trying to save water mainly for getting down my snacks as it is really hard to eat and get down without water. With my last snack and 3.5 miles to go I drink my last 6 ounces of water from my extra bottle. I have no idea how much is left in my camelback bladder but know it is not much. It might only be one more swallow. I save it for when I am about 1.5 miles away and find I only have 6 swallows left. I know I will be able to make it.
Finally I can see the water spigot but know I still have close to a mile before I reach it. It is so tantalizing and I quicken my step only to tumble again. I slow down. As I am about a quarter mile from the spigot I see a work truck traveling up the road to the water plant above. I am hoping that I can get to the spigot before he gets there and flag him down to get a ride to the freeway but he's gone before I get there. Finally at the spigot I take in about 16 swallows, 8 at a time. I don't know why I am counting them. I then sit on the ground in the shade of a giant rock. I just sit there for about five minutes and rest. The cooler shade feels so refreshing. I get back up and take out my one liter bottle filling it to the top then drink half of it. I sit a little more and then pull out my phone and take it out of flight mode hoping I will have reception. Eureka, I have one sometimes two bars. I call my daughter but it goes to voice mail. I then call my friend Art who will probably be home and sure enough he answers. I ask him if he can come and rescue me and he says, "sure where are you at?" I have trouble telling him and ask him to google the Desert Water Agency and see if they have an address on Snow Creek Rd. He calls me back but can only find addresses in Palm Springs and some other outlying areas. I let him know that I am about 4-5 miles south of the 10 freeway and that next to the freeway is a small community about 4.5 miles east of Cabozon. I tell him that there is a freeway exit there with a hyphenated name with Haugen something and tell him I am going to eat lunch and try to be at that point in about 2 hours. He calls me back and says he found it on the map and will wait for my call.
I eat my lunch, the same as yesterday, Tortillas, Salami and Cheese sticks. I start my trek toward the freeway. The PCT trail actually follows about a mile of paved road here. When I get toward the bottom of the road I come to a small community and see a car leaving. I flag her down and ask if she can give me a lift to the freeway and she agrees. I ask where she is going and she says Palm Springs which is the opposite direction of where I need to go. I ask if she would mind going about a mile out of her way to drop me off. She agrees and soon I am at the Haugen-Lehmann exit. I thank her and exit the van. The wind is so fierce that it blows my hat off and it flies 40 feet from me before I can do anything but finally comes to a rest. I call my friend and he is surprised to hear from me so soon. It will be about 30 minutes or so till he arrives. I find spot under a lone tree to rest in the shade. There is some junk around and I find a piece of board and lay on it waiting for him to arrive. Soon he is there and I am safely on my way back home with a bit of a bruised ego but happy to be safe and with new lessons learned that will serve me well when I plan for next year.
3:40pm, now I'm home. It feels surreal to be home so early after all my expectation and anticipation. After showering I find that I do have a small blister just back of my toes on my right foot. That is what felt like a rock in my shoe. I come away from this with mixed emotions. I am mad at myself for underestimating my capabilities but now have a much better idea of how to ease into doing a long backpacking trek. In my previous backpacking, 10 miles was about my longest day ever and that was a few years ago. Most of my trips lately have been 4-8 miles a day. I guess I thought it would be easier at lower elevations but turns out not that much.
I am somewhat disappointed for sure but glad I learned these lessons that will help me in my planning for the future.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA Colorado Kid
Day 1, Biting Off more than I can Chew
Oct. 4, 2016
Day 1, 18miles.
I wake at 5am and get to my cousins place in time to leave by 6:30. We have a good time catching up with each other over the 50 minute drive to Deer Springs Trailhead where I will hike a little over 4 miles to the junction with the PCT. I have a total of 17 miles planned for the day.
It's not as cold as I expect and I start the hike without having to dawn my jacket. About 2.5 miles into the hike up I spot a doe and her fawn. They quickly run into the woods and are out of sight. No more than 40 seconds later the doe appears again on the trail without her fawn. She runs a little ways ahead but stays in sight until I get close then she runs a ways farther and stops. I presume she sees me as a possible threat and is trying to draw me away from her fawn. I see another doe about 30 minutes later.
