Fortune cookie

I've been carrying this fortune around for months. Is the message clear? I think so… It'll be my mantra for this event, both the training and prep period as well as beyond.

In that vein, yesterday I bumped my training miles up to 13.5 with a jaunt in Nicene Marks State Park. I added a trail to my usual loop which included some steep up and downs with three water crossings. I doubt if I would have wanted to cross these trickling streams had we not been in the worst drought in California since 1849. The trail would have been slippery and slick with steep drop-offs, had it been wet and rainy. Plus the water would have been hip deep. This was good for me but terrible for the state as a whole. If this trend continues there will many liters of water hauling in my future and trouble all over the state with the extreme fire danger facing us.

Speaking of extreme fire danger it appears that alcohol stoves will be banned throughout the state of California this coming season. I think this comes from irresponsible past users who were clueless as to the dangers of alcohol stoves in the dry climate of California and have damaged property, including starting fires, in the past. Too bad as I don't like to use canister stoves - they are loud, the canisters are wasteful and they are heavy to carry. They are however, much safer in the hands of the foolish. Though, with some of the folks I've seen out there, any stove could be made dangerous. I'm sorry to say it but sometimes it appears as though there are many candidates for the Darwin awards on the trail.

Given all this, the current plan is to take a super small stove called a Pocket Rocket. The stove itself weighs 3 ounces and each small canister weighs in at 3.5 ounces so just the stove/canister itself weighs more than my previous cook system all told. Add in another 5 or so ounces for the pot and other stuff and it almost makes me want to go stove less. I'll have to consider this…

I spent a couple of hours last night working on my resupply plan. I'm using Craig's PCT Planner (http://www.pctplanner.com) which is a great tool for the planning of mail drops and milages. It is the perfect way to organize food drops and manage distances between those drops. Lots of good information on this site. Next week I'll take my plan to my friends house to see if we match up on our schedules and make any adjustments necessary. They've already started making meals for their boxes so it will be interesting to see what they've got going. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for but I reckon I'd better get on the stick asap.

Food

When I am on a training hike my mind has unlimited time to think about my upcoming trek. I think some about gear, whether or not my current stuff will work for the trail ahead, but mostly I have all my gear questions worked out. Much of my current trail thinking time revolves around food ideas for the trip and what is the best way to deal with meals. 

I can't say I have it all worked out but I am pretty clear about some things…mostly snacks, which I normally eat all day instead of official lunches. The reason for this clarity is that I plan to buy most snacks items in towns where I resupply and will eat what I find in grocery stores at these stops. Breakfast last time around was a combo of Via coffee and vanilla flavored Instant Breakfast. Not too sweet, which I like, but they didn't sustain me for very long. I will probably add in some kind of grain based cereal with Nido milk, or possibly try making on-the-trail yogurt like my friend Shroomer does.

This leaves dinner. My most important meal of the day and one that I use much of my brain power thinking about. Last time around I used some popular books to plan a wide variety of meals…I think I had 26 different meals. They were fine at home but some of them weren't really good to eat once I got out there so I am planning a different tack this time. I am asking my foodie friends to come up with recipes that I can make on the trail using dried ingredients and assembling on site. I am targeting spicy foods as they are my most favorite and I hope to have 8 or 10 good dinner meals I will love to eat. For some meals I will make tried and true dishes and dehydrate them so all I have to do is soak them in water for a couple of hours before dinner and just reheat them when it's time to eat.

In that vein I am in process of cooking up and dehydrating some pork loin, slow cooked with BBQ sauce and sliced thin. This will be part of my mac and cheese dinner. Yum. One ounce dried pork with a cup or so of small pasta and powered cheese should be yummy. Add in some BBQ sauce and it is divine. In a backpacking meal kind of way…

More to come…

Alrighty then

Tomorrow marks my move up to 11 miles, three days a week. Actually my planned route is 11.5 but
who's counting? My pack is weighing in at 18 pounds and it will stay there for another two weeks, then increasing to 20+. 

This is a good example of my hiking territory. Fall is slowly receding and winter approaching, though so far not much rain which means the approach creeks are easily crossed. So far, so good. 

Gear posts coming up soon.

Dang!

It took me most of the week to recover from my weekend hike. This is a bummer as I have a hiking plan and this event took me out of my comfort zone. Which is sometimes good, but apparently not this time. Five days till I could walk without serious pain - I'll have to be a bit more cautious from now on out.

Earlier this week I met with a couple of local women I know who are planning to hike the PCT in 2014 and it seems like we are on the same general time schedule. Commitment is difficult for some of us (me) but it seems likely that we will start the trail together in April of next year. April first'ish if there isn't much snow, April 15th if there's the usual amount of snow. Until then, we wait. We are a bunch of older gals (me being the eldest, but perhaps not the wisest) and are under the impression that slower starts might be benificial. Just sayin.

Of course, I also have to consider my living situation and the animals I've taken on as caretaker. So I must find a good house sitter who likes rustic environments and two cats, not to mention watering and making sure one eats enough eggs to keep above water with the chickens. (We are getting an average of eight eggs a day right now.)

As a result of all this I am experiencing something uncomfortable for me. Yup, lack of control. It's crazy! I can't control the weather and I'm not a wizard. I'm worried I might not be able to find the perfect match in my housing situation, but I just have to put my best intentions out there and hope for the best. Cross your fingers for me.

One double yoke girl around here.

Aren't these kitties cute? Chance is on the left and his sister Mija to the right. Visually impared but sweet as can be. Also, sort of feral so you have to move slow or they'll scatter like blown leaves.

Mt Diablo hike

Holy cow - What a hike! On Saturday I joined 11 other folks to hike up to the summit of Mt. Diablo in the East Bay and this 12 mile hike kicked my butt. To be kind I will say there was about 3,300 foot elevation to get to the top from the spot where we parked the vehicles (and the corresponding elevation drop) so the fact that I can't walk well is probably reasonable. Some parts were probably 45% in grade and these were the ones that hurt on the way back down. Yikes. If I can hike this trail, even twice a month, then I should be able to hike the PCT… I've never seen a trail close to this kind of steepness before, where I wasn't wearing a helmet and attached to a harness.

One goal

Way back in June I posted here that my eventual success related to thru hiking the PCT would rest, in some part, on my ability to lose weight prior to April. My initial goal was to lose 20 pounds with a secondary goal of losing 5 to 10 more before leaving for the trail in April 2014. As of today I have lost 19 pounds, so my first goal is in sight. The best part of losing the weight is that my training hikes are so much easier on me! It is really noticeable and for this I am really grateful. 

 Utah, September late afternoon.

Home again

Just to catch up with the previous post I'll say that my night in the snow was just peachy. It was cold but not so cold that my water bottles froze so I reckon it was in the mid 30's over night. My sleeping system was perfect and I was warm and cozy all night. When the sun arrived I was ready to pop out of the tent and head down the hill and off to the Red Kettle in Idylwild. Yum! Good as usual. If you all are ever in that town I recommend this place above all others for good, down home food.

BTW, I learned that tyvek is NOT water proof and that plastic would have been a better ground cloth choice for snow/slush conditions. I'll have to remember this.