Clutching at straws: stages of hope, denial and acceptance
After the huge disappointment of deciding to get off the PCT and postpone our hike, there followed a difficult few days of hope and denial.
1. Maybe this will all blow over in a couple of weeks. ?
We can stay with my Dad and wait it out, then pick up where we left off, only a couple of weeks out of sync…
2. Ok, maybe a couple of weeks isn’t gonna be enough, 1 month? ??
How long until we out stay our welcome???? ?
3A. In the meantime, risk mitigation hiking on the PCT? ?
Could we still hike the PCT in a way that mitigates the reasons we aren’t hiking right now? We thought we could perhaps keep hiking and use a car with the following plan;
We drive to location A
One of us starts hiking to location B
The other drives to location B
The other then starts hiking to location A
We cross in the middle, have a few mins break together and (importantly!) hand over the car keys
On arrival at location B, one of us drives back to location A to collect the other
Camp on trail near the car and repeat the next day
Alongside this plan, we would do a few things to mitigate concerns about hiking during the C-19 pandemic;
– Always have 2 weeks worth of food and water in the car as emergency backup (i.e. more than we needed) – the thinking here that if we got ill on trail we had enough food and water to self-isolate for two weeks in the tent/car without having to risk passing the virus on to others. – If one of us was ill enough to need hospital the other could drive to a hospital. Each day hiking would only be 10-15 miles due to time constraints with the added time needed to drive between locations. This meant that one of us was never more than 5-8 miles from the car. – We would avoid hiking in weather or locations where there was a greater risk of accident (most of the PCT is reasonably non-technical and easy to navigate in good weather).
This idea seemed attractive. We could do two week stints before returning to my Dad’s to review the situation and resupply if possible for another stint. When things settle down we wouldn’t have lost so much time in terms of making progress on the trail. The only thing I was still uneasy about was the scenario where an accident occurs and we need assistance (see this article which highlights the problem here). If we mitigated this as noted above then it felt we were not putting ourselves at any greater risk than driving, walking, cycling in residential areas although rescue may be trickier.
Katie did some research and in fact, whilst this seemed like a good idea, it would be difficult logistically and quite a lot of extra effort and cost. We decided it wouldn’t actually be a fun way of hiking the trail.
4. In the meantime, Plan B: Hike local, keep fit, you never know when we might get back on trail…
Hike relatively local to my Dad’s until we could get back on the trail. The day after we got off the PCT I insisted we walked down to and along the beach with our packs on. Must have looked like right goons. ? I didn’t care.
5. Fighting acceptance ?
Day by day the situation changed, as it had been for the past 2-3 weeks. Gradually, measures became stricter, some National Parks are completely or partially closed, campsites are closed etc. It doesn’t look like even option 2 has any hope of coming to fruition.
6. The straw that broke the camels back ?
When Boris announced the UK’s isolation lock down on Monday 23rd March the Foreign Office also issued a statement to say that all UK citizens abroad should return to the UK. I contacted our travel insurance to find out what this meant for us and was told what I had feared – if we stayed, and made no attempt to return home, we would not be covered for medical expenses in the US. We couldn’t risk this, it would wipe out all our savings, and more!
We booked a flight home for Thursday, re-packed all the things we had unpacked from the trail after packing everything to get ready for the trail and made the most of our last couple of days with my Dad.
Back on home soil ?
We arrived home in the UK Friday lunchtime and are fortunate that we have plenty of family options where we can stay. For now, we are staying with Katie’s parents and hope that we didn’t pick up the virus on our trip home. Like many others, we are video calling friends and family more than we ever have before and making the most of it!
We gave up our flat and our jobs in London so we are job hunting once again (if anyone has anything going, let us know!). Depending on how/where that turns out, we might find ourselves looking for a flat again.
The plan, when we left London for a year out, was to not return to living in London. We expected to have plenty of time to discuss where to look for jobs whilst walking from Mexico to Canada; we could look for jobs in London and commute from outside, or we could look somewhere else entirely. Well we accelerated some thinking on that and both agreed we like the Bristol area as a location but want to live somewhere nice and green. But given the situation we are looking for jobs all over the UK and worrying about the location later! ?
