Savings

Today was the last payday of 2019 and I've hit a huge benchmark for my PCT savings! I want to do all I can to take care of things within my control before the trip and this is definitely a big relief. And it's not so much savings for the trail as it is for whatever crazy ideas I come up with after the trail and before getting a new job.

Inreach Activation

Today I set up my inreach activation to practice before I'm in the middle of the desert. I'll get to test it out on our weekend backpacking trip on MLK weekend. Oh yeah, all of us bought our plane tickets!! We are headed to San Diego a few days early to stay with Krista's friend who was kind enough to give up her floor! Thank you!

Christmas for my Mom

Mom hung this year's Christmas gift next to her gift from two years ago! She plans to add markers on the map as I reach them.

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to my parents and sibs who knew exactly what I wanted for Christmas!!

Free the Hip

Personally, going ultralight is more than just a trend. Using the hip belt with a heavier pack weight has caused certain stomach problems on my overnight trips. These stomach problems have come and gone over the past 2 years, even after several appointments with my doctors and getting a number of tests done. Since all of the tests were inconclusive, I try to do what I can to lessen the nausea on my own. I believe that using the hip belt after eating was a contributing factor to some miserable days on the trail. In the end, I hope to have a base weight of less than 11 pounds so I can reduce the amount of time using the hip belt by over half.

My PCT Motto

"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

- Mick Jagger

100 days

100 days to go!!!

What I'm doing about my contacts

A couple days ago I had my last appointment with my eye doctor before hopping on the trail in March. Over a year ago, I shared my upcoming adventure with her and asked for advice on how to avoid wearing glasses. Her ideas included overnight contacts, daily disposable contacts, and getting eye surgery. We settled on overnight contacts on trail and wearing glasses in town, but she had to see how my eyes reacted to sleeping in the contacts over the year before saying yes because I have astigmatism (which basically means I shouldn't sleep in contacts).The big condition being that I am not allowed to touch my eyes AT ALL unless I have access to soap and a sink - so in town.

I plan on carrying Refresh contact eye drops, glasses, a contact case with solution, and a spare pair of contacts. Over this past year, I conditioned my eyes to sleeping in the contacts similar to how it would be out on the trail, allowing my eyes to adjust. I got the green light from my doctor to continue with the schedule on the trail! The last thing I'll do is give my eyes a break from contacts entirely a couple weeks before my start date. Wouldn't want another blinding eye infection like the one I got in high school summer camp.

DIY

A little cozy DIY fun while I'm still recovering.

You will need:
Scissors
Gorilla Tape
Ruler
Sharpie
Reflectix
Velcro

Dimensions to fit a Mountain House Meal:
10in wide x 30in long

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

Apparently after getting my wisdom teeth removed today, all I could talk about was how committed to being ultralight I was for having 3 teeth extracted to shave a few ounces!

Hunting Season

In the past, hunting season started on a Monday in PA, where schools chose to make opening day an in service day or risked most of the class calling in sick. Well, this year it started two days earlier, which didn't register in my brain until we came upon two hunters in bright orange gear while hiking in the Laurel Highlands. I turned to look at my friends who were apparently disturbing the peace while chatting freely. We were all three dressed head to toe in black. I guess now would be a good time to dig out those bright orange and/or reflective outerwear from the back of the closet, which would also double as a night outfit during the week since the sun goes down at 6:00 pm in the winter and your only choice is to walk up the hill in your neighborhood 10 times with a weighted vest on.

Weighted Vest

Recently I purchased a 25lb weighted vest to train in, thinking it would simulate a full backpack without the hassle. I will not be taking it off until March and I thought you should know that hanging Christmas lights in the trees in my front yard is much harder in a weighted vest.

Boxes

Ordering boxes today!

Online Gear

More gear distributors should sort products by weight. Thank you Montbell.

Countdown

I created a countdown widget on my phone!

Approval

All four of us are approved and ready to book travel arrangements! Scout and Frodo (the trail angels who host up to 40 hikers a night near the southern terminus) require a permit and travel arrangements prior to signing up. Our next step is to decide between a trail and a plane. I have always wanted to take a train across the states and it more environmentally friendly, but of course it would be longer in a cramped seat. More concrete plans to follow!

Permit

My permit was approved!! PCT 2020 here I come!

