Tag: Pacific Crest Trail

Working The Kinks Out

Toby Leave a comment

Most of the hikes I’m used to range anywhere between 6 and 12 miles with a decent amount of elevation gain. However, on the Pacific Crest Trail I will being over 20 in a day once I hit my stride.  When you cover that much distance, day after day, you’ll start to notice things you wouldn’t after a day hike or weekend backpacking trip. That slight poke in you’re used to ignoring will  back will eventually feel like you’re being stabbed, that odd spot in your hiking shoe will make your feet scream. Even your clothes can become an issue, the chaffing struggle is real.

To try to get ahead of these things as much as I can I’ve been throwing all my PCT gear in my backpack and racking up some serious miles, trying to identify the pain points and adjust accordingly. My go-to spot is the Iron Horse Trail just outside North Bend, WA.  Not only is it close by but it’s long, flat and has some nice views.  Since it’s flat I can keep my pace up and really get some serious miles in.

The long flat hikes also allow me to calculate my base pace, which is currently around 3.5 miles an hour. 8 hours of hiking would put me at around 26 miles, 26 flat miles. Since the PCT is far from flat i’ll be using my base pace along with the elevation gain to calculate the distance I plan to cover each day.

During my first hike on the Iron Horse I covered 14 miles without stopping and discovered a few problem areas with my pack which came very apparent near the end. My backpack was unbalanced and the edge of my sleeping pad was poking me in the back.  I made adjustments and returned, covering 17 miles without issue, other than being a little sore, I don’t know if  I’ve ever gone 17 miles without stopping before.  I was feeling good about where I was at and decided that I was ready to add some elevation into the mix. It was also nice to practice things like snacking and drinking as I hiked as well as charging my phone and taking photos along the way.

Before taking off on my next hike I took some time to really look at what I was carrying in my backpack. To do this I turned to Lighterpack.com to track everything. I broke out a scale and weighed everything, logging and categorizing each item. I wasn’t too happy with where my base weight ended up and slimmed down what I was carrying.  The sleeping clothes I was bringing weighed over 1lb, I decided that my sleeping bag liner would keep my sleeping bag just as clean at a fraction of the weight. I didn’t need the small shovel or an extra flashlight.  I cut down what I was bringing to exactly what I needed.  Here is how everything weighed out (Click here to see a detailed list of what makes up my base weight). I’ll  continue to refine what i’ll be carrying with me and update the list as I go.

With my base weight  at 15 lbs and 3.5 ounces, with room to improve, I was feeling pretty good about where things were.  Per the 2017 PCT Thru Hiker Survey at Halfway Anywhere the average base weight hikers started with last year was 19.49 lbs and the average base weight they finished with was 16.51 lbs.  If you’re a data nerd or just want to understand more the PCT hikers last year, take a closer look at the 2017 PCT Survey, there is some really interesting information, at least I think so.

With my backpack and base weight dialed in I ventured to one of my favorite spots, Squak Mountain.  With a diverse network of trails it’s easy to hike as much as you want with plenty of challenging bits if you know where to go.  In 3 hours I covered 9.24 miles with a decent amount of elevation gain and loss. Unfortunately my fit bit didn’t seem to want to track elevation that day.  However, my pace only decreased slightly with the added elevation.  Next time i’ll use my actual GPS, which I still need to figure out.

From here on out i’ll be getting out and hiking with all my gear every chance I get, starting to practice setting up everything and packing it all up again as well. The more I figure out before I hit the PCT the better, hiking the trail itself will be enough of a challenge.

Kendall Katwalk

Toby Leave a comment

What’s the best way to prepare for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail? By actually hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail of course. A few weeks ago I set out to do just that by revisiting one of my favorite hikes from last year,  the same hike which made me decide to hike the entire PCT, Kendall Katwalk.

I woke up early and made the drive up I-90 to the PCT trailhead at Snoqualmie Pass. As I pulled into the trailhead the fact that I will be spending 5 months, give or take, on this very trail  really started to really sink in. I felt a mix of excitement and anxiety as my mind was flooded with thoughts of  how amazing and challenging the journey will be. Not to mention all the things I had left to do to get ready. However, once I threw on my backpack and started down the trail the anxiety quickly subsided leaving nothing but excitement.

The trail starts off wooded with glimpses of the surrounding mountains through the trees. The trail itself is nice and smooth with a couple of small streams to cross before opening up into talus. Hiking on rocks is not my favorite but the views more than made up for it.

You make your way back into the tress as you continue up, crossing a few more streams before hitting a clearing which offers a view of the ridge above. In some spots you have to work your way through the abundant foliage.

You will hit a few switch backs and will continue to be provided with fantastic views of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.

Continuing on the trail you will be greeted by some prominent peaks straight ahead of you letting you know that you’re getting close to the ridge. After turning a corner you begin the final push to the katwalk. A you get closer your can start to see valleys on both sides of you.

Once you make your way to your way to the katwalk it becomes clear that you are at the top of the ridge.  Turn left and your looking down into one valley, turn right and you’re looking down into the other.

The katwalk itself is a narrow path blasted out of the side of a cliff, a few hundred yards long.  When I arrived I was the only one around so I took the opportunity to take it all in.

As you make your way along the katwalk you have a spectacular view of the mountains to the east…

… and the valley below.  If you look close enough you can see Silver Creek at the bottom.


Heading back I began to wonder what it will feel like when I hit this section of the PCT next year. Realizing that at that point I will have hiked over 2,000 miles and had taken a day or two to visit family and friends I haven’t seen in months,  only to get back on the trail and continue on to Manning Park in Canada, with some tough hiking ahead in the North Cascades. Luckily being so close to Seattle I’m sure I’ll have a few people join up with me for parts of the final push.

