Woohoo!

I finally whittled down my gear choices. How? By swapping certain items out for a lighter weight piece or removing some things all together. I'm now down to 12 pounds solid! This includes 25.5 ounces of electronics of one sort or another, which, theoretically anyway, aren't necessary. But it does provide me with some security (my SPOT) and enjoyment (iPhone.) It is interesting to know that I could be close to 10 pounds without all the gadgetry. However I'm cool with my choices.

I did update the list on my gear page for 2016 if you want to take a gander.

I leave tomoorow night on the train to Dunsmuir!

No cook?

I must say that weighing all my packed gear was a sobering event. My base weight had climbed to 14 pounds 4.6 ounces which is quite a bit higher than my goal of 13 pounds. Nothing to do but go back through the stuff I was gonna bring and see what I could remove without losing comfort and safety. I managed to remove two pieces of clothing that wasn't necessary, given the heat wave I am facing when I get out there, but what else could I remove? Hmmmmmm.

For years now I have been resisting the notion of not bringing a stove with me on backpacking trips. I really only use it to heat up water for my dinner meal so it IS POSSIBLE to get by without heating my water on a stove. Especially with the hot sun we are having so far this summer. To see if there was another way to warm up my dinners I got a black bag I had made for another use and placed a ziplock containing my dinner and enough water to rehydrate it. I put it in the sun and within an hour my dinner was rehydrated and quite warm. It wasn't burning-hot by any means, but it turned out plenty hot enough for me. So here is what I am gonna do. Replace my cook kit which weighed 10.3 ounces, not including fuel

With the black bag, spoon and Ti cup (in case I have an emergency and have to heat water) I have dropped my food related weight to 3.1 ounces! I like it!

I painted my cup black with heat resistant paint so I can also use the sun to heat water in the cup, should I want to warm up some water for miso soup or anything else like that.

All things considered a respectable swap. I've removed 17 ounces from my overall weight but there is still something I can get rid of... I am sure of it. I still have three days to find a way...

Almost time

I really don't like this time of getting ready for a long hike. Time is short, I've got stuff all over the floor and boxes almost full of necessary stuff. Having to make final decisions about gear and trying mightily not to keep adding stuff, for "just in case." After all these years you'd think it would be easier to resist the pull, but it's not. Plus, no matter how hard I try not to do so I always seem to hurt myself just prior to taking off. This time it's my low back. I'm sure it'll be fine in the end but it puts a kink in my training. Good thing I'm only planning 12 mile days for the first week.

Training hike in Nicene Marks State Park - Janet Fine photographer (and hand)

I just posted a document and images of the clothing I'll be wearing/carrying on this trip. It's under the page Gear Planning for 2016. I'll post the rest of the images and data once I finally get it ready and written down. In the meantime I have (mostly) finished my resupply boxes and will be sending off three on Monday. I can send UPS boxes all at the same time as they are going to private businesses and the three week limit the Post Office has won't apply in those cases. I much prefer to get most boxes sent before I leave so I don't inconvenience family any more than necessary.

Not sending this many. This is from before I had to chnage my plans. Now I only have 8 boxes and one bear canister.

Snow coverage

I'm showing a screen shot of a map which shows snow depth along the first sections of the PCT planned for this summer.

The top center is where the trail crosses highway 5 in southern Oregon and curves west before dropping south, then north and into the higher mountains. As you can see there is light blue along the first part, along the Ca/Or border. Then the snow doesn't register as deep till the trail gets down below the town of Etna and the last section before Castilia. Castle Crags area.

From the feedback I got online yesterday, by folks who live in the area, the snow is deep, the ice is treacherous, the downed trees are many and folks have turned back rather than try to push through this part of the trail. Well damn. It looks like I'm gonna have to adapt and change my plans. I have no death wish.

My new plan is to start at Castilla and head south, leaving on June 30th instead of June 12th. That northern section is just too much for my skill set and I don't want to be out there alone in difficult conditions. So once again my best laid plans need to change with the circumstances. In that vein I purchased a train ticket from San Jose, CA to Dunsmuir, CA and will start walking south June 30. Decision made!

Snow!

And it just keeps snowing! Northern California just got dumped on last weekend and it's still pretty cool up north, which means the snow isn't melting very fast. So what to do? There is still almost three weeks to go before I take off but no one knows what the trail conditions are on the ground. Will there be impassable snow? How many blow downs will there be? I don't guess I'll need to worry much about water for drinking but what about stream crossings?

Washington, south of Packwood Glacier

While this photo was taken in Washington in August, the snow I might encounter in N. Cal would likely be in the trees with an unknown number of down trees blocking the trail. Some smaller and low to the ground which require crawling, some really big like the one L is climbing over here. Either way it gets very tiring trying to hike a trail that isn't yet cleared for the season.

Another option I am considering is to hike north from Southern Oregon where I got off the trail in 2012. There will still be snow on the ground and probably trees down as well, but the trail itself isn't as exposed, meaning less steep and rugged. Let's say, fewer cliffs to fall off of. That part appeals to me somehow. I'm basicly a chicken when it comes to dangerous situations and prefer not to expose myself to unnecessary risk, especially when I am hiking solo.

So I'm on the horns of a dilemma. I have to mail my first resupply box by early next week and where I mail it is dependant on which way I'm gonna hike... north or south. Help!

Doing the details

One of the things that is good about having backpacked a fair number of miles on the PCT is that I know how much consumable stuff I use on a daily basis. Because of this I know, for example, I want to have packed two wet wipes per day and two quarter squares of blue shop towels. You know, those thick paper towels you've seen around. I cut each big sheet into fours and this is what I use instead of toilet paper. Mostly because it's tougher and I don't have to carry as much at a time. I'm sure the wet wipes are self explanatory 😜. 

How I figure this out is to look at my Craig's PCT planner and based on the data I in putted, I know that in box 9 I'll need to have 4 days of these items in the box for the next section. As well as other stuff like shampoo and laundry soap. 

This may seem like a whole ton of work but a little time up front means I'm carrying the least amount of weight between resupply stops. Plus, it gets the trip out of the theoretical realm and into the "it's really gonna happen" place. 

Stay tuned. I'm almost done with dinners. 😃

Dehydrating - working on dinners

I do love making dinners for my backpacking adventures. I currently have six meals, times nine, planned for my up coming section hike. Tonight I began dehydrating 5 cans of Trader Joes chicken chili, (4 more to go), a killer dinner in the outback. I'm also dehydrating pasta, to add to a few other meals. Images to follow. 

Yummmmm. Food is good.