Once again, whilst we are devastated that we have had to postpone our year out adventures, not just the PCT but our travel plans for South America too, we are lucky to have family we can stay with whilst we find our feet again. Many others have been affected in bigger ways that really impact lives, this is just a minor readjustment in ours.
The PCT isn’t going anywhere and we will be back at some point in the future… ?
In the meantime, amongst CV polishing and job applications, some tlc for the tent and some fruit and veg planting! ?
20/3/20 PCT Day 4 7.2 miles (+0.5 miles off trail) Tiny House @ Mount Laguna (0.5 miles off mile 41.5) to Penny Pines Trailhead (mile 48.7)
Didn’t sleep brilliantly and even in our Tiny House it was a chilly night! Spent a while in the early hours doing a bit of dozing but mainly thinking about the PCTA update and Big Bear statement I read last night before bed.
Thoughts floating around…The PCTA update asked hikers not to hike and postpone or cancel plans. The PCTA do a lot of great work for the trail and I wanted to respect their request, the same goes for the Big Bear statement. It feels disrespectful to turn up in towns which are asking people to stay away to curb the spread of the virus. At the same time, I was within a few feet of more people when I went to In-n-Out the day before we set foot on the trail than I have been during the 3 days on the trail. Am I really that big a risk to others as a thru hiker? I’m still not convinced on that, but what if I unwittingly did pick up the virus and Katie or myself became ill in the next few days? We had 4 days to Warner Springs and only 4 days of food. If we became ill, we couldn’t sit in the tent for two weeks, we didn’t have enough food. We were relatively near roads to get picked up but we would need to get to the road and who would pick us up? My Dad lives less than 2 hours away and is our very own trail angel, taking us to the start and was due to post some re-supply boxes to a few locations. We could call him, but he’s in his late 60s and has asthma and we then put him in danger. Anybody who comes to collect us, we put in danger. And we put ourselves in danger to. Despite being young and healthy, I have asthma and although it’s very mild, who knows what effect the virus may have on me. If we were ill and needed emergency assistance, we would then be taking up emergency resources that are needed elsewhere at the moment. So it felt to me at least that the morally responsible thing to do was to get off trail while we are at least knowingly virus free, get back to Dads and take stock. ?
When Katie woke we discussed things and agreed to phone Dad and ask him to come and get us. Katie did suggest that we at least walked some way today which was a great idea, so we asked Dad to meet up with us about 8 miles down trail.
It was a cold but sunny morning and the snow was dazzling so I at least got a chance to try out my sunglasses at last! Whilst we were both deeply disheartened to have to leave the trail, it felt good to be walking again and not in the rain! It was a beautiful morning to hike and we made the most of our last hike on the PCT for the time being. The low temperatures made the snow nice to walk in and the landscape was sparkling. In these conditions you suddenly became aware of all the animals around you, that are otherwise invisible, due to the many cat and rabbit shaped paw prints in the snow.
More Hiker Vogue
We only crossed paths with one other hiker from San Diego who had similar views about respecting the PCTA statement and was considering his options.
The views out across the Anza Borrego Desert NP were amazing and we could see Salton Sea in the distance as we wound our way along the mountain side. The first really impressive views that would could actually see and right at the abrupt interruption to our hike! As we descended, snow turned to slush and by the time we arrived at our meeting point with Dad, there was little snow on the ground.
When we arrived back in HB, we grabbed ice cream and sat in the sun at Dad’s reflecting and contemplating. Tomorrow we will update the blog and share a few pictures. Over the next few days we will think about our options and decide where we go from here.
We are incredibly unlucky that this virus has hit at this time just as we quit jobs, move out our flat, and plan a year away to hike the PCT and then travel around South America. At the same time we are incredibly lucky. We are both healthy and are able to stay with my Dad which will help limit how much we spend day to day whilst we assess our options. The virus has affected our travel plans this year but not our life and many others will be affected in worse ways; some dying, many losing jobs, businesses will go bankrupt. The PCT is not going anywhere, our adventure on it is postponed, not cancelled.
