What's in my Resupply (Maildrop) Boxes?

The thought of putting together maildrops for the PCT weighed heavily on my mind. I tried them in 2009. I was vegan at the time so I wanted to make sure I stayed true to my vegan ethics. I spent hours dehydrating my favorite curry and pasta dishes. I bought quinoa flakes in bulk. I made my own fruit leathers. My food bag was going to be the envy of every hiker on the trail. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. There is something about long distance hiking that changes how you taste food. How you crave food.  I was to much of a newbie to anticipate that. One can only imagine my disappointment when my favorite dishes became hard to stomach. All I could eat were rice dishes, pasta, and poptarts. Needless to say I abandoned my maildrops and began to resupply in town. So when it came time to decide on a resupply strategy I thought long and hard about what I should do. I carefully weighed the pros and cons. Maildrops would help me stay within my budget. They would reduce the amount of town chores I would have to do which meant I would have more time to eat, shower, and sleep. I had more control over what I would be eating, ensuring that my diet wouldn't be filled entirely with junk food. On the downside my hike would be dictated by making it to a post office by a certain time and day. There's the added cost of shipping the food. I had to try and plan how many days it's going to take to get from point A to point B from the comfort of my couch. Not an easy task.

After some discussion with Cori, we both decided on a hybrid strategy; resupplying in town part of the trip and doing maildrops for part of the trip. I'm 95% confident that this maildrop process will be much more successful. We ordered most of our food from MaryJane Farms, which makes all organic backpacker friendly foods. We tested most of these dishes out on a road/camping trip this summer and loved them. The rest of my diet is filled with typical backpacker foods that are lightweight, easy to prepare, and were a staple in my AT diet.

I spent an entire day this past week portioning out food into ziplock bags and  strategically placing them into one of the 16 Priority Flat Rate boxes neatly lined up on my living room floor. It was exhausting, but I know I'll appreciate it when I'm on the trail.

For anyone who may be curious about what exactly it is that we eat out there, below is a breakdown of what I'll be sending myself along the trail.

Breakfasts
EAS Complete Protein Powder (Vanilla)
Instant Coffee
ProBar Organic Meal Bar (Original, Berry Blast, Superfood Slam, Superfruit Slam)
Clif Builders Protein Bars (Vanilla Almond, Cookies & Cream)
Pop-Tarts (Strawberry, Blueberry, Wildberry)

Lunches
MaryJane Farms Organic Black Bean Flakes (Regular and Spicy)
MaryJane Farms Organic Pinto Bean Flakes
MaryJane Farms Organic Black Bean & Corn Chowder
MaryJane Farms Organic Spuds with Spinach & Cheese
Krave Jerky (I plan to eat this with the mashed potatoes to get some protein)
Fantastic Foods Hummus

*For the hummus and refried bean mixes I plan on picking up tortillas or chips at a store in town. I may buy extra if the next mail drop location does not pass near a grocery or convenience store. 

Dinners
MaryJane Farms Organic Bare Burritto
MaryJane Farms Organic Eat You Veggies Pasta
MaryJane Farms Organic Lentils, Rice, & Indian Spice
MaryJane Farms Organic Wild Mushroom Couscous
Knorr Rice Sides
Ramen Noodles
Primal Strips (I plan on eating these with rice side or ramen noodles to add protein to the meal).

Snacks/Electrolyte Replacement
Clif Bars (Blueberry Muffin, White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut, Pomegranate)
Kind Fruit & Nut Bars (Blueberry, Pomegranate & Pistachio)
Diamond Almonds Spicy Bold Series (Wasabi, Smokehouse Jalapeno, and Habanero BBQ)
ProBar Fuel Bars (Blueberry, Strawberry)
Luna Protein Bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter, Vanilla Lemon, Chocolate Coconut Almond)
Jelly Belly Caffeinated Sports Bean (contains electrolytes)
Honeystinger Organic Energy Chews (Smoothie Flavor) (contains electrolytes)
EmergenC Immune Support (Blueberry & Acai with Vitamin D)

Desserts
PayDay Bars
Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies
Little Debbie Chocolate Cream Pie
Baby Ruth Bars
Oreo Snack Packs

Toiletries
Wet Wipes
Vitamins/Aleve
Q-tips
Travel size tooth paste
Dental Floss Sticks
Ear Plugs

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram. More photos will be uploaded to my Smugmug Site when possible. I'm hiking with Cori "Grommet" Holladay. You can read her blog here.

