Almost!

I leave home tomorrow and will drive down to Riverside Co to visit family for a few days. Angela will fly down next week and then on Friday at 7 am she will drop me off at the border. Our friends Chris and Lisa will also be there and I'll be joined by my hiking pals Diane and Caroline. The weather forecast is to be in the 60's during the day and 40's at night for the first three days. Other than having to carry lots of water, it couldn't be a better start to the hike. And because it won't be hot we won't have to carry quite so much water, even though our first night will be a dry camp so we need enough water for dinner and breakfast the next morning. On day two we only have four miles till the next water source so it seems like it will be pretty easy… or easy enough I guess.

This morning I loaded up my pack with all gear, five liters of water and food for three days and it weighed in at 25 pounds. Not too bad really and it could be bunches worse. This is, in part, because I've upgraded my gear to include more down than I've used in the past. I managed to take some photos of the newest goodies and they are as follows.

Montbell down jacket

Montbell down pants

Zpacks down hood and a Turtlefur beanie

Well this is it for now. I still have way too much to do before I leave at zero dark-thirty tomorrow morning so I've got to sign off now. I'll be communicating via phone from now so expect less than stellar spelling and awkward sentence structure. It's much harder to edit on that little beast. Stay tuned for big adventure!

Getting there

Yesterday I piled all my boxes (32 of 'um) into my van and drove them over to Angela's place. I was amazed to find they tucked nicely into her clothes closet, so it appears they won't take up too much room in her small home. That done I can finally deal with putting stuff away and cleaning the floors for once. Since it is raining today I guess I'll wait till it gets less muddy. What's that old saying? "Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow?" Something like that…

I've been doing pretty well on my long lists and I was actually thinking I might get everything done before leaving-home day. But because it wouldn't be life if things went entirely smoothly I got a call back from the Dermatologists office asking me to call them back on the results of some skin spots I had removed last week. It appears I have a common cancer called Squamous Cell Carcinoma that needs to be surgically removed before I leave on Sunday. Remarkably I was able to get an appointment for this Friday to do the deed but I'll be sporting stitches when I hit the trail. 7-10 days later, approximately at Laguna Mountains - mile 42ish, I'll need to find a way to remove the stitches. It can't be that hard, right?

Fortunately, it was a small spot to begin with so hopefully there won't be too big a hole in my forearm. It's all those years as a lifeguard and outside worker coming back to haunt me. Oh well. I guess I'm lucky to have lived long enough to get this thing in the first place. Polyanna rocks!

Al-righty then

Dang. I've got six days till I take off for LA and family visiting. The good news? All my resupply boxes are done and ready to be mailed by my oh-so-trusty and remarkable girlfriend/partner for forever, Angela. All that remains for me to do is to get them to her art studio tomorrow, where they will await mailing. Truly, I couldn't do this without her support and doggedness.

Last time around (two years ago) I was feeling very different. Terrible intestinal trouble - I thought I might be getting an ulcer I was so verklempt. I was scared and…what? I don't know what. But I guess I was feeling so unsure of myself that I didn't know if I'd manage 100 miles…who could even think of 2,663.5 miles? Well, hey. I've walked 700 miles of hot, dry, waterless desert and I think, and believe, I will be able to do it again.

If there is such a thing as temperament and tendency, I have always been a scared individual. I was raised to be polite, kind and well, British in nature. Not that Brits as a people are timid, au contraire. But there is something about learning to be kind, appropriate and polite that can make a perfectly wild child kinda timid. You could say I've spent the past six decades learning to push against this kind of conditioning. Girl training is part of it. I remember the adult women in my youth saying that it was important to let the menfolk think they were the smarter ones. Really? Who ever thought that would be a good idea? Maybe people without economic power…? Well, never mind why, it is still a lesson I learned that follows me everywhere I go. When you have to temper your own talents against someone else's ego…Well, it isn't often a very good outcome.

Even given all of that, in ten days I will leave my perfectly wonderful life, home and friends/family/animal friends and start walking north, to Canada. What a crazy idea! I can't really say why this is a good idea but to me it seems right. I am a simple person with a silly idea but I hope to make it happen.

A Whirlwind…

Things are moving pretty fast here in my life. It almost seems too hard to slow down long enough to get something down here to let people know where I am in the process of getting ready to hike the PCT. My lists are too long and I keep losing them in the piles of paper, boxes of food items and bunches of cat food containers… enough for 6 months of munchings. The date of departure has changed so many times and the final, final, really final gear choices have changed around once again. I think NOW I really do have the final gear lineup. I hope…

Speaking of gear (clever segue eh?) I'm doing something different this time around than I have ever done in the past. In an attempt to sooth my afternoon hiking beasts I am going to bring upbeat music to listen to in order to help my tired self to keep moving along towards the end of long days. I've never brought along music before as I have never felt the need, mostly enjoying my own thoughts. But I've learned something about myself that in the late afternoon, when I am tired, hot and my feet/legs hurt, that I can become a Negative Nelly - pissing and moaning about how things just suck and "where the heck is that water source!" I'm hoping that upbeat music pouring into my brain will help me regain a positive mindset and create energy where none exists.  On recent training hikes it really does seem to help out towards the end of a day. Cool.

