Just three weeks to go. I still feel pretty good, planning seems to moving along smoothly. This week I received my permit to hike the trail. (Still waiting for my Canada entry permit.) Two more pairs of shoes arrived in the mail, bringing the total to five. I'm the kind of guy who will wear the same shoes for a year to two years before buying new ones. It feels very strange to have so many new shoes. My registration and sticker for my car's license plate also arrived this week. Taxes are done. I also ordered a new rain jacket and some hiking pants which arrived this week. Also received some Livestrong bracelets (thanks Kathy!) in the mail. These, of course, will be given to those who support Hikestrong 2010! The next two big items on the list are food purchase, and moving my belongings into storage. Thankfully, I don't have all that much to move.Sunday, April 11, 2010
PCT Update
Just three weeks to go. I still feel pretty good, planning seems to moving along smoothly. This week I received my permit to hike the trail. (Still waiting for my Canada entry permit.) Two more pairs of shoes arrived in the mail, bringing the total to five. I'm the kind of guy who will wear the same shoes for a year to two years before buying new ones. It feels very strange to have so many new shoes. My registration and sticker for my car's license plate also arrived this week. Taxes are done. I also ordered a new rain jacket and some hiking pants which arrived this week. Also received some Livestrong bracelets (thanks Kathy!) in the mail. These, of course, will be given to those who support Hikestrong 2010! The next two big items on the list are food purchase, and moving my belongings into storage. Thankfully, I don't have all that much to move.
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Mark, I hope you have enough room in your pack for an ample supply of fruit pies.
ReplyDeleteMmmmmmmmm, fruit pies. I had to think about that one for a minute. Where were we when those cravings occurred? Colorado?
ReplyDeleteMark, how did you decide what kind of shoes to wear? Will you also have crocks or some other shoe for water crossings? What are you planning on talking for protein?
ReplyDeleteCongrats, by the way. This is getting exciting for us too!
Hi Robin,
ReplyDeleteYou know, I'm a little embarassed to admit it, but sometimes I don't put too much thought into things. With the shoes, I basically bought what I could afford and I'm hoping that my body will adapt. NB Trail runners were recommended by many thru-hikers, and the type of shoe is argued to death on the PCT chat room. One thing that I found interesting, is that most of the PCT veterans all recommended getting shoes larger that what you usually wear because your feet actually expand on the trail. Whether its a cruel joke meant to haze the newbies, I can't really say. I'll have to find out for myself. I did order a half size larger just in case. It's also said to prevent blisters. Also, I am planning on bringing crocs for water crossings. Hopefully they will stay on my feet. As far as protein, I'm planning on eating a lot of tuna with my pasta, perhaps jerky or pepperoni, and obviously burgers in town!
Mark, I"ve heard of the larger footwear as well, so perhaps it is so. The year I went North to South lake in July (a huge snow year, like this one) and saw so many thru hikers (the only folks we saw on the trial) many were wearing crocs. They were hiking in them at some points because there was so much water to cross it was too time consuming to change out for each crossing. It's the first place I really saw the use of crocs and now would't backpack without them.
ReplyDeleteHow about gravel gators? Seems you might want those for the sand, rocks and snow with low cut shoes??
Are you carbo loading now? Putting on some extra weight to use later??
It's great not to have to worry about what I'm eating. I have been quite gluttonous lately, confident that whatever weight I gain this month is going to be coming off in no time.
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