The trek up to the trail junction is fairly tough as I have a full pack and am averaging about 600' elevation gain per mile. About a half mile before the PCT junction I meet two girls in their late 20's or early 30's who have just gone up for an overnight-er at Strawberry Camp and are heading back out. They tell me that someone has left some water there if I need any. I feel I have plenty and do not want to carry anymore weight than necessary up the hill or take water away from someone who might really need it. They also tell me about their trip earlier in the spring from Idyllwild to Warner Springs to the south. They too, hope to do the whole PCT some day.
I continue on ahead and think about going to fill up with water at the junction to the camp, but decided against it. About 2 miles farther up trail I come across a south bounder. His trail name is Continental Drifter. He let's me know about a spring about 1.5 miles ahead where I can get about one liter per minute if I need it. He tells me how the day before he made one of his longest treks of 39 miles. Considering the terrain he had to cover that sounded crazy to me but he told me the downhill part was good trail and he made really good time. So in Awe of this!
By the time I reach the spring, which is actually part of the north tributary to the San Jacinto River, I am about 7 miles into my hike and ready for lunch. I have already eaten two snacks throughout the morning and it has taken me nearly 5 hours to cover 7 miles. Much slower than I hoped. The spring is just a trickle by this time of year. I imagine it has quite a bit more flow in the spring. Water this time of year is hard to find and a precious commodity. I eat my lunch which consists of two medium flower tortillas, 12 slices of salami and two string cheese sticks. It is actually very tasty but takes me a while to get down as my appetite tends to diminish when I've exerted myself over a long period. At this point I am actually near the highest point of my trek in this mountain range at close to 9000' elevation. Even so, I still have a lot of elevation gain to go as the next 4 miles will see a lot of up and down. Although generally down there is significant uphill too. I fill my extra water container with a liter of water and drink almost half of it then fill it again and put it in my bag. I think about refilling my 3 liter camelback bladder, but don't want the extra weight and know that I will have to unpack and repack most of my backpack in order to do it, I decide not too. This will prove to be a big mistake.
Over the next 4 miles my legs begin to tell me it's time to stop but I'm bullheaded and want to get those 17 miles the first day. Otherwise, I will have to have two short days in a row and water will become a problem. Also it will throw me off my itinerary for being picked up in Fawnskin the evening of the 5th day and I will most likely have no way of notifying my wife of where to pick me up.
Somewhere during this 4 mile section I come across "Machine," another south-bounder. He is very young and slight of build. Both he and "Continental Drifter" are packing light at about 27lbs. They are very minimalist for sure. Consequently they can cover much more ground in a day. Both have very dry lips and windburned faces.
Up and down and up and down I go dreading each incline in front of me. I am much more tired than I anticipated. Even the down slopes are hard as they are rocky and tricky and with one false step I could be injured. I stumble slightly on several occasions but don't fall. I slow even more. This makes what would normally be a 2.5mph pace into a little less than 2mph on the downhill. Once again I have miscalculated my pace and now daylight is getting away from me. I'm becoming anxious. When I come to about the 17 mile mark and see the campsite, I feel my Garmin must be off because it does not look like all that great of a campsite and is supposed to be one of the better ones. I will later come to realize that compared with the other sites it is a "grand" site. One thing being, that it is protected from the wind which I was unaware of around the bend in about half a mile. Not knowing that this is actually the place I want to camp I continue on. I come across 3 other south-bounders and they tell me there is a possible site about 3/4 of a mile ahead but very unprotected. Soon I am in a gale force wind. It isn't cold but it's very gusty with sustained wind at about 15mph and frequent gusts up to 25mph.
