April 18th: Day -2.. Less than 36 hours!

It’s getting REEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAL!!

This morning I woke up in Portland, and now I’m just an hour’s drive away from the start of my biggest adventure to date!! PCT 2018 here I come! 

Claire and I and Dona had a nice breakfast at the Tin Shed, and I got to say goodbye to all of my coworkers (again). They’re like “Leave Already!” Took Star for our last walk together for a looooong time. Tulips are popping up like crazy, and blossoms are in full effect on the streets of our new neighborhood :)

Yesterday, I moved most of my belongings into my car, and thanks to the help of Claire, squeezed, and I mean SQUEEZED my car into our tiny garage:

Speaking of Claire being awesome, check out her free-hand sharpie work to transform my Tyvek groundsheet for my tent into a dual purpose, hitchhiking sign for when this scraggly beast is trying to bum a ride into town! (My tent floor isn’t rectangular, which is why the sheet looks crooked, but it’s just skewed when folded)

THANKS CLAIRE!

You might be wondering, “Why are you posting a blog post when you haven’t even started the trail yet?” Great question. I’ve actually picked up some new gear for this year and just wanted to highlight a few differences! 

Firstly my pack: 

I went from my big, comfy, 5lb, old faithful Osprey Atmos 50 to a new, 2.5lb ULA Circuit pack. I am extremely happy with this change, as it goes hand in hand with a base eight decrease from 20lbs down to around 14lbs. If I had the same baseweight as last time, I would want to sacrifice the hip belt comfort and all around sturdiness and support of the Atmos, but because I am going a lot lighter this year, this pack will serve me great! It’s the lightest pack that I’ve found (in my price range) that still has a solid frame in it.

Next up is my new Sunday Afternoon Sun hat! It is modeled at the top of this post, and if you go back and look, you can see that it has a nice, solid, wide brim in the front, but the brim isn’t solid in the back. This way it can lay down on my neck and not interfere with with my backpack and push my neck forward. Claire helped me pick it out at REI. Since I’m starting the trail this year with trekking poles, I’m not taking an umbrella for the sun. Therefore, the wide brimmed sun hat :)

Next up! My new Outdoor Research Helium II rain jacket! This puppy comes in at ~6oz in the extra large, or something ridiculous like that! I used my 10oz Marmot Super Mica rain jacket a couple times in the desert in 2016. Twice during unexpected hailstorms, multiple times as a wind breaker, but never for rain... :p  A rain jacket is definitely an essential item for the entire hike, but I figured I could downsize and switch for my heavier-duty Marmot when I stop back into Portland on my way up before facing the notirious Washington rain.. plus, it can do this!!

Another addition/upgrade.. this one is called the Patagonia Capiline Midweight baselayer. It’s a little lighter and warmer than the orange baselayer I had last time, and I think it will be more enjoyable to hike in on those cold mornings, and well as having a 1/4 zip on the chest for when it starts warming up.

Next are these Possumdown gloves from New Zealand. The possum hair is hollow, like polar bear hair, allowing the glove to stay dry in light rain, and blended with New Zealand Merino Lamb’s wool, these stay nice and toasty when it’s cold out. I’m not a fan of wearing fur ever, but Possums in New Zealand (not related to Opossums here in the U.S.) are an invasive species that destroy the native plant and bird life.

Although I did loose a lot of item weight, I am gaining a little as well. For instance, because of my astigmatism development in my eyes over this last year, I am no longer able to wear monthly contacts and have switched back to Dailies. This means I’ll be carrying about 20 left and right contacts until I’m close to running out, and then Claire will send me 20 more: this doesn’t add too much to the pack in terms of weight (about 5oz,) but they do add more bulk. Another addition is my special dreadlock shampoo that I have in a little 4oz bottle. I’m also starting with some food protection bags this time as I had a few instances in 2016 where critters were messing with my pack because they smelt yummy food!

There are more new items, upgrades, and additions to show off and talk about, but those will come later, when it’s not 11pm and I’m supposed to be “getting lots of sleep” before I start my hike! 

I flew down to San Diego today, to stay with Lt. Dan for the night in Chula Vista. Claire and I met Lt. Dan very early on on the PCT 2016. I believe he and HR (Pat) hiked most of the trail as a team after meeting. Dan was so awesome to open his home up to me tonight and drive me out towards the terminus tomorow, where I’ll be staying with my friend Alanna again, the one we stayed with last time before the trail. 

Before settling in at Dan’s tonight, I HAD to put on a little more weight on these skinny bones!

Well, thanks for reading, and stay tuned for actual trail updates starting on the 20th!!