More Dehydrated Food Options

Here is another site I have come across that has good prices for dehydrated foods: BePrepared.com. As opposed to the previous site I mentioned that focuses on meals, beprepared.com sells cans of many different kinds of dehydrated foods. Some of the things that have caught my eye (all dehydrated):

• butter
• meat
• refried beans
• eggs
• cheese
• granola

Getting to the Campo Trailhead from the San Diego Airport

Believe it or not, there are people who can help you with this for free! See the ADZPCTKO ride board. Hopefully, I can find a ride and possibly a supermarket stop with one of these people.

Otherwise, one can taxi to the border (very expensive) or take a combination of bus connections described in Yogi's guide. 

What My PCT Thru-Hike Means to Me

"What my hike means to me" is probably something I'll think about nearly every day on the trail and frequently discuss with other thru-hikers. People will compare motivations and personal values and try to clarify their own views of their hike after hearing others'. Inevitably, one will be influenced in subtle ways by other hikers in the community. Some influences will seem positive, some negative. By formulating some of my thoughts beforehand, I'll have something to come back to later on and compare my expectations with the reality of my experience.

I'm 31 and have settled into a certain lifestyle, personal values, and worldview that I'm very comfortable with. My hike is not about "coming of age." It's not an epic journey, a momentous challenge, or a search for self. I'm not at a major crossroads in life, because it's normal for me to pretty much always be at a crossroads. 

I don't expect to look back upon my thru-hike as being a singular event in my life, but rather as one adventure of many. I would like to integrate these adventures into my life to the point that the adventure never leaves. I want to always be looking forward to and preparing for something exciting and challenging. 

I think a major goal for my hike is to achieve sustainability within the context of a major adventure. In other words, to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle with limited ill effects for an indefinite period of time. That means learning to maintain a healthy body and state of consciousness for a long period of time as I'm doing my hike. I will try to avoid sacrificing well-being for more than very short periods -- for instance, letting hygiene and nutrition slide, overstraining my body, and not getting enough rest. I don't want to view my hike as a one-time adventure where I can put important things temporarily on hold as I sprint to the finish line. I want to finish the hike in good shape and good spirits. 

Part of sustainability for me is remaining mentally active and productive. If I don't, I'll crave mental activity that I can only get "in civilization." If I could take along a lightweight, solar-powered laptop, that would be ideal. I can simply practice writing by hand on whatever topics come to my mind, and do some writing or typing in town. I would like to be thinking seriously about some topics during my hike -- topics related to lifestyle, philosophy, and the natural world. I would like to integrate my adventures into my work rather than having them be a break from work. 

I also want to get to know the thru-hiking community and make new friends while still "hiking my own hike" -- keeping my own pace and pursuing my own goals. Almost everyone else is going to be stopping in towns and spending money, and I think I can avoid that without feeling bad about it. In fact, being forced to do my own thing will be a positive factor, I'm sure. I feel best when I am close enough to people to form connections, while not being tied up in a group.

I also want to use this opportunity to learn about the nature of the American West -- the ecosystems and landscapes that I pass through. I'll be taking lots of pictures and probably making some videos along the way to share with other people. I'm excited to be surrounded by nature (again), and I want to be learning about it as well as basking in it. 

As I hike this long distance, I want to hone my backpacking skills and learn how best to deal with the challenges I encounter. For instance, I'd like to consistently roll out of bed early and quickly and rest more during the heat of the day. I'd like to learn to deal effectively with all the challenges of hiking on the PCT. I'll be thinking about my gear and what best works for which conditions.

Since any random accident or combination of events can put one off the trail, I don't want to be too emotionally attached to the idea of finishing the hike. Only 50% who start actually finish the PCT. A month on the Colorado CDT made me aware of my potential weak spots when hiking for weeks on end: bruised feet and malnutrition. The second I think I can do much better at this time, but I still don't know how to avoid bruised feet except by trying shoes with a bit more cushioning. And I don't know if that will help. On the CDT, the bottoms of my feet began feeling bruised after about 200 miles and fully recovered only after a couple of weeks off the trail.

If I get to the border early and still have plenty of time left, I'm not averse to the idea of turning around and hiking back through Washington, hiking a section of the Northwest Trail, or taking the Amtrak to Glacier National Park and hiking south along the wild and scenic CDT as far as I have time to go. If I could see Olympic National Park, the Montana Rockies, or Yellowstone and the Wind Rivers in the same trip, that would only add to my experience.

Some of these wishes may well turn out to be naive. We'll see how it all pans out in the end!

Permits Received!

Today, just three weeks after sending in my applications to the PCTA and the Canada Border Service, I have received back both permits. 

The envelope from the PCTA included the permit itself, a letter from the PCTA (talking about food storage, bears, fire, border crossing, and completion certificates for $4), a handout on Leave No Trace principles, and a broschure on volunteering for the trail.

The envelope from Canada contained only my entire application form with a fresh stamp and signature on it.

PCT Videos

See a selection of videos from the PCT here. Some are quite interesting/exciting/funny.

Maybe I'll make some videos from the trail and upload them to YouTube.

