The stage before the preparation stage is to do all the arduous paperwork tasks, like, for example, actually getting the licence to walk the PCT. The rules change every year, and this is year is no different - they are changed again. Note well: Permits can only be obtained on two fixed days per annum, and through a lottery system. Good luck!
Once one has decided one is going to walk the PCT, or even at the considering-it-stage, one is likely to join up to every Facebook Group on the subject matter going - and there's quite a few, catering to different lifestyles, genders, years, ages, and eating habits. At my last count, I think I found over twenty.
People's reactions are always interesting when I tell them what I'm embarking on a trip like this. First their face contorts, then their head cocks, and finally a thought is bellowed out - usually of the 'but you'll die' ripostes. I thought it would be interesting to collate all the possible common reactions...
Day 4
Zero miles: Sitting out the storm in a log cabin with Annet and David at Lake Morena, has proved to be a good time to get ourselves a bit more organised and systemised.
“How do you back flow the Sawyer Squeeze?” I asked Annet, the most experienced hiker of the three of us - “you use the syringe,” she said. “Oh.” I had binned that in San Diego.
All UK business up to date. Friends contacted. Emails sent. Blog updated. Pics uploaded. News read. Coffee quaffed and pizza guzzled. Podcasts downloaded. Clothes washed. Equipment re-sanitised. Bag re-packed. Post Office visited. Visa card exploited. Blisters tended to. Hotel changed. Next route researched.
Were spent being wildly idle in Idyllwild! But the take-out food is great - think I've put on everything I've lost so far. Not just bodily, but also in my rucksack: I've got my Anker Battery pack to collect, my puffy pants to prevent hypothermia, an Emergency Beacon and new shoes - all the better to acquire blisters in new places with.
Day 33
Following two blissful days off repairing my feet in Tehachapi, another storm kept me at bay a third night. Alas, the hotel decided in their wisdom to check a couple into the adjoining room. Not a problem - although I missed my solitude. What was a problem was they had a dog that barked a lot. My final night’s R&R was as interrupted as if I was on the trail. Bah Humbug.
Day 43
And so I resume back at mile 162 and it is hot! Very hot! Worse, my pack is very heavy with eight days’ of food, and four and a half kilos of water. In fact, conditions are so much harder now, that I consumed a litre and a half of water in the first three miles! Thankfully able to refill not long after.
Day 58
I’ve only gone and left my spork in my hotel room - I could kick myself. Just last week I was reading they were the number one misplaced item, and there I’ve gone and been a stereotype. Thankfully Joyrider let me use his spoon after he’d had his dinner. And his stove, as I’m nearly out of gas, and there was none in any of the shops in Cajon Pass.
Day 66
I’ve moved to Kennedy Meadows - the official entrance to the Sierras, having hoped to do some miles today. However, it is the most dangerous section so going in alone is strongly discouraged - that’s why I’m still here. I’m hoping to find a new ‘tramily’ who I can do the hard yards with, and it may take a few days. That’s the usual story anyway. So I’m back in my tent, having an early night. It’s progress, Jim, but not in mileage terms.
Day 125
When I’m heading into town all I crave and think of is hot, gooey, cheesy pizza with lashings of veg. Thankfully, America’s nicest town, Etna, only had one place open and all he was making was pizza. I had pizza two nights running. I brought the excess back on trail, and so far I’ve had some for lunch and dinner. I’ll be having the remainder for breakfast too. I am starting to miss my Knorr two-minute noodles now though…
Day 132
As much as I needed to rest my knees, time is starting to really press now. Oregon is great, although not flat, it is definitely much less demanding on one’s legs so more miles can be covered. I’m hoping this will help a bit - but it’s still going to be long, long, long hiking days from now on in order to get to the end.
Day 154
My tent was sopping wet this morning - in fact at one point it was raining on the inside there was so much condensation! I forgot to dry it out at lunch and so it’s all a bit damp tonight. It is also very overcast and a bit chilly this evening - so who knows what tomorrow will be like. It does mean I’ve hauled extra kilos all day though - on top of a five-day resupply! Still the going hasn’t been too bad today, although it’s starting to get serious again…