PCT 2014

The car is packed and I'm ready to catch the first ferry tomorrow morning for my next Pacific Crest Trail adventure. Last year my cousin Kelley and I hiked from Santiam Pass in Oregon to Olallie Lake. It was a five day, four night backpacking trip. It was the longest backpacking either of us had ever done. A year has passed and I've learned a lot. I've lightened my load a bit with a new sleeping bag and pad. I've gone on several other backpacking trips, each time learning more and seeing how other people do things.

Kelley and I knew after our trip that we were hooked. But we decided to try to include more of our family and friends on our next PCT adventure and so we've organized the trip so that family can meet us at different points and camp with us and some are going to hop on and off the trail with us. And we're going for two weeks this time!

The plan is to start at Olallie Lake and travel north past Mt. Hood down to the Columbia River Gorge, crossing at Bridge of the Gods and ending at Trout Lake, Washington. We kicked around the idea of starting at the Oregon border and traveling north but decided it would be easier for people to join us if we kept it nearer the Portland area.

The past few weeks have been a flurry of planning and preparation. Kelley and I have been scanning our favorite backpacking meal websites like trailcooking.com and backpackingchef.com. I'm eager to try out a recipe I saw in the most recent Backpacker magazine. I found myself a bit overwhelmed with trying to coordinate who was joining and when and how much food we'd need and finally created a Google document that I've shared with all the participants that shows how far we're hiking each day, where we are camping each night, who is joining when, and who is responsible for what meals. We are each individually responsible for snacks, breakfast and lunch, but we're doing community dinners. It just makes sense, since most dinner meals are for two or more people anyways.

When I get down to Kelley's tomorrow we will manically weigh everything and come up with our base weights. We are fortunate that with the people coming and going on the trail with us that we will have three re-supply points, but that also means we need to organize all that and get the supplies to the people who are coming so they can bring them to us. It also gives us great flexibility. It should be awesome weather the first week so I'm leaving my rain poncho to possibly be brought in on the final re-supply. Same with my long johns. I've also been trying to decide if I want to hike in my boots or my Brooks. I've decided to start in my Brooks and leave my boots with my brother to bring with him when we meet to camp on the third day. If I'm not happy with my tennis shoes I'll switch out to my boots.

I also have a Spot device in case of emergency and so that people can track our process. If we get delayed for some reason they'll be able to see that and adjust their plans. Hopefully everything will go according to plan but the Spot gives peace of mind not just to us, but also to our families. I can't wait to actually get on the trail! Although I oddly enjoy most of the planning and prep, I'm ready for it to be over with and to get hiking!