17/3/20 PCT Day 1 15.4 miles Campo (mile 0) to Hauser Creek Tentsite (mile 15.4)
Finally, the day we had been dreaming about, then planning, had finally arrived. Today we started the PCT! Dad drove us from Huntington Beach to Campo on freeways that, due to the corona virus situation, were very quiet for a Tuesday morning rush hour. I was a mixture of nerves and excitement and Dad have to pull over for two wee stops on the way even though I had only had a coffee to drink this morning (along with lemon meringue pie and ice cream – the only sensible way to set yourself up for a thru hike!) ?
We parked up near the infamous southern terminus posts and after some final preparations checked in with the PCTA at the terminus, had the obligatory pictures taken and set off at 1015.
Dad joined us for the first 2 miles before turning back and we were off on our adventure. The weather was cool and cloudy for most of the morning, in contrast to the weather we had all imagined on this day, even Dad had remarked as we arrived at the terminus that when he had imagined dropping us off there, in the desert, he had pictured a hot sunny Californian day.
The weather improved a bit throughout the day and we enjoyed the walk, thinking about how far we would go today, would we make it to Canada, what would tomorrow bring, do I have enough food, do I have enough water…… I think it finally hit me about mid afternoon that we were really doing this. We have saved, quit jobs, given up a flat in London and it’s all been a bit non-stop recently with planning and preparation but now, with time to think, the realisation set in and I felt all warm and fuzzy!
We had been planned to go about 16 miles today and were aiming for Hauser Creek tentsite which we arrived at about 1800 that evening with about an hour remaining until sunset. Not the most ideal camp spot in a valley by a stream but there were plenty of pitches despite it being a popular first day camp spot and we found a pitch, setup camp and had dinner. Content, sore and aching (yes, already!), it was lights out for me by 2030 with the frog chorus from the creek for company as I drifted off.
18/3/20 PCT Day 2 13.2 miles Hauser Creek (mile 15.4) to Wild Camp (mile 28.6)
Our second day on the PCT was full of sogginess from the beginning. Alarms went off at 0600 and before long were were breaking camp, prepared for a damp day. On the move by 0715, we had about 4.5 miles to Lake Morena where we were hoping for a hot drink, some food, and I needed to pick up a few snacks for the next few days. At Oak Malt Liquor Store & Cafe, we were able to order a couple of toasted sandwiches and some supplies but had to takeaway so we headed to the campground up the road to find shelter, share a sandwich (saved the other for later!) and use the facilities.
The rain continued most of the day with a few dry patches from time to time. On the plus side my rain ‘kilt’ was doing an excellent job and making me easy to spont from miles off. ? When the trail passed under Buckman Springs Road, we used the protection of the bridge to have a brief stop with a few other hikers (social distancing observed!) and grab a snack. Moving on, the trail crossed Cottonwood Creek and we experienced our first ‘river crossing’ with no way of keeping feet dry getting across and just round the corner the trail itself resembled a stream. Not too much further, another river crossing where the planks of wood put across the stream were floating. That’s a few more ‘river crossings’ than I was expecting in the desert! ?
Hiker Vogue
We didn’t have a campsite or distance planned, but after arriving at camp the previous night at 1800, we had decided that we ideally wanted to be arriving at a camp by 1700 to allow enough time for setup and dinner before dark.
We considered stopping at Boulder Oaks campground but facilities weren’t great and there was a fee to camp there so we continued 1.6 miles to a spot and grabbed the chance to setup during a break in the wet weather by 1600. The rain continued on and off as we hunkered down in the tent and finished the sandwich we bought earlier in the tent.
I can just about hear highway 8 down in the valley below and we had good phone signal so checked weather forecast. Below zero tonight and due snow tomorrow. An interesting day to look forward to tomorrow with the trail steadily climbing about 1100ft to Mount Laguna. Looking ahead at the forecast tomorrow night in Mount Laguna, it reported overnight temperatures of -10 so we decided to use the good signal to book a place to stay in Mount Laguna where we can dry out some wet gear (it’s only day 2, we are easing into it! ?).
19/3/20 PCT Day 3 12.9 miles Wild Camp (mile 28.6) to Mount Laguna (off mile 41.5)
A slow start this morning, alarm snoozing, packing up, eating breakfast and then waiting for a break in the rain to jump out, do our business in the wild and pack up a soggy tent.
