Its time for the big one. Five years of dreaming and a whole lot of planning so lets dump it all right here.

Why the PCT?

This has always been the goal. Feels like the thesis statement of my hiking career. I'll get to knock out the Cascades and the Sierra in one go and have a pretty rad summer along the way.

map

Gear

Gear

Lets start with lessons learned from the Colorado Trail. Loved my SWD pack but its seen better days at this point so I ordered a brand new one! This time in red! Upgraded the quilt to go a little warmer too. Dropped the OR Helium rain coat for my old Frogg Toggs again. Upgraded the stove as planned for a little better wind resistance. Downgraded camera to an RX100 VII to save a ton of weight and not have to deal with changing lenses while still getting 200mm of range.

Ligherpack - https://lighterpack.com/r/5voig2

Clothing

Switched it up here. Taking on the desert sun with a sun hoodie instead of my old sleeved bug shirt. I may choose to swap this out in Oregon when bug pressure gets heavy but we'll see. Went to a mountain hardwear 1/2 zip instead of the Melly for a lighter active fleece and to shave some weight since I will get plenty of warmth from my nicer Nunatak puffy. If the frogg toggs starts to get shredded in Washington weather/woods, I'll have my Marmot goretex jacket shipped out but not counting on it. Exchanged the wool leggings for wind pants as well.

Shelter

After a lot of deliberation between the 2 Pro and 1 P X Mids, I decided to stick with the 1 P for several reasons. The seperate inner/fly layers will allow me to split them for sections. In the desert, I will also be able to fast pitch the fly for shade in hot days. I plan on only carrying the fly until the Sierra where I expect more bugs. I also expect more cowboy camping so I threw in a Tyvek groundsheet.

Snow Gear

I will be continuing to monitor snow levels into April but as of now I'm planning on picking up my spikes and ice axe at the Warner Springs PO (mm 104.0) through San Jacinto and maybe Baden-Powell and then will bounce them up to KMS to pick up along with my bear can for the Sierra.

The rest is pretty standard. Im keeping my thinlight for yoga mornings and afternoon naps and adding a light foam roller to keep that IT band loose. Gotta shakedown that First Aid Kit too, its way too heavy right now.

Strategy

snow

Timing

I initially picked an April 23rd start date purely for dramatic effect as its my birthday. I thought it might be just a touch late with a more ideal start being closer to early April to stay out of fire danger but this winter is proving to dump snow through California. Southern Sierra snowpack is already at 142% of average APRIL levels. Its still too early to call it at all, but by all metrics, we are likely to have at least an average snow year, maybe above average and possibly even record breaking? So a 4/23 start should put me close to KMS in late June which is definitely preferred in a year like this.

Resupply

Instead of planning out a ton for this, I've just got the first few weeks mapped out and a few notable stops to ship out parcels from noted. I'm gonna mail a drop to Warner Springs for 70 miles or 6 days of food to take me to Idyllwild. At Big Bear I'll buy and drop two more packages out to Agua Dulce and KMS. Theres more places to mail food to in NorCal, Oregon and Washington, but I won't worry about it until I get further down the trail. I have a list of towns where resupply is limited noted down. Im gonna keep my pack light in the early days and stop by Mt Laguna (mm 44) and Julian (mm 77). I'll start with 4 days of food to take me to Mt Laguna and will split that 20 mile waterless stretch on the first day in half.

Preparation

Physical

After the CT and subsequent knee problems, I've been pretty focused in doing my best to build my legs up for this. 4x a week weightlifting, physical therapy for six months and getting back into running over the past nine months. Also incorporated deep tissue massages to loosen everything up before the big day and carrying a foam roller with me. I'm in probably the best shape of my life so its go time. Neither knee feels 100%, the left one still feels loose at times and the right experiences pain on the outer edge in deep squats but we'll give it our best shot. Maybe I'll start with knee sleeves on. I will also transition out of weightlifting to stretching/yoga in March.

Financial

Reorganized finances last march to aggressively pay down student loans and build up 10k in savings for this trip. That should allow a comfortable but not luxurious five months. Hopefully Biden's forgiveness goes through in the Spring too.

Mental

I feel like when I started the CT, I was 100% locked in. I don't feel like that with the PCT truthfully. When I started the CT, I was running away from a life that I wasn't crazy about. In San Diego, I found a groove here for a bit and also haven't been as crazy busy as I was in NoVA. Regardless, my time here is coming to an end for sure. I'm reading 'Pacific Crest Trials' to prepare myself for the long game a little as well. I am excited for the adventure this summer and will do my best but if I stop having fun for multiple weeks, I won't beat myself up to finish. I also have no delusions about what is waiting for me out there this time, I know what its like to get your ass kicked by big climbs day after day for weeks on end.

That's about it for now! Excitement is building!!