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