At one point it felt so far away but 2018 is finally here and I’m 91 days away from starting my hike of the Pacific Crest Trail. It may seem like a trivial thing but being able to say “this April” instead of “next April” has made a huge difference in my mindset. The feeling of the PCT being something I will undertake “next year” has vanished and has been replaced with a feeling of excitement that increases every day.
I still have plenty to do to get ready, all those things I told myself I would get to after the holidays are now lined up in front of me. Not only the things like figuring out when I will be at certain points on the trail, finalizing my resupply plan and step up my training, but also finding a storage unit and moving pretty much everything I own into it.
Besides the logistics of moving here are the things I’m be focusing on to prepare myself for the hike:
- Training – Plenty of cardio during the week and long hikes on the weekend with lots of stretching every day. Try to do everything I can to get my ready for the abuse I’m about to put it through.
- Practice – Spending time doing the things I will have to do on the trail like packing and unpacking my backpack, setting up my tent in all different kinds of weather and updating this blog from my phone.
- Prepare mentally – The biggest challenge of through hiking the PCT might be the mental one. To prepare I have incorporated meditation into my daily routine (Yay Headspace) and remind myself of why I’m hiking the PCT, how I’ll feel after completing the trail and what it would feel like if I were to give up.
- Refine and finalize my gear – I broke down and bought a new, much lighter tent. While I love my Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL2 I wanted to reduce my base weight and make more room in my backpack, so I switched to the Six Moons Designs Lunar Solo. Not only is it over 1lb lighter it also takes up far less room in my pack. Another change I made to save weight and space is to go stoveless (more on that later) although I am considering the crotch pot. I also received the InReach Explorer Satellite Communication Device / GPS for Christmas / my birthday. I still have a few small things to pick up like stuff sacks but am feeling good about my final set up.
- Diet – Adjust my diet to eliminate foods known to cause inflammation. No refined sugar or alcohol and a lot less grains. Add in nutrient dense foods since those might be lacking in my trail diet.
- Finalize my schedule – I know I’m starting April 3rd and have 6 months to complete the hike, even though that’s probably more than I need, but I need to finalize my schedule so I know where I’ll be and when. That way others can make plans to meet up with me along the way or send care packages. This seems pretty straight forward but I don’t know how long it will take me to acclimate to hiking 20ish miles a day or when I’ll want to spend an extra day in a hotel.
- Food – At this moment I’m planning on picking up most of my food as I go, which means I’ll sometimes have to figure out how to put together a weeks worth of meals from stuff I can find in a gas station convince store. I will probably end up sending myself at least some food along the way.
I’ll go into depth on my schedule and resupply plan in the coming weeks along with my final gear list.
I hope your holidays were great and 2018 is off to a great start for you. Here’s to an amazing year ahead!