I finally see another possible campsite and scramble off the trail to set up camp with very little daylight left. Setting up my tent in this wind proves to be a nightmare. I am tired and weak and not thinking clearly. It takes me 15 minutes to put up the tent without the canopy which I don't really need anyway. In the process I lose two of my stakes, as the big wind gusts pull them out of the ground and sling them into the surrounding bushes before I can get them all set. Finally the tent is up and I needed to get my headlamp on and start heating water for dinner. I am not hungry at all. The over-exertion has destroyed my appetite. I have a Mountain Home Freeze dried Dinner, Beef Stroganoff. Sounds delicious, right? Well maybe it would be under normal conditions but it tastes like pure salt to me and all I can get down are 6 spoonfuls. I know that I need more for energy in the morning but I can't get it down. 12 ounces of precious water gone to waste. I climb into the tent and try to get to sleep. The howling of the wind and the gusting makes annoying sounds with my tent flapping everywhere. I finally drift off to sleep sometime after 9pm only to awaken around 10pm and have to pee. This continues every two hours for the next 4 hours. TMI, I know!
It is kind of nice to be able to look up at the stars from inside the screen of my tent. It would be much more enjoyable if I weren't so worn out. I am really worried about tomorrow and afraid that my miscalculation about how much distance I was up to in the first day is going to ruin my trip.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA Colorado Kid
Day 1, 18miles.
I wake at 5am and get to my cousins place in time to leave by 6:30. We have a good time catching up with each other over the 50 minute drive to Deer Springs Trailhead where I will hike a little over 4 miles to the junction with the PCT. I have a total of 17 miles planned for the day.
It's not as cold as I expect and I start the hike without having to dawn my jacket. About 2.5 miles into the hike up I spot a doe and her fawn. They quickly run into the woods and are out of sight. No more than 40 seconds later the doe appears again on the trail without her fawn. She runs a little ways ahead but stays in sight until I get close then she runs a ways farther and stops. I presume she sees me as a possible threat and is trying to draw me away from her fawn. I see another doe about 30 minutes later.
About 2 miles in. Nicely groomed section.
The doe in the center of pic. My need to expand.
The trek up to the trail junction is fairly tough as I have a full pack and am averaging about 600' elevation gain per mile. About a half mile before the PCT junction I meet two girls in their late 20's or early 30's who have just gone up for an overnight-er at Strawberry Camp and are heading back out. They tell me that someone has left some water there if I need any. I feel I have plenty and do not want to carry anymore weight than necessary up the hill or take water away from someone who might really need it. They also tell me about their trip earlier in the spring from Idyllwild to Warner Springs to the south. They too, hope to do the whole PCT some day.
I continue on ahead and think about going to fill up with water at the junction to the camp, but decided against it. About 2 miles farther up trail I come across a south bounder. His trail name is Continental Drifter. He let's me know about a spring about 1.5 miles ahead where I can get about one liter per minute if I need it. He tells me how the day before he made one of his longest treks of 39 miles. Considering the terrain he had to cover that sounded crazy to me but he told me the downhill part was good trail and he made really good time. So in Awe of this!
Looking south past Idyllwild in one of those valleys.
By the time I reach the spring, which is actually part of the north tributary to the San Jacinto River, I am about 7 miles into my hike and ready for lunch. I have already eaten two snacks throughout the morning and it has taken me nearly 5 hours to cover 7 miles. Much slower than I hoped. The spring is just a trickle by this time of year. I imagine it has quite a bit more flow in the spring. Water this time of year is hard to find and a precious commodity. I eat my lunch which consists of two medium flower tortillas, 12 slices of salami and two string cheese sticks. It is actually very tasty but takes me a while to get down as my appetite tends to diminish when I've exerted myself over a long period. At this point I am actually near the highest point of my trek in this mountain range at close to 9000' elevation. Even so, I still have a lot of elevation gain to go as the next 4 miles will see a lot of up and down. Although generally down there is significant uphill too. I fill my extra water container with a liter of water and drink almost half of it then fill it again and put it in my bag. I think about refilling my 3 liter camelback bladder, but don't want the extra weight and know that I will have to unpack and repack most of my backpack in order to do it, I decide not too. This will prove to be a big mistake.