The weather forecast had improved since yesterday and we were hopeful of drier, slightly warmer conditions. We set off with the prospect of a dry night in lodging at Mount Laguna in about 12 miles. We were climbing for a few hours through a mixture of wet and dry spells with chilly temperatures and not to much wind. As we climbed, rain turned to snow and for at least half the day we hiked in snowy conditions, 4-6 inches in places. ⛄
Despite the climb and conditions, we made good time to Mount Laguna and found the Pine Tavern open for takeaways. We grabbed a coffee to warm up and found our home for the night just round the corner. I nipped back to the Tavern to get a couple of takeaway burritos for our dinner. We showed and spent the evening drying all our gear in the tiny house. The heater has been on full, windows open and wet stuff hanging everywhere!
Arriving into Mount LagunaTiny (drying) House
We made plans for the next two days with a couple of camping options 15 and 18 miles further along the trail for tomorrow and bearing water sources in mind as some long waterless stretches coming up. The weather is due to warm, brighten and wind should be low so the second camping option, which promised great views had us pumped to get a solid day in tomorrow. We made sure we had enough food to get us to Warner Springs (about 4 days solid hiking away) where we had posted a package to collect at the Post Office.
I spoke with Dad to get an update on the corona situation. At the moment we feel we are minimum risk to ourselves and others and with a package to pick up at Warner Springs, we can get to Idyllwild with minimum need to interact with others and minimum chance of picking up the virus ourselves.
The day before we started, the PCT Association released a statement asking hikers to take care and use common sense but the advice wasn’t to not hike, the trail was open which is why we felt starting was the right thing to do and continuing while we are not interacting with others is a reasonable thing to do.
Just before I went to bed I saw an update from the PCTA and a statement from Big Bear asking people not to make trips to Big Bear (a stop about 2 weeks away on the hike and not the first place to make such a statement)… ?
3 days on the PCT has so far given us quite the mixture of conditions and experiences!
Day 1: Campo (Mile: 0) to Hauser Creek (Mile: 15.5)
We can’t believe the day has finally arrived! I barely slept so got up quick and into the shower, the last for a while. I was so nervous I found it hard to eat breakfast and choose tea over a coffee. We were on the road by 07:30 making our way down the coast to San Diego and then making a left inland towards the border. The free flowing highway at rush hour on a Tuesday morning was a reminder that many people were working from home in Southern California.
The southern terminus of the PCT must be one of the most desirable yet unglamorous places one has wanted to be. The desert sand road had turned to a sloppy river bed like state and it was tricky to get the car up to a place where it could be safely parked. The temperature was cooler than we expected so we quickly made some adjustments and made our way to the famous terminus pillars. We got ‘the photo’, signed the log book and honestly answered the questions directed at us by the PCTA representative.
Then, we simply set off. It was cold, cloudy and rain was threatening but we had the biggest grins on our faces. Richard (Tom’s Dad) walked with us for the first couple of miles as we walked back along the trail in the direction that we had driven. We crossed the main road and out into the desert, baron but because of all the rain, unexpectedly green. The path was clearly defined, rolled up, across and over the beautiful landscape. It threatened to rain, we stopped to tog up but then the sun came out and that was that for the day. Sunscreen was reapplied and we were in day 1 bliss, cruising along, passing fellow hikers, sharing names and nationalities. A few passed by us as well including 3 guys together whose excited energy and pure delight of being on trail was reflected in their pace. As the day went on we stopped for photos, talked about potential camping spot options based on our pace and discussed the pros and cons of where we had initially placed items in our packs. For example I could get my water bottle out my bag no problem but couldn’t easily get it back in place without Tom’s help.
Around the 10 mile mark we spotted fellow hikers setting up camp for the evening, just off trail, we waved and smiled knowing there was a possibility we might see them again. We decided to head to Hauser Creek finding a suitable pitch a nice way from the water. Sunset was 18:54 so we didn’t have much time to set up the tent and boil up some water for our first meal on the trail. I chose Mac & Cheese from the variety I had packed for the first 6 nights and added the flavour and the jerky that it came with. The jerky was great but the flavour a tad on the spicy side so I ended up having to water it down a bit. We tidied up camp and snuggled up for our first night on trail just as we lost all the light. Horizontal at 19:30 would be our new norm and apart from writing up a few notes about the day there was nothing much else to do but snooze, listen to the noisy frogs in the creek and grin ear to ear that we were finally here.