What am I Carrying?

First let me say, I'm hiking on a budget. A very, very small budget. All of the money I've saved has been allocated toward the trip itself and paying bills while I'm gone. I really didn't have any money left over for new, fancy, ultralight gear. This means I'm carrying a lot of the same stuff I carried on the AT in 2009...nearly six years ago....when the gear was actually considered light. What I don't already have I've managed to buy cheap or I'm borrowing from my incredibly nice hiker friends.

When it comes to evaluating the weight of my gear, I'm taking a similar approach to my gear as I did with the AT; I am NOT going to go through the painstaking, time sucking, make me want to pull my hair out because I'd rather watch paint dry process of weighing each little item in my bag. I've got far more important things to focus on (like spending as much time outside as possible, spending time with friends and family, working....you get my drift).

What ultimately matters is what the overall base weight of my pack is (my pack weight without food and water). Yeah, yeah, I can already hear some people saying, "but if you weigh each little thing you can decide if its worth the weight.." blah blah blah...

Here's my philosophy; if any of my essential gear (the big four - backpack, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent) weighs 2 lbs. (32 oz.) or more, I seriously need to consider an alternative. As far as anything else  in my pack (electronics, clothes, etc.); if it makes me happy, more comfortable etc., I will more then likely bring it. I do have limits. I believe that lighter is better, more comfortable, and easier on your joints. I believe that things should be multifunctional. Finally, I remind myself I'm going out into the Wilderness where really anything beyond food, water, shelter, and clothing are a luxury. And believe me, I like my luxury bag of electronics...it weighs two pounds. Ridiculous I know, but I love to write and I'm using my phone for nearly everything (camera, navigation, blogging, kindle) so having an external battery (the brick), to me, is well worth its weight. Aside from my need to lug around this "luxury", I try to keep in mind that one of the things that makes trail life so addicting is its simplicity. I'll do my best to keep it that way.

With all this being said, I've developed a compromise for my gear list. I've listed weights of my "big four" items since this is where the bulk a packs base weight is for most people. Then I weighed my pack (without food and water) to get my overall base weight. Its a little higher than what I was shooting for, but I think I'll be OK.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram. More photos will be uploaded to my Smugmug Site when possible. I'm hiking with Cori "Grommet" Holladay. You can read her blog here.

Pre-Hike: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

As I near the start of my journey from Mexico to Canada I'm starting to get a lot more questions about what it is I'm exactly doing out there (Read: Are you nuts? What the heck do you think you're doing out there?!!?). I prefer to think of myself as an adventurist, and slightly non-conformist. But hey, if nuts works for you I'm okay with that, because while you're sitting at your desk reading monotonous emails, answering phone calls, and dazing out into the world, I will doing something that most people will only ever say "I wish I could do that".

So, here is my answers to some of the most FAQ about my plans for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Please keep in mind that many of these answer are what I'm planning to do, not what actually happens. My preparation is based on my previous experience thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009, consulting friends who have already completed the PCT, reading other PCT bloggers, and watching Wizards of the PCT a zillion times.

What/Where are you hiking exactly?
The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2,660ish mile trail stretching from the Mexican border to the Canadian border, and traverses through California, Oregon, and Washington. Despite its name, Pacific Crest, there is no Pacific Crest mountain range that the trail passes over. Rather, the trail traverses over several different mountain ranges and through seven different ecozones. To be more exact, the trail is divided into five major sections; the Mojave desert (Southern California), The High Sierras, Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.

Where do you start?
We start at the Mexican border in a very small town called Campo. We'll be driven there by a wonderful trail angel, Betty Wheeler, who Cori met last year during her short experience on the trail.