Looking SW with Hemet Lake just over the L center of Ridge
Over the next 4 miles my legs begin to tell me it's time to stop but I'm bullheaded and want to get those 17 miles the first day. Otherwise, I will have to have two short days in a row and water will become a problem. Also it will throw me off my itinerary for being picked up in Fawnskin the evening of the 5th day and I will most likely have no way of notifying my wife of where to pick me up.
Somewhere during this 4 mile section I come across "Machine," another south-bounder. He is very young and slight of build. Both he and "Continental Drifter" are packing light at about 27lbs. They are very minimalist for sure. Consequently they can cover much more ground in a day. Both have very dry lips and windburned faces.
Up and down and up and down I go dreading each incline in front of me. I am much more tired than I anticipated. Even the down slopes are hard as they are rocky and tricky and with one false step I could be injured. I stumble slightly on several occasions but don't fall. I slow even more. This makes what would normally be a 2.5mph pace into a little less than 2mph on the downhill. Once again I have miscalculated my pace and now daylight is getting away from me. I'm becoming anxious. When I come to about the 17 mile mark and see the campsite, I feel my Garmin must be off because it does not look like all that great of a campsite and is supposed to be one of the better ones. I will later come to realize that compared with the other sites it is a "grand" site. One thing being, that it is protected from the wind which I was unaware of around the bend in about half a mile. Not knowing that this is actually the place I want to camp I continue on. I come across 3 other south-bounders and they tell me there is a possible site about 3/4 of a mile ahead but very unprotected. Soon I am in a gale force wind. It isn't cold but it's very gusty with sustained wind at about 15mph and frequent gusts up to 25mph.
I finally see another possible campsite and scramble off the trail to set up camp with very little daylight left. Setting up my tent in this wind proves to be a nightmare. I am tired and weak and not thinking clearly. It takes me 15 minutes to put up the tent without the canopy which I don't really need anyway. In the process I lose two of my stakes, as the big wind gusts pull them out of the ground and sling them into the surrounding bushes before I can get them all set. Finally the tent is up and I needed to get my headlamp on and start heating water for dinner. I am not hungry at all. The over-exertion has destroyed my appetite. I have a Mountain Home Freeze dried Dinner, Beef Stroganoff. Sounds delicious, right? Well maybe it would be under normal conditions but it tastes like pure salt to me and all I can get down are 6 spoonfuls. I know that I need more for energy in the morning but I can't get it down. 12 ounces of precious water gone to waste. I climb into the tent and try to get to sleep. The howling of the wind and the gusting makes annoying sounds with my tent flapping everywhere. I finally drift off to sleep sometime after 9pm only to awaken around 10pm and have to pee. This continues every two hours for the next 4 hours. TMI, I know!
It is kind of nice to be able to look up at the stars from inside the screen of my tent. It would be much more enjoyable if I weren't so worn out. I am really worried about tomorrow and afraid that my miscalculation about how much distance I was up to in the first day is going to ruin my trip.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA Colorado Kid
Monday, October 3, 2016
Last Minute Perparation and Thoughts
This morning I woke at 4:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. I guess the excitement of my adventure was too much and I had too many thoughts running through my head. "Have I gotten everything I need? Is there something I'm forgetting.? Have I studied the maps and trail guides enough?" Then my mind starts wandering to imagining just how things are going to go. I think about starting the trail at 7ish and 40 degrees and how cold it will seem until my body warms up from the exertion of hiking with 40lbs on my back. I try to picture my trail junctions and how often I will snack. Most of what I am picturing will be totally different once I am on the trail but still my mind can't help thinking about it.
It's 6:15am and I still haven't gotten back to sleep. Oh well, this is about the time I will be rising while on the trail anyway, might as well get up. I get up and go into the kitchen where I am greeted by my cheerful wife who has always been an early riser. We hug and say our good mornings and I think about how that is one of the things I will miss most while on the trail. Ahhh, coffee is ready. On the trail I will have to do that myself. Actually, I plan on drinking mostly hot chocolate while on trail in the mornings.