Since I don't know jack about MP3 players, or anything other than boom boxes (and they're way too big to carry) I've taken my information off of a website written by a young woman named Wired who is a thru hiker, having already finished the PCT, CDT and will be hiking the AT this year, completing her Triple Crown. At any rate she is a well of information about gear and especially electronics so I took her recommendations to heart, buying a super small MP3 player and ear buds weighing in at 1.3 ounces and containing up to 1,000 songs. It must have taken me six hours to download (or is it upload?) the songs I wanted to have with me and it required me to learn to translate MP4 music to MP3 songs so they would play on the player. Quite a bit of cussing has occured during this process but I think I now know how to do it. In addition I bought a super tiny, Micro SDHC card reader should anyone wanted to send me music or books on card for my listening pleasure…hint, hint.  Contact Angela, who will be the keeper of the cards and reader.

Here is the cute beast with the accessories…

There are more gear posts coming up but I just wanted to get back on here and let people know I haven't fallen into a big hole. I'm just immersed in the piles of details that surround my life at this time.

Stay tuned!

Gear Modifications

For a long time I've been searching thrift stores, looking for the perfect wind vest, something I can wear when it is cold outside, but not so cold that I need a full on wind shirt or jacket. I could have purchased something from a bike store or other specialized place but it grates on my nerves to spend $50 or more for a bit of nylon and a couple of zippers. I hadn't yet found anything to fit the bill so instead I started looking around for a wind shirt I could modify to meet my needs. 

Enter the latest attempt to solve this puzzle.

As found - 7.8 ounces

An Old Navy jacket with lots of bells and whistles. An inner liner, heavy metal zippers and two pockets. After cutting out the liner and sleeves I was able to drop off 3.7 ounces. This is keeping the metal zippers and pockets. If I were to change out the front zipper and eliminate the pockets, how low could it go? I'd say at least another ounce or two.  Is it worth it? We will see. Stay tuned.

Initial modification - 4.1 ounces

Hat or Visor?

I am a confirmed visor wearer. Year round I can be seen with one of my many visors clamped onto my head, shading my eyes from sun or in other circumstances, keeping rain off my glasses. They are lightweight, can be colorful and usually stay on my head fairly easily. Two years ago in a big wind on the PCT in the Southern California deserts I did almost lose my favorite but I was saved by my hiking partner who picked it up before it flew off to Mexico.

The only downside of visors in my mind is that they don't cover my ears. Most of the time this is fine but in hot sun it can be a difficult problem. I've used my 104 (what Girl Scouts call bandanas's) as a drape to cover my ears and neck but this makes the top of my head hot. So a couple of days ago I was looking at a hat I bought years back and I realized I could cut off the top and have ear and neck coverage and still be able to vent the heat off the top of my noggin. The result is fantastic and I now have a new hat for this years trek. The only downside I can think of is that is weighs 2.1 ounces and my standard visor weighs 1.7 ounces. For the added usefulness I'm fine with that! Plus it has one of those dopey chin straps so it won't sail off to parts unknown in a big wind.

Some final gear choices…

Sometimes I really hate being a Libra. Should I do this…. or should I do that? This costs big bucks and is warmer and lighter, but I already have X and that should be fine. Don't waste your money on a few ounces… But, a few ounces here and there add up to pounds and you aren't getting any younger you know. You get my drift.

Last week I hurt my low back and strained my iliopsoas, making it hard to stand up straight much less hike with a pack. Since then, and with more pressing concern for the lightest pack I can manage, I've popped for some additional gear, all lighter of course. And expensive - but beautiful.

Voila! Behold a Zpacks 10 degree quilt. 19.5 ounces of warmth in a quilt - $420. Everyone, but everyone I have spoken to who has this quilt absolutely loves it and thinks it is the best bag on earth. I don't know about that part yet but when long distance hikers rave about gear, Shelly listens.

Bearing in mind that quilts don't have hoods how will I keep my head and neck warm in big cold? Since a hood isn't necessary everywhere I opted to buy a hat/hood to pack and wear only when I need it. I'll start with it and when I get to Washington in fall I'll have it sent to me again. 1.3 ounces, $65. 

Yum, warm.

To round out the final (to this point) gear choices I decided to sell the tent I had and go with the Zpack Hexamid Solo Plus. Total weight 18.5, including ground cloth, stakes and stuff sack. WOW. Also $475 - double WOW. But it is palatial and better suited to my needs than the other one. Again, great reviews from long distance hikers who've lived in them for months at a time.

So there you have it. The most up-to-date choices I've made and will be going with in less than two months. I only hope my back/iliopsoas trouble clears up soon so I can get back out there and keep walking. Heat, stretch, ice. My new mantra.