Day 2:Hauser Creek (Mile: 15.5) to Somewhere just past Boulder Oaks (Mile: 27.6)
I didn’t really sleep. Excitement, frogs and the rain kept me awake. We set the alarm for 06:00 knowing the sun would rise about 06:54, started packing away what we could inside the tent and then as soon as there was a break in the rain packed the tent down.
We were walking out of camp about 07:15 with all wet weather gear on and a steep climb up and out of the valley, but the prospect of a coffee and a hot snack at the recommended cafe at Lake Morena kept me going. It was tricky underfoot, as we walked up, the rain trickled down the trail. Due to the hike up we stayed warm, Tom’s rain skirt kept me amused as I watched him negotiate the restrictions that come with wearing such an item of clothing. Snacks were more accessible, a lesson from the day before, and we soon learnt which bits of kit were not fully waterproof. As we leveled out, we picked up the pace to try and keep warm but the descent into Lake Morena Campground was slow and cold.
We walked 300m off the trail to the shop and cafe where all the chairs were on the tables, they were open for take out only. This made me sad because in any other year this would have been the place where we would have shared a table with other hikers as they seeked shelter from the cold and wet. We would have chatted, shared stories and discussed our first impression of the PCT, got to learn names, nationalities and the nuances of our fellow hikers. But instead we waited as long as we dared inside the building for our toasted sandwiches to be made, spoke a few words to our fellow hikers arriving or departing outside and made a beeline for the camp ground toilet block where we sheltered under the overhang to eat our sandwich, finish our coffee and use the facilities.
We decided to carry on into the rain and aimed for a camp spot about 6 miles away.
It was easy marching terrain and we kept warm. We passed under a highway where 4 of our fellow hikers were sheltering from the rain and warming up. We had a snack, took a pic and off we set.
Almost immediately we came across a small stream that had burst its banks and had no choice but to wade through mid calf depth with the aid of some bits of wood. The path itself was acting as a channel and so we had no option but to walk through the mini stream. When we got to the campsite it was closed and we were not sure if we were allowed to set up camp, so we filled a bottle of water from the tap and carried on in a window of beautiful warm sunshine peeking through the cloud. A Gopher had also felt the heat of the sun and was pushing the dirt from it’s little hole, we watched amused for a good 5 minutes. We walked about a mile further and came across Gunner who was just setting up camp, we found a similar pitch nearby that was cosy but would do.
Taking advantage of the break in the weather we put up our very soggy tent and just about got wet stuff off, into the tent and sorted before the rain started to fall again. We ate snacks and the rest of our cheese and ham toastie for dinner, as neither of us was keen to get the stove out in the pissing rain, and looked up the weather prospects for the next day. It was due to dip below freezing overnight, the rain was to turn to snow and continue falling through most of the next day. Our biggest fear of having to wake, put on wet clothes and shoes and hike out into further wet weather was going to be how our day 3 in the desert began. It rained pretty much all night, I dashed out about 04:00 for a wee and we were in the cloud but no sign of snow.
Day 3: Somewhere just past Boulder Oaks (Mile: 27.6) to Mount Laguna (Mile: 41.5)
By 06:00 the temperature had dropped and it took a little bit more motivation to get going. Again we packed up what we could from inside the tent, waited for a gap in the rain and pulled down the tent in the relative dry but it was sopping and poor Tom had to carry the extra weight. As we walked out of camp about 08:00 it was actually dry but cold, we traversed along the hill side and enjoyed a gradual up and down. The view was fantastic and we enjoyed the care free, easy walking, passing and being passed by fellow PCT hikers. The rain did however return turning to snow as we climbed and before we knew it we were hiking through a winter wonderland.