I am meeting a friend for a late breakfast this morning. He is a teacher and a writer. He is also a great confidant and we don't get nearly enough time to bounce things off of one another as I would like. We don't always agree with one another on things, but we have a mutual respect for one another and know it is important to not completely surround ourselves with those of the same mind all the time. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty that we agree on and several things in common such as, a love for nature and the outdoors, running and hiking as well as being good stewards of our environment. It will be good to connect with him before I head out. In the meantime I will give the dogs one last walk before I head out; another thing I will miss out on the trail. Wish I could bring Emily, the boxer, with me. She would love it.
The dogs and I had a good walk. Breakfast with my friend went well and we had a spirited discussion dealing with politics among other things. When I returned home I decided I had better put up my new tent so I would have a good idea what I was doing if I had to put it up in the dark etc. It was pretty easy and 10 minutes for putting up a tent the first time is not bad. I am pretty sure I will be able to get that down to 5 or 6 minutes doing it every day.
After repacking my tent I resumed the task of putting together my menus for each day. I won't bore you with every day but will tell you what I am eating the first day on the trail. No, I won't bore you with that either, LOL. Maybe in my next post. Anyway, I found myself getting too excited and anxious about everything and decided to lay down and take a 15 minute break to calm down. It worked well and here I am working on this blog for the day again.
The weather is looking to be more mild at night than I had expected and that is somewhat of a relief as I hate the cold. I can deal with 40's and 50's but when it gets down to freezing I don't want to get out of my sleeping bag at all.
It's 3:00pm and I have all my foods etc packed except for some items I am keeping refrigerated just to make sure they are a little fresher for the trip as they really don't have to be kept cold. I packed everything just like I would be taking it, including the cold items, and found my total pack weight to be 38.5 lbs including 3 liters of water. I would like to have it down to 35 lbs or less but it is nice to know that it would be right there if I had my new backpack and sleeping bag taking 3.8 lbs off the total weight.
Now I need to try and calm myself and relax. I really am quite excited and I didn't anticipate that I would feel this way. It feels great to know that everything is ready to go. I hope I can get a good sleep tonight. Going to try and get to bed by 9pm. Early for me.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA The Colorado Kid
It's 6:15am and I still haven't gotten back to sleep. Oh well, this is about the time I will be rising while on the trail anyway, might as well get up. I get up and go into the kitchen where I am greeted by my cheerful wife who has always been an early riser. We hug and say our good mornings and I think about how that is one of the things I will miss most while on the trail. Ahhh, coffee is ready. On the trail I will have to do that myself. Actually, I plan on drinking mostly hot chocolate while on trail in the mornings.
I am meeting a friend for a late breakfast this morning. He is a teacher and a writer. He is also a great confidant and we don't get nearly enough time to bounce things off of one another as I would like. We don't always agree with one another on things, but we have a mutual respect for one another and know it is important to not completely surround ourselves with those of the same mind all the time. Don't get me wrong, we have plenty that we agree on and several things in common such as, a love for nature and the outdoors, running and hiking as well as being good stewards of our environment. It will be good to connect with him before I head out. In the meantime I will give the dogs one last walk before I head out; another thing I will miss out on the trail. Wish I could bring Emily, the boxer, with me. She would love it.
The dogs and I had a good walk. Breakfast with my friend went well and we had a spirited discussion dealing with politics among other things. When I returned home I decided I had better put up my new tent so I would have a good idea what I was doing if I had to put it up in the dark etc. It was pretty easy and 10 minutes for putting up a tent the first time is not bad. I am pretty sure I will be able to get that down to 5 or 6 minutes doing it every day.
After repacking my tent I resumed the task of putting together my menus for each day. I won't bore you with every day but will tell you what I am eating the first day on the trail. No, I won't bore you with that either, LOL. Maybe in my next post. Anyway, I found myself getting too excited and anxious about everything and decided to lay down and take a 15 minute break to calm down. It worked well and here I am working on this blog for the day again.