Scott Williamson, PCT Thru-Hiker Extraordinaire

Scott Williamson began hiking on the PCT over 15 years ago and has now thru-hiked over 10 times. He's done a couple yo-yos (there and back in one season) and in 2009 will be attempting to beat the current speed record of 66 days (41 miles/day) for a one-way journey. That means I will probably see him along the way. Here I will list some places where one can find out more about his experiences on the PCT and his approach to hiking it. I'll also make note of some of Scott's more important gear, food, and logistics practices.

Now you can read all about Scott Williamson at Wikipedia.

Scott's hiking style

• no trekking poles
• no-cook food; organic diet
• mails food to himself; eats out in towns

This is also the style of well-known long-distance hikers Ray & Jenny Jardine and Francis Tapon (and probably some others), both also over 35 years old. Younger hikers such as Andrew Skurka and Matt Hazley (under 30) tend to eat less nutritiously, and each of these (I think) also uses trekking poles.

Podcasts

1. Backpackinglight.com

2. Trailcast.org

Gear lists

1. 2006 Gear list

Note the following interesting gear choices:

- very thin pad (1/8'')

- unusually sized tarp (7 x 12')

- 3 pairs of thin nylon dress socks (wool socks for Sierra)

Articles, with selected quotes

1. Honeymoon on the PCT

On the importance of the "right pace":

I have found out that hiking someone else’s pace, which is significantly different from my normal pace, actually tires me out more than if I were doing my normal pace. Recently, when Michelle sat out for a few days to rest her feet, I opened up to 40-mile days and was shocked to find myself feeling much better than I did hiking 25 miles in the same 12-14 hour period. This makes me think that the amount of time spent on the feet plays almost as much of a role in fatigue as does the number of miles done.

2. A Life En Route

On food:

He ate about 2.5 pounds of food per day and resupplied with caches every 3-4 days on average. During some stretches he carried up to eight days of food and water, and his pack totaled 35-40 pounds. He didn't bring a stove. Dinner consisted of dehydrated refried beans soaked for three hours while hiking along the trail, topped with tortilla chips and olive oil. For breakfast, he had a protein shake. And for lunch, he snacked on dried fruit, nuts and organic raspberry fig bars. After leaving towns, he'd supplement his diet with fresh fruit. "To me, a good diet on the trail is very important. I focus a lot on organic or more natural food. Other people are able to do the PCT on Top Ramen and Snickers bars. I avoid sugar on the trail because sugar highs and crashes affect my hiking rhythms. But in towns I pigged out on junk food and ate whatever I wanted: candy bars, pastries, burgers."

3. Hiking into History

More on food:

He doesn't pack a stove, but instead eats a mostly organic diet of protein shakes, dried fruits, crackers and refried beans. He augmented his diet by foraging for tidbits like miner's lettuce, wild onions and various berries along the way. His typical dinner was to mix dehydrated refried beans with water in a plastic container and add crumbled organic corn chips and olive oil. He ate two to three pounds of food each day, stopping in towns occasionally to “pig out” on junk food and salad bars.

Article review: "Budget Hiking on a Short Schedule"

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/archive/index.php?t-33346.html

Good article! It raises once again the tricky topic of food and resupply. Eating junk food may require you to consume more calories, the author thinks. A couple links to more bulk food stores are included.

The part about hiking when it's cold and relaxing when it's hot to save time and energy is important, as is his advice to get into town in the mid-morning, eat some food, then do one's errands and leave when the food has had time to digest. 

Food ideas

This is really interesting:

Proper nutrition is essential. Poor nurtition will make you miserable. It will slow you down, and it will give you irrational, irresistible urges to spend lots of money at restaurants.

When I thru-hiked the AT in 2006 I bought food along the way. I ate around 7,000 calories a day, hiked far fewer miles than I did on 5,000 calories a day on the PCT, and had a never-ending appetite 24/7. 

I'm certainly not qualified to give nutritional advice, but pay attention to what you eat! If you read information from past thru-hikers you can end up with some terrible advice. Thru-hiking on pop tarts, peanut butter, bagels, and mac'n' cheese is very common. Most thru-hikers on such a diet struggle to do short mileages, are constantly hungry, and get worn down and depressed towards the end of their hikes. And they wonder why!

I recommend maildrops. That is to say, you will mail yourself packages of food to post offices (care of general delivery) and businesses that are near the trail. They are cheaper, more reliable, quicker, and they provide better nutrition when compared to buy as you go. The best way to mail yourself food is to use priority flat rate boxes. You can usually fit around 4 days of food in one of these, and you can send any reasonable amount of weight to anywhere in the US for $9. The post office will send you the boxes, tape, and labels for free if you are using priority mail. Let's assume that we have 40 total packages, an average of a package for every three days for 120 days. I try to send mail drops every 3-5 days, and the 5 day packages usually take up 2 boxes. So we spend $360 (rounded up to $400) on postage.

Here is a sample of my 2007 food. I ate the same thing every day on both my 850 mile AT training hike and my 2,700 mile PCT thru-hike. A typical day for me for the bulk of my PCT hike was 37-42 miles, and I weighed around 170 during that period. I spent around $11/day on food. Plan food according to mileage and your weight. $1000 should be plenty for an AT thru-hike.