The trail was beautiful but tough going, the snow underfoot made progress a bit slow. It snowed then stopped, snowed then stopped. My hood went up and down many times, but my sunglasses were out and the views were amazing. The last section towards Mount Laguna was through the trees and as the sun was shining the heavy chunks of snow were falling off the trees. My fingers and toes were soaked through and quite cold by this point so it was a relief to spot the Mount Laguna campsite through the trees. Mount Laguna offers 2 indoor options for hikers to stay and because of the -10 temperatures forecast for that evening we had reserved a ‘Tiny House’.
A big wendy house with bed, shower and toilet it really was tiny but was perfect for what we needed. The Pine House Cafe and Tavern around the corner was offering take-away burritos so we treated ourselves to something warm and easy. Our evening was spent prioritising what bits of kit we really wanted to try and dry out and rotating them in front of the tiny little electric heater.
We acknowledged that we had not done the mileage that we had hoped for in our first 3 days so re-evaluated what food we had left and how far we had to travel before picking up the resupply box that we had sent to Warner Springs. It was agreed we did have just enough food thanks to our toasted sandwich and burrito purchases but would need to carry a full 4 litres of water that we filled up before bed. With our next 2 days planned out and the weather looking dry I was excited about the prospect of 2 long hard days of hiking to catch up the miles and the prospect of camping without the rain and some great views.
Just as we were going to bed the PCTA emailed to ask us to please postpone our PCT plans, we sleepily agreed we would head to Warner Springs and reassess the situation from there.
Day 4: Mount Laguna (Mile: 41.5) to Penny Pines Trailhead (Mile: 48.7)
The alarm went at 06:00 and Tom was not busily packing up his bag like he said he was going to be. He asked me how I had slept, which had been fabulous since I was warm in a bed, I returned the question. His answer was not the same, he had not slept well and had been thinking. He asked me what we would do if we fell ill, we barely had enough food to get us to our resupply box and calling on someone to collect us would expose our family, some of whom are high risk. He asked me what if we were carrying the virus without knowing, went to resupply in a remote town and unknowingly passed it on to a vulnerable community.
It was clear these questions had been buzzing round all night, it was clear the seed had been planted and even if we carried on it would not be the same. I couldn’t give a reasonable answer to the questions, the PCTA had asked us to leave and their reasoning was fair. It was and still is our social responsibility to reduce the chance of the virus spreading. We cried, we packed our things, we cried and agreed on a spot to be picked up from, we cried and hoped that we may be able to return to the trail in a month or two.
By 09:00 we left our Tiny House and walked out into brilliant sunshine, the snow deep and crisp the temperature -1, it was magical. We had arranged to be picked up 7 miles down the trail at a trailhead and knowing it was going to be our last day on the PCT for now we soaked up every second. The views of the dry desert from the snowy ridge were incredible.
The sheer vastness of the landscape was amazing. We enjoyed the chance to reapply sunscreen, be back down to 2 layers and take photos and videos at every corner. The morning went fast and too soon we were at the trailhead. Just 3 and half days in and only 48.7 miles covered and we were back in the same car that had dropped us off.
There are no words to describe the feeling of disappointment; when you pluck up the courage to pursue an ambitious dream, you work hard, save hard, plan hard to make that dream a reality. You start living the dream and then you are brutally shaken awake by a worldwide crisis that is so much bigger than the dream of two individuals.
“Be strong enough to let go,be wise enough to wait for what you deserve”
There was a spreadsheet involved in the purchase of this tent. Ultimately wanted a free standing tent rather than a trekking pole tent and with two of us, a door either side is important. We have the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (an older version than this latest, think ours is the 2018 version) and have been very happy with it on a few trips. Sure it’s not the lightest but it’s light enough, withstands storms and keeps bears out (maybe).
? Sleeping Quilt
Yup, a quilt, not a ‘bag’. I find I get hot and sticky in a bag so tried a quilt instead and it’s great! I have the Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt 20°F with 850 down fill, 6’6″ (long) Length and 58″ (wide) width. It is quite literally a revelation and even Katie was a converted. She has the same but rated to 10°F.
? Sleeping Mattress
The Thermarest NeoAir XLite is great, warm enough for me in most conditions and comfy enough. Of course there is the risk with a mattress that it gets a puncture but having tried the Thermarest Z Lite mattress, the xlite is so much better (the Z mattress eventually resulted in silver bits everywhere!)