The weather is looking to be more mild at night than I had expected and that is somewhat of a relief as I hate the cold. I can deal with 40's and 50's but when it gets down to freezing I don't want to get out of my sleeping bag at all.
It's 3:00pm and I have all my foods etc packed except for some items I am keeping refrigerated just to make sure they are a little fresher for the trip as they really don't have to be kept cold. I packed everything just like I would be taking it, including the cold items, and found my total pack weight to be 38.5 lbs including 3 liters of water. I would like to have it down to 35 lbs or less but it is nice to know that it would be right there if I had my new backpack and sleeping bag taking 3.8 lbs off the total weight.
Now I need to try and calm myself and relax. I really am quite excited and I didn't anticipate that I would feel this way. It feels great to know that everything is ready to go. I hope I can get a good sleep tonight. Going to try and get to bed by 9pm. Early for me.
Happy Trails,
Russ AKA The Colorado Kid
Saturday, October 1, 2016
Beginnings for a PCT Through Hike
So a Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) through hike has been on my bucket list for quite a while. Since I'm not getting any younger (63), and have the time and resources, I figure that I had better get started. My plans are to apply for my permit in February of 2017 trying to get a May 1st start date in the same year.
For those of you who may not know what a PCT through hike entails, here are some of the details. The trail starts near the town of Campo at the California border and goes from Mexico to the Canadian border, a total of approximately 2,650 miles. It goes through deserts and mountains with elevations near sea level up to 13,200 feet in the high sierra range of California. If I remember right, there are no less than 6 Eco-systems to navigate. Most people who attempt this trip travel from south to north, but a few do travel north to south. One of the trickiest parts is getting to the high sierras at the right time so as to not have an extreme amount of snow or cold. Most people aim to finish in about 4.5 - 5 months time. Less than 1/3 of those who start the trip finish in a single season and there is a long list of reasons why such as; injury, family problems, just to much, illness, weather etc. Only about 4% of those who finish are in my age category or older.
Obviously this trip entails some great amount of planning and there is lots of help on the PCT Trail web site . I have been spending a good amount of time reading other people's blogs and finding sites that detail planning for the trip. ( http://www.gnarlyriver.com/ and https://hike4mom.wordpress.com/2016/05/ ) At the moment I am planning on doing a solo, 9-10 day trial section of the trail next week. I will try and detail some of my meal planning etc along with a daily blog update of my short trip. I plan on doing this to see how my body and mind will deal with being in the wilderness alone for an extended period. I don't want to invest a lot more money on new equipment if I find that I am not up for the task. The updates will not be in real time as I will not have wifi available each day.
My plans are to take the PCT from Idyllwild, CA, to the town of Wrightwood, CA, about 185 miles of actual PCT trail. I have never spent a night in the wilderness alone, so this will be a new experience. Also I don't expect to see many people on the trail, if any, as all of the northbound hikers are done or finishing and there aren't that many southbound hikers. I do actually hope to come across a south bounder or two and hear some of their stories and give them encouragement as they will only have two to four weeks until they finish.
I am planning on trying to average around 20 miles a day and my longest leg will be about 30 miles. I will be taking one day off in the middle where my wife will pick me up near Big Bear, CA in the town of Fawnskin and take me back home for a night and a day then drop me back off at the trail a day later. When doing the actual through hike, one will have spots where they will have to go off trail to resupply and may want to get a hotel and wash clothes and get some real food etc. Sometimes this may only entail stopping at a store or post office and picking up a resupply box mailed ahead and jumping right back on trail with no layover. One will generally resupply about every 4-6 days, with maybe an occasional 7 day stretch but usually that is more food than one wants to carry at a time.
For this trip my pack, with 3 liters of water, will weigh in at around 40lbs give or take a pound or two. When I get my new pack and sleeping bag I will hope to get this down to close to 35lbs. Obviously each day on the trail the pack gets a little lighter as each day's food supply weighs about 2lbs. I will not always have the full 3 liters of water so the pack weight will fluctuate some.
