I came across this excerpt recently and thought it summed up a few things quite well. The time is quickly approaching when I will be in the middle of the "implacable desert" with a fairly simple purpose: go north. It is an incredible concept the anyone can walk on this continuous footpath for 2,600 miles and end up literally across the country. But until then my days will be a flurry of activity getting all the pieces in place and hoping nothing is forgotten.
So how does one go about preparing for such an adventure? Lists, of course! The majority of my food I have pre-made or pre-purchased. Breakfast is instant oatmeal or pop-tarts, lunch is various energy bars, GORP, dried apples, and the most sacred of all hiker food.... SNICKERS bars! and dinners are a delightful array or dehydrated veggies combined with various pastas, sauces, and protein sources that I prepared throughout the past year from going to farmer's markets and sales. Despite every effort, it is nearly impossi-
Most of the trail is very remote and opportunities to buy cheap, nutritious hiker food is fairly limited. So for the PCT most hikers choose the option to pack resupply boxes ahead of time and have them sent to various businesses hostels, and post offices along the trail in a timely fashion (THANK YOU ERIC!!!!!). These boxes also contain my maps for that particular section and various odds and ends I may need like batteries and contact solution.
It is tempting to spend hours and even days going over previous hiker blogs and studying maps to plan every step ahead of time but the truth is I really just end up winging it. Yes, there are certain things that are important like knowing when I will need my ice ax and boots vs where it is required to have a bear-proof food container. But in truth I simply guestimate how many days it will take me for each section and pack a box with the maps and enough food. If i guess low I can always buy more, if I guess high I can always give my goodies away to another hiker, and if I get tired of my meal choices I can always swap with another hiker for some variety. Having a bit of faith that it will all work out in the end certainly comes in handy!
Even though I am hiking alone I'm not actually going to be the only one on the trail with the goal of hiking from Mexico to Canada in one hiking season. There will be about 300 people from all over the globe starting a thru-hike attempt and only half will make it the whole way. Some days will be a flurry of meeting strangers who quickly become family and some days will be totally solitary. There is a culture that goes along with this new world, one part is something called Trail Names. The idea is that instead of using your given name you are called by a name that more reflects who you are. Some of these names come from stories that happened on the trail: Singe is a girl who lit her tent on fire trying to cook out of the rain. Strider, Crazy Cloud, Hobo, Tom Sawyer, MadDog, Swami, Mouse, Flower, and Moon Walker are other examples just to name a few. My trail name is "Beads" because I have beads in my hair, pretty simple really. More juicy details to come before I leave.....
Happy Trails!
~Beads
"Beads"...I like it! I like it allot!!!
ReplyDeleteJust came in from the barn yard, Tattoo, Noodle and Grover were hauling ASS across the yard and through the trees! I need video!! Charlie went home with Jessie last night, so he's a happy boy too! We may (finger's crossed) have an excellent home for Patch! K, just checkin' in!
Happy trails girlfriend!!
Thank you for sharing the details, like what you are eating, and the tip about shipping resupply boxes ahead is brilliant! My husband and I are wanting to hike the E1 here in Europe, it goes from Norway all the way to Italy (4350 miles). We want to begin with the part of the trail that goes through Germany. Unfortunately we can't do it in one go, but will do it on weekends and holidays. The stretch through Germany is 1130 miles, if we finish that, we'll work on the rest of the trail.
ReplyDeleteLove your trail name! :O)