Journey > Destination

In our preparations for this hike, we've come across many questions regarding "a true thru-hike" or "how to hike the PCT correctly."  This got us thinking about how we would like to hike our own hikes and what is really important for us to accomplish on this walk.  About 2 years ago, we decided that we wanted to take time off after graduating and do something that would fulfill our sense of adventure, wonder, and longing to become one with the natural world.  We didn't know at that point that we would choose to hike the PCT, all we knew is that we wanted to do something that would bring us closer to the world around us.  That goal has not changed.  Technically, we are thru-hiking the PCT, but the sense of adventure and love for what we are doing means far more to us than reaching Canada.  Whether we hike for 1 day, 2 weeks, or 5 months, we will learn something from every moment.  We may decide to stay at a campsite an extra night and not worry about the time or the miles that we were "supposed" to put in that day.  If we decide that another path leads somewhere more interesting, we will take it and not let the destination outweigh the journey.  For us, then, there is no "correct" way to hike.

It has been said that this trail will restore ones faith in humanity; something that we hope to witness.

~Jenna and Nate

Ahoy

Hi all!  It’s been a while since we posted.  We have been busy trying to train and prepare and finish up our last semester of school.  Between homework, reading gear reviews, looking at maps…and apps, and trying to work out the logistics of being on the trail for 5 months, we have not had a lot of spare time to post.  Here is a brief list of what we have been doing to prepare:

Gear

We still have a few things to get and a few things to work out as far as gear goes.  Most of the larger items (tent, sleeping bag, backpacks) we have already.  We recently both got iphone 4S’s and we are in the process of downloading all of the apps that might help us on the trail.  One of the apps that we have found with the help of the PCT community is the PCTHYOH (pacific crest trail-hike your own hike) app.  It puts all of the pertinent information (halfmiles maps, fire and water reports, trail closures, GPS reading, compass, etc) all in one app.  For the past few weekends we have been trying on as many trail running shoes that we can find but have yet to decide which shoes we will wear.  Other than shoes, most of the gear we need is just random small items like stuff sacks, cooking pot, etc.  We are waiting until we have everything to post gear lists so that we can get a better idea of our base weight. We hope to be done with buying gear by early March.

Food

We have most of our meals decided on and now it is a matter of purchasing all of the ingredients, making things, and getting the meals ready for the trail.  Once we get all our food bought, dried, made, etc… we will package it all and put them into our boxes that will be shipped off later.  For Nate, breakfast items will include granola, oatmeal, and dried fruits, and the occasional instant coffee.   Jenna’s breakfasts will mostly consist of instant breakfasts, granola, and an occasional cereal. For lunches we will both likely be eating humus, crackers, tuna, jerkey, peanut butter and a plethora of other snack items, big and small. Oh yeah, and candy bars, lots of candy bars.  Dinners for both of us will include rice/curry, noodles with some kind of sauce, cous cous, potatoes, beans, and other things yet to be decided.  We’ll keep you updated on our food status.  Thank you to everyone who has already offered to give us food and let us stay at their residence.

Training – Physical & Mental

This has been somewhat of a challenge for us due to school and work taking up most of our time.  Mentally we are as prepared as we can get. We have been for awhile and we are very excited to leave.  Physically we have been biking, running, doing strength circuits, and doing practice hikes as much as possible.  Most free time we have (which isn’t much) is invested in training of some sort. For example, if we feel like buying something we generally walk there with our packs on. 

We will try to post more in the next month and posts will really increase starting in May.

Cheers

p.s. We will be adding a thank you page soon! Thank you to everyone who has helped us already!

Hiking Lingo

Hi everyone! We thought we would do our first post of the blog on a few terms that are used frequently on the trail that some people may not be familiar with.

Thru-hike- This is completing an entire trail within one year.  The exact definition of this is somewhat debated but in our case, getting from Mexico to Canada via the PCT this summer/fall is a thru hike.

Trail angel- Along the trail there are people that stock water caches, allow you to stay at their house, give you a shower, being food to the trail for all thru hikers to enjoy, or simply give you a bottle of water.  These are trail angels and they are often the salvation for thru hikers.

Trail magic- Trail magic is anything amazing that happens on the trail that you weren't expecting.  This could be a random stocked water cache or a gathering of trail angels offering food and shade.

Zero day- On the trail, distance becomes your measure of time.  A zero day is a day where no distance is hiked at all.  This can be a day spent in town or a day resting on the trail.

Nero day- This stands for "nearly zero" and is a day where only a few miles are hiked.

Glissading- A controlled slide down a snowy slope to get down a pass or hill faster.

 If anyone has any other terminology questions or questions about our endeavor in general feel free to ask!

Cheers.