I am really interested in seeing how I cope with being alone for so many days in a row. During the actual through hike, next year, I will come across a lot more people and probably won't be camping alone a whole lot but it will be good to see how I cope in that situation. I am pretty confident that I will be fine and actually relish the solitude.
Today I will be shopping for food and a few other items that I still need to put together by Monday Oct 3rd. I will be starting the hike at approximately 7:30am on the 4th. If all goes well, I should finish up in Wrightwood on Thursday Oct. 13th.
Happy Trails,
Russ
For those of you who may not know what a PCT through hike entails, here are some of the details. The trail starts near the town of Campo at the California border and goes from Mexico to the Canadian border, a total of approximately 2,650 miles. It goes through deserts and mountains with elevations near sea level up to 13,200 feet in the high sierra range of California. If I remember right, there are no less than 6 Eco-systems to navigate. Most people who attempt this trip travel from south to north, but a few do travel north to south. One of the trickiest parts is getting to the high sierras at the right time so as to not have an extreme amount of snow or cold. Most people aim to finish in about 4.5 - 5 months time. Less than 1/3 of those who start the trip finish in a single season and there is a long list of reasons why such as; injury, family problems, just to much, illness, weather etc. Only about 4% of those who finish are in my age category or older.
Obviously this trip entails some great amount of planning and there is lots of help on the PCT Trail web site . I have been spending a good amount of time reading other people's blogs and finding sites that detail planning for the trip. ( http://www.gnarlyriver.com/ and https://hike4mom.wordpress.com/2016/05/ ) At the moment I am planning on doing a solo, 9-10 day trial section of the trail next week. I will try and detail some of my meal planning etc along with a daily blog update of my short trip. I plan on doing this to see how my body and mind will deal with being in the wilderness alone for an extended period. I don't want to invest a lot more money on new equipment if I find that I am not up for the task. The updates will not be in real time as I will not have wifi available each day.
My plans are to take the PCT from Idyllwild, CA, to the town of Wrightwood, CA, about 185 miles of actual PCT trail. I have never spent a night in the wilderness alone, so this will be a new experience. Also I don't expect to see many people on the trail, if any, as all of the northbound hikers are done or finishing and there aren't that many southbound hikers. I do actually hope to come across a south bounder or two and hear some of their stories and give them encouragement as they will only have two to four weeks until they finish.
I am planning on trying to average around 20 miles a day and my longest leg will be about 30 miles. I will be taking one day off in the middle where my wife will pick me up near Big Bear, CA in the town of Fawnskin and take me back home for a night and a day then drop me back off at the trail a day later. When doing the actual through hike, one will have spots where they will have to go off trail to resupply and may want to get a hotel and wash clothes and get some real food etc. Sometimes this may only entail stopping at a store or post office and picking up a resupply box mailed ahead and jumping right back on trail with no layover. One will generally resupply about every 4-6 days, with maybe an occasional 7 day stretch but usually that is more food than one wants to carry at a time.
For this trip my pack, with 3 liters of water, will weigh in at around 40lbs give or take a pound or two. When I get my new pack and sleeping bag I will hope to get this down to close to 35lbs. Obviously each day on the trail the pack gets a little lighter as each day's food supply weighs about 2lbs. I will not always have the full 3 liters of water so the pack weight will fluctuate some.
I am really interested in seeing how I cope with being alone for so many days in a row. During the actual through hike, next year, I will come across a lot more people and probably won't be camping alone a whole lot but it will be good to see how I cope in that situation. I am pretty confident that I will be fine and actually relish the solitude.
Today I will be shopping for food and a few other items that I still need to put together by Monday Oct 3rd. I will be starting the hike at approximately 7:30am on the 4th. If all goes well, I should finish up in Wrightwood on Thursday Oct. 13th.
Happy Trails,
Russ
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