Start with the basics.

Toby Leave a comment

Since I’m starting with little knowledge of what I’m actually getting myself into I wasn’t quite sure where to start. First, I bought myself a giant map of the entire Pacific Crest Trail and hung it on the wall.  I would glance as it as I walked by but never really took  the time to look at it closely. When I eventually convinced myself to study it a bit I found myself feeling slightly overwhelmed, especially when I found the chart showing all the mountains and their elevations.  After that point I would have the occasional stare down with the map before it just started to blend into the background and go unnoticed. So while it’s a nice map all it’s done at this point is intimidate me and win multiple staring contests.

I also bought a book, The Pacific Crest Trail: A Hikers Companion. Much like the map it would occasionally catch my eye but I never invested the time to really gain any benefit from it. I would pick it up and flip through it from time to time, never reading a substantial amount, then I got a new coffee table with a nice shelf which the book somehow made it’s way onto and still lives there today. I did however learn that the Mojave is home to 10 or more species of scorpions!

When I would talk to someone about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and start to thinking about planning  again I would tell myself that I had plenty of time to prepare (which I  do) and kept pushing it off.  That was working great until my girlfriend told me that that there was a free “Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail Basics” class at REI. There was no excuse to pass up a free class. I mean this is something I’m excited to do, right?

The class was taught by “Skittles”, who section hikes the trail as she can and “2Patch” who through hiked the entire thing like I will be doing.  So what did I learn?  Well let’s start with what I just said,  “section hiking” is hiking section(s) of the trial at a time while “through hiking” is hiking the entire trail in one go.  The trail itself is approximately 2,650 miles with which will generally take 4 to 6 months, time commitment being one of  reasons someone may chose to section hike rather than through hike.

You may also be asking yourself “What kind of names are Skittles and 2Patch?” Rest assured these are not the names they were given at birth or had given themselves as part of some identity crisis.  When hiking on the PCT you will pick up a trail name along the way, hopefully I don’t end up with a lame one like “Rupert.”  I also learned other vernacular such as NoBo (hiking northbound), SoBo (hiking southbound),  hike your own hike, and my favorite….

Trail magic is when you find or experience something totally unexpected that lifts your spirits, 2Patch mentioned finding entire cooler full of beer on the trail. Once this years class (more vernacular, each year is a class. For example, I’m class of 2018.) ends up near Snoqualmie Pass I plan on creating some trail magic of my own.  Other terms of note are “Trail Angeles” which will help hikers by offering anything from rides to a place to stay and a hot meal. “Hiker Boxes” are like the leave a penny take a penny tray at 7-11 but for hiking stuff and a box, sometimes you may want to shed some weight by dropping the dehydrated meal you’ve been eating for weeks straight and are completely you’re sick of.

Speaking of meals you may be wondering how I plan on feeding myself over 4-6 months on a trail.  The short answer is i’m not entirely sure yet but I did learn about a few different options.  I could mail myself, or more likely have someone else mail me, resupply boxes along the way and pick them up when I get into a town or I could simply resupply whenever I come into a town or pick up items at a gas station along the way.  One thing that was stressed during the class was the important of snacks, especially Cheetos. I don’t know why Cheetos were mentioned so many times during the class, maybe they are some kind of super food. It’s much easier to eat snacks than it is to stop and prepare a meal.  When planning your meals you want to pick foods that are dense in both calories and fat.  In the end I’ll probably end up preparing and mailing most of my meals ahead of time but also picking up stuff on the way, I’m sure I’ll be posting about meal planning and sharing recipes.  Or, I could be like this guy and just eat McDoubles.

Skittles and 2Patch then went on to talk about different gear they would bring. In short lighter is better, merino wool is awesome (it really is), hike in trail runners and not boots, and try to carry things that are multi-functional.  Ideally your base weight, which consists of your backpack, tent and sleeping bag should be is as low as possible, i’m shooting for under 10 pounds. One of my favorite thing they mentioned was a long handled spoon, anyone who has ever tried to eat directly out of a pouch of re-hydrated food can appreciate how brilliant this is.   They also talked about  housekeeping things like permits, forwarding your mail, setting up auto-pay for your bills, and boring stuff like that. They wrapped up by sharing more about their experiences on the trail and the stories behind their trail names and took time to answer questions. During the Q&A I learned that some hikers will take a side trip to summit Mt. Whitney, the highest point on the PCT at 14,505 feet, which I am now planning on doing as well.

I came away from the class feeling very excited to start planning my trip, less intimidated by the map hanging on the wall…. and craving Cheetos.

You’re doing what?!

Toby 2 Comments

In a little over a year I will be boarding  a plane bound for San Diego with nothing more than a backpack full of, hopefully very light, gear. Once I land I will somehow find my way 40 miles west to the town of Campo, which sits just north of the Mexican border. From there I will then head north on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiking all the way through California, Oregon and Washington before crossing the border into Canada.  In doing so I’ll cross through a desert, numerous mountain passes and a few national parks. In total the trail stretches 2,650 miles with 420,880 feet in elevation change.

This blog will primarily be about my preparation for, and time on, the Pacific Crest trail.  I have purposely avoided learning about the ins and outs of the trail and what will be entailed.  No, I have not seen or read “Wild”, nor have I read John Muir’s “My first summer in the Sierra”.  I have picked up a few pieces of knowledge from talking to people that are also planning on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail but not too much.  I know that i’m going to have to mail myself supplies on the way,  I might be hiking through a lot of snow or crossing a river and it rains a lot in Southern California, among other things.

Check back each Tuesday for something new, I’ll do my best to make things informative and entertaining. Who knows, maybe I’ll freak out and have some sort of meltdown when the reality of what i’ll be doing finally sinks in.