Now waiting on 3 more...

Permit Day!

A big day for the PCT hiking community! For those who do not know how the system works, this year hikers logged on to the PCTA website before 10:30 am PST to receive a randomized spot in the queue. Those who entered after 10:30 were added to the back of the line. Krista set up a conference call for her, Brad, and me to pick a day once we saw what was available. Unfortunately Raechel started a new job so she could not get out of work to apply. Luckily my mom was home and willing to step in and fill in her information.
We set up 4 computers to double our chances of getting a good spot in line. My turn came up first with over 600 hikers in front of me. I chose March 24th (our first choice) which had five people already signed up. 30 minutes later Brad and Raechel (my second computer) were able to sign up next with spots near 1500. The 24th was still open so they were able to choose the same day. Krista's best number was in the 6000s so we used our third computer, which had a spot in line around 1700, to get her.....March 24th!!
I went into the day relaxed because we were choosing a start date earlier than the popular ones. Boy did I realize how lucky we were once I started checking the Facebook page a little later on in the day. People around 6000 were forced to choose dates in early March or mid May. Some partners were split by weeks! Krista would have been going out to buy another tent.
Now on to waiting for our permits to be accepted so we can make travel arrangements and see if we can stay with Scout and Frodo!

Gear

The most frustrating part of the prepping process is getting gear and then realizing you hate it. I only learned I wanted a fanny pack with zippers inside when I used my LiteAF fanny pack and didn't know where to put my spare memory cards. Every time I went to take my phone out of my shoulder strap on the West Rim Trail, my wallet came right out with it and onto the ground. No way I need to worry about that or anything else getting left behind.
I will be documenting my experience on a camera and, as per usual, I can't decide which camera I will be taking. My Nikon 3400 is too heavy, my Yi4K action camera does not have the right look, and my Sony a6400 has a crop sensor with no image stabilization. I may upgrade to the Sony a7ii for the trip, (maybe even buy a drone) but I'm sure I'll change my mind 10 more times.
Last big change is my pack. I keep going back and forth on whether I want a frameless back or not. Right now I have the Zpacks Arc Blast and one of the straps on the back digs into my shoulder blade. It doesn't touch my back if the frame is arced, but I will look into something else if I am still having problems.

Shenandoah

To take advantage of a three day holiday weekend, I drove south to meet up with Brad, Raechel, and Krista for some hiking in Shenandoah. Although in 180 days, all four of us will set out onto our NOBO PCT attempt, this trip was not intended for training. In any case, Brad was so excited about his new 65L Deuter that he used it on three of the four day hikes, insisting that we fill it with all of our things. Raechel and Krista plan on sharing a three person MSR tent on the PCT and Brad tried out his new 1+ REI Half-Dome (which will be returned after two nights of rain leakage). I wore my new Altra Lone Peak 4 trail-runners all weekend, which worked fantastic compared to the first time I tried. Friendly reminder never to start out wearing zero drop shoes on an 18 mile hike....yeah. It was great to have the lodge to camp out in and play meme games when the weather turned south. We also took advantage of the breakfast buffet, like true thru-hikers! Last I'll mention that I finally stepped foot on the AT for the first time! And of course I took us on connecting AT trails at every opportunity.

Happy Hiking,
Rebecca

Intro

Good morning!

Let me introduce myself with who I am and why I decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail or PCT. I am 25 years old with a bachelors degree in biochemistry working as a ceramics technician for Alcoa in Western Pennsylvania. I spend most of my free time white water kayaking, playing soccer, and snowboarding when I can. And when the weather is poor, I like to read books from the library or watch Big Brother and Say Yes to the Dress with my mom.
The first time I heard about the PCT was from a free REI class in which I only went so I could learn about packing lighter (the first tru hike I attempted was a complete nightmare). Ever since then it's been in the back of my mind as a "someday" trail, but wasn't brought up again until my friend from college convinced me that 2020 was the year! We gave ourselves enough time to pay off our student loans (which has been paid off as of two months ago) and save up wayyyy more money than we probably will need, because the last thing we want is to have to quit because of money.

As of now, we have about 215 days until we set out on the trail. My intention with this blog is to document my preparations and mistakes so others can find entertainment or maybe learn a few things with me. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!


Rebecca (trail name TBD)