When to begin?

I spent some time this weekend mapping out my town stops. I have mostly opted for town stops that can be accessed by hiking or at least require the least amount of hitchhiking. My rough draft plan has 33 town stops. Most of them will be to pick up my prepackaged boxes but I am planning a few stops where I will resupply with grocery stores along the way.

I think my start day will be Friday April 15th. I will fly down on Wednesday the 13th. Permit season opens tomorrow, so I spent some time tonight working on my game plan. It is still pretty loose and I won't know what the Sierra's will be like snow wise until I get closer to April but the permit season opens tomorrow so I am taking my best guess.

I got some nice walking in this weekend with about 30 pounds of weight on my back. I did 10 miles on Saturday and 5 miles on Sunday. I now walk to many of my errands, with big bottles of water-weight in my pack! My mom told me that during my PCT hike, she is going to take a walk every day to show her solidarity. That's a lot of daily waling since my current plan calls for 5 and 1/2 months to complete.

I found a great deal on gluten free breakfast cereal at Grocery Outlet so I bought 24 boxes. They taste pretty good...thank goodness. My little bit of storage in my 300 square foot studio is beginning to fill up. When I find items that I like to eat on sale, I buy a bunch. I now have 16 boxes of Lara bars, 20 boxes of Just Great Stuff bars, 24 boxes of oats, a bazillion boxes of tea, 12 boxes of coconut cream, 3 bags of pine nuts, 3 bags of Quinoa, a case of sardines etc.  I also have been saving up partial rolls of toilet paper so I have small rolls to carry on the trail.

I am trying Superfeet coper insoles in my sneakers and I love them. Thank you to my friend MariJo who got me some for free to try.  I made disposable callous sanding sticks today. I used popsicle sticks and sticky backed 80 grit sandpaper. They are awesome and I can use 'em and toss 'em. My feet are going to love them. My toe is feeling pretty good but my body is telling me I need to focus more on stretching.

Toe Woes

Well, I have been trying to address my foot pain issue over the last few months. My toes do not flex as much as most peoples do, so after years of walking, I have developed arthritis in my right big toe joint. This is my biggest threat to finishing my through hike. Surgery is an option if I have the time for the 6 to 9 month recovery. Well, I don't have that kind of time so my doctor suggested steroid injections in my big toe. One per month for 3 months. I got my first one last Friday and I was the biggest baby about it! That needle was so big! I just closed my eyes and whined and squeezed  my friend James' hand hard enough to break it. It hurt for a bit and I had to take it easy that weekend.

I meant to take pictures but I was so worked up that I forgot. I will bless you with pictures of my actual toe next month but for now you can look at this one that I found online. Fun huh?

I also am trailing this product called Spring plates by My Foot Shop.com and they work great to decrease my toe pain by creating a rocker action at the ball of my foot, but after just 200 miles, they have holes in them! They also lacerated my shoes so I need to order a new pair and this pair should not be even halfway worn out. These are some of the challenges in planning that I did not expect. I do love my shoes, the Altra Lone Peaks are perfect for my foot. They are light and will dry quickly and the toe room is greater than any other shoe I have tried.

Luckily, my friend MariJo in Bellingham has given me several different pairs of Superfeet to try. So, this means more field testing, which is great because I am walking to train anyway. I figure my feet are one of the most important things to tenderly take care of during and before my trip.

Today I worked on getting a passport. It is complicated since I cant find my old expired one and they don't like my birth certificate. I actually had to apply and pay to get a new birth certificate today. Whew! And it only takes one month to get it shipped to me...Yikes! I need the passport to get into Canada...well actually, I need to passport to get back into the USA after I hike to the trail terminis in Canada.

Figuring out how to communicate!

Hey, I have a bunch of stuff to get together for my 2,600 mile Pacific Crest Trail trip, least of all my system for letting my cheer leading squad know how I am doing. I don't know what my final process will look like, but at least I want to get my mailing list together. 

Here is what I am telling people about my trip. It is simple really. I am going to fly to San Diego and then walk 2,600 miles home. That feels so symbolic to me. I am so pleased with walking south to north and ending at my home (basically). I hope by the time I make it back home that I feel at home in my own mind and body too.This is such the right thing for me right now. All I want to do is walk, I feel driven to walk and it takes no effort. All I have to do is get out of my own way and my legs move on their own. I have given notice at work so it is official. My last day is February 18th. I am all in!!

I’ve been making some soda can stoves and drying some food. I have been drying apples and olives. Yes, I said olives. They are crazy bursts of flavor when dried. A bit too much for everyday but man they are going to taste great on the trail.

In fact, I am going to dry a few more giant jars of olives. For some reason I think those salty bursts are going to taste particularly great in Washington state. My apples are a gift from Blaine and they are from a tree in Dungeness so I will be taking a bit of home with me.

I have been training for the trip by walking with some weight in my backpack. I have been carrying a rock around but I would like to upgrade to a couple of sandbags. I got my new tent in the mail and I hiked over to Fort Worden and put it up. It only weighs a pound and a half and it uses one tent pole. I can use a hiking stick for a tent pole if I choose. I am hoping that most of time I can just kip out under the stars, but being from the Northwest I am inclined to plan for rain.

Everyone has been so supportive. I can't even begin to list the ways that folks have been so gracious. My mom has a contact in San Diego who will pick me up at the airport and take me to the trailhead. How simple was that? My coworker Alice is going to make me granola to take on the trip. I am thrilled since oatmeal gets so boring. My friend MariJo is getting me several pairs of Superfeet insoles at a deep discount. I figure I will go through 5 pairs of shoes and insoles. I love my new shoes that I am going to wear. They are Altra's and they have an awesome wide toe box. They are not at all waterproof but they are light and dry quickly.

Tomorrow I go to Seattle to get a steroid injection in my big toe. I have arthritis in my toe and well...it hurts to walk. This is my biggest obstacle to not finishing the trip. The pain start to kick in after 10 miles and I plan to hike 20 plus miles a day. Something has to be done! I will get a series of shots before I go and my doc and I are hoping they will last 6 months or longer. Wish me luck! I've never gotten a big old shot in my toe before.