ADZPCTKO Registration Open

Registration for the annual ADZPCTKO PCT kick-off event is open. I have just registered for it here, and arrangements are being made with some regular trail angels and former thru-hikers in San Diego whom I found through the ADZPCTKO ride board to pick me up at the airport and take me to the trailhead at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.  

I'll be walking into Lake Morena on my first day of the hike in the evening. It'll be a 20 mile walk on the very first day in potentially warm to hot weather. It could be a challenge. 

I have gotten a spreadsheet from the trail angels picking me up in San Diego with contact information for all the hikers who are going to be passing through their homes in April and May. Talk about highly organized altruism! 

ADZPCTKO

Every year there is a sort of kick-off party in late April near the southern terminus of the PCT. It's called "ADZPCTKO" and can be read about and registered for here (registration will begin some time later in February). This year the dates are April 24-26, with the main event on Saturday, April 25. It's 20 miles from the beginning of the PCT, right along the trail. 

They say it's a lot of fun, you can eat free food, meet other PCT thru-hikers, and discuss, analyze, and buy gear. On the downside, it means that there will be a large group of hikers all bunched together on the trail for several hundred miles. If you want solitude for these sections, they say, start your hike a week or two before or after the ADZPCTKO. 

Seeing that I am hiking alone, have never done the PCT before, and am a curious fellow, I plan to start off my hike at the ADZPCTKO. I want to see what it's all about and maybe start getting to know people (even though I expect to hike alone most of the time).