? Bag
After some research, I had decided on theGossamer Gear Mariposa 60L for backing trips in general and it’s first outing was the Hebridean Way in May 2019 where it performed admirably and so it will be joining me for the PCT. Great accessible outer pockets and able to attach camera case and a Bottle Rocket to the shoulder straps.
Initially I thought I would stock up on one style of shoe to keep me going through the hike (on average, hikers get through 5 pairs). In the end I’ve resisted doing that completely because some sections might call for different shoe styles, as you hike your feet tend to go up a size and different sections/times of year may call for different sock thickness.
I’m planning on starting in a new pair of New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro v5 in a generous size 11 (I’m a size 9 in normal shoes, wear size 10 normally for running shoes). These have good cushioning and breathability for the desert. They also have room for foot size increase and larger socks without being too big in the first place. I’ve had good experiences with New Balance trail shoes in the past so am confident they will be great! I also have a pair of La Sportiva Mutants in a size up from what I normally wear. I’ve worn these shoes for the past few years for hiking and trail running and the grip on phenomenal so I think they may be a good choice for the High Sierras section where we will see snow and cross lots of rivers.
I’ll decide on others shoes as they are needed based on experiences so far. The most popular shoe choice on the trail (based on survey link) are the X. I did try these out in the Outer Hebrides in May 2019 and did not find them a good option for me.
I’ll decide on others shoes as they are needed based on experiences so far. The most popular shoe choice on the trail (based on survey link) are the X. I did try these out in the Outer Hebrides in May 2019 and did not find them a good option for me.
?Socks
General approach, which I got from Andrew Skurka (link post) is to have a couple of hiking pairs on the go and cycle them each day, washing them if possible and drying when you stop or hang from your pack as you hike. I’ve found this is a good system, it always feels nice to put a ‘fresh’ pair of socks on half way through the day and if you can wash them, it helps the stinky situation (my feet tend to get pretty nasty smelling! ?)
I’ve done long distance running for a few years and always used injinji socks which I’ve found to be excellent at preventing blisters. I think I would benefit from a bit more cushioning than injinji socks provide so I’m going to start the trail with two different options;
Camp Footwear: Vivobarefoot sandals for around camp, give my shoes a chance to dry out and my feet a chance to breath
☔ Waterproof Gear
Jacket: REI Drypoint GTX Jacket. Gets great reviews and I’m happy to carry some weight and pay a bit more for a jacket that will do a good job of keeping me dry.
Bottoms: ULA Rain Kilt – yeh a ‘skirt’! I find I overheat in waterproof trousers so gonna give a rain skirt a go. Doubles as modesty protection whilst I’m washing all my other clothes in town from time to time!
?Navigation
I’ve no doubt there will be many on the PCT this year with only their phone for route checking and navigation. I believe you need a backup and that good old paper maps are superior in many ways to electronic maps, including giving a much larger view area at one time. So we will have both options;
I want to capture memories and document the trip through photos and diaries so I have quite a bit of electronic gear. I can always dump some of it if i’m not using it all.
Go Pro Hero 8 Black – action shots and nice wide view, easy to get pics of Katie and I together
Sony RX100 IV – takes great photos, has zoom and can add filters
Google Pixel 2 – does take good pics but using mostly for trip diary, nav backup etc.
It’s pretty much a certainty that we will encounter winter conditions and snow pack in the High Sierra’s (if not other areas) particularly as we are starting the trail mid March and therefore entering the mountains about a month earlier than is generally considered the best time to be doing so. By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail (Benjamin Franklin!) so we headed to the Cairngorms in Scotland for a Winter Skills Training with Cairngorm Adventure Guides.
The weather forecast on Day 1 was clear in the morning, showers/snow later in the day and damn windy! We met our guide, Scott, and the rest of our 6 person group, and Scott talked to us about some of the essential skills for outdoor winter adventures. There was a lot to cover! Over the whole weekend we learnt about identifying and reducing avalanche risk, reading avalanche forecasts, how snow pack is analysed to produce the forecasts (and how you can use that yourself to assess risk), numerous ice axe skills, crampons skills, navigation skills and planning a day out taking all this, and the weather forecast, into account.
Having covered some of this indoors we headed up to the Aviemore Ski area with a planned route in mind and practiced some simple navigation skills to get going. We soon found that we were at freezing level at around 600m, just as forecast, and so our first time putting crampons on in anger to safely walk up the frozen path.
The higher we got, the windier it got and we soon learnt that it took gusts of about 75mph to knock us over! Throughout the day we stopped frequently to learn skills and put them into practice, everything from how to hold an ice axe, techniques for traversing or climbing slopes in crampons, and keeping a continual eye on the weather – was it doing what we expected, has anything changed that would change our plans? Importantly, we not only learnt how to avoid slipping but also how to ‘self-arrest’ – using your ice axe to stop yourself sliding down a slope should you need to. Emphasis on techniques to prevent this happening in the first place!
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Despite only walking a few km, it had been a tiring day and we spent the evening relaxing back at the hostel, caught the end of the England Six Nations game (beating Scotland). Fish and chip dinner, I went for the tourist classic – battered black pudding followed by battered mars bar. ? After some homework – checking the weather and avalanche forecasts for Sunday, we got a good nights sleep ready for another day of training.
The weather forecast wasn’t good on Sunday, rain, cold and even more wind! We met at a cafe near the ski centre and went over some map knowledge and some exercises before heading up to the ski centre. We stayed lower and explored the ski slopes (which were not open for skiing!), using some fencing where snow had collected to practice more techniques without crampons and some more techniques with the ice axe for cutting steps into a slope. The weather had not been quite as bad as forecast to begin with, but the rain soon fell and the wind picked up, particularly whilst walking along a ridge. It was hard work to walk against, we were wet and cold so we practices some navigation whilst heading back down to the ski centre for a hot drink and debrief.
Another evening reading and relaxing at the hostel, and couldn’t believe my ears when I overheard someone else in the lounge say they were hiking the PCT this year! What are the chances? Lovely to meet a fellow PCT 2020 hiker (Cam Hikes) and an enjoyable evening chatting everything PCT with her! ?
We woke Monday morning to an inch or so of snow in Aviemore and it was still coming down as we enjoyed a cracking breakfast at the Mountain Cafe. We had time for a fun Wintery walk in the snow, with the sun poking through before heading back to Inverness for our flight home.
We were both really happy that we had done the winter training and learnt so much. We definitely feel better prepared to make good decisions during planning and whilst out on the hills, trails and mountains.
?Top 5 takeaway’s from the weekend
? Katie
Wind: 60mph is pretty hard work, 75mph literally blows me away. ?
Have everything you need throughout the day, to hand and tied on. Pack everything else in the correct order and in familiar packaging.
Have an ‘Ouch Pouch’ ready to go at the top of your bag, full first aid the bottom.
?♂️ Tom
Avalanche Risk Assessment – Angle, Aspect, Altitude, 100m run off, 30 degrees.
Basics of ice axe arrest – how to try and stop sliding if shit hits the fan.
More importantly, techniques for preventing situations that require an ice axe arrest in the first place!
Don’t just use tech maps (phone, watch) when you aren’t sure where you are, verify where you think you are with them regularly, before you aren’t sure!
I’ve put myself in some silly situations not knowing how to plan a winter outing bearing in mind weather and avalanche risk! Been lucky so far, make better choices in future!
The PCT is a national trail in the USA which stretches 2650 miles between the Mexico and Canada borders. On average it takes about 5 to 6 months to hike and mid April is considered peak time to set off from the southern terminus, heading north. If you are hiking south from the northern terminus (the less popular option), due to weather differences between southern California and Washington, a later start is more common.
There are a whole host of other resources available online that will tell you all about the PCT, I won’t regurgitate it all here!
A few fun facts
Altitude Gain: 489,418 ft Altitude Loss: 488,411 ft Highest Point: 13,153 ft (Forrester Pass) States: 3; California, Oregon, Washington National Forests: 25 National Parks: 7 Steps: ~6,000,000 ?! Bear Sighting: 73% chance Rattlesnake Sighting: 92% chance