View Larger Map

Where does the trail end?
The PCT ends at the Canadian Border at a place called Manning Park. Once we reach the monument at the trails northern terminus we'll have to hike a short distance into Vancouver, British Columbia and catch a Greyhound bus back to Seattle Washington.


View Larger Map
 
How long will it take you?
We are planning to complete the trail in 5.0 - 5.5 months.

Have you read/seen Wild? If yes, did that inspire you to do hike the PCT?  
Yes, I read the book. No, the book had no influence on my decision to hike the trail.
 
Do you carry everything you need?
Yes. I'll be carrying a tent, sleeping pad, water, food, clothes, and some other miscellaneous items. I'll be posting my detailed gear list shortly.
 
What will you be eating (Do you send food to yourself and/or buy food in towns)? 
I currently have about 30 resupply points planned out. A little over half of these will be places I pick up maildrops (food I've boxed up before I leave and my supportive parents are sending to me along the way). The rest of the time I will buy food in town. Most of the food I'll eat will be quick food like refried beans, hummus, dehydrated rice meals, pasta, and jerky. I plan on writing a more detailed post about what my resupply boxes consist of sometime in the next week or two when I finish buying all my necessities (so stay tuned!).

Do you (or often) will you reach a town?
Time in between towns will vary but typically we should reach a town every 4-7 days. When we get into town we'll be able to grab food, do laundry (sometimes) and shower (sometimes). We plan on taking a zero day (a day we hike zero miles) about every 14 days.

Do you ever need to swap out gear? 
Yes. The PCT is the trail of extremes. We start off in America's hottest dessert (the Mojave), climb up to one of the highest (and possibly snowiest) mountains in the lower 48, volcano hop through Oregon and tread through the lush green remote forests of Washington. We will need to swap out gear. We''ll have additional gear mailed to us along the way.

Will you be going alone?
Nope. I'm very excited to be sharing this journey with my best friend in the universe, Cori "Grommet" Holladay. You can read about her journey here.

Will you be carrying a gun? 
 No. I'm more likely to hurt myself than protect myself with a gun. Plus they're heavy.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram. More photos will be uploaded to my Smugmug Site when possible. I'm hiking with Cori "Grommet" Holladay. You can read her blog here.

Blog Stickers!

Over the past few months I've found myself repeatedly writing down my blog information for anyone who learns about my upcoming journey, so I decided to get stickers made with my blog information. 

I debated for awhile about which company to use until one afternoon Cori caught me staring at my Nalgene bottle which is full of stickers, many of them Appalachian Trail stickers made by lowrider press ( http://lowriderpress.com/custom.html). "Why don't you just contact him for a quote?" she asked. Brilliant!!!

Lowrider is a fellow AT hiker and I loved the idea of my money going toward a fellow hiker rather than some mega company. His stickers are high quality,  vinyl,  and outdoor resistant. 

I designed the stickers myself (to match my tattoo). Once I sent him the files, the  turn around time was about a week. The price per sticker was far under what any local company was quoting and also beat some other online competitors.

I'm very happy with how they turned out and would recommend him to anyone looking to do something similar.

LowRider Press

PCT Training

I'm Uncomfortable....

Thru-hiking is tough on your body and while many argue that the only way to prepare your body for a thru-hike is to thru-hike, I disagree. The degree of pain and discomfort I went through on the AT is a testament to how ridiculous I believe this paradigm of thought to be.  Yes, I successfully finished the AT, but I think it could have been a lot more enjoyable in the beginning had I been better prepared. Let's face it; most of us spend the majority of the day sitting, and maybe an hour or two exercising, 3-5 days a week. Admittedly, I barely even meet this typical standard. Before starting the AT in 2009 I was a graduate student consumed with research papers, classes, and field work. I was struggling to keep my head above water and working out was not a priority until six months before I left for my journey to Maine. Transitioning from this typical lifestyle to walking 20+ miles a day with roughly 30 lbs. on my back is a rough adjustment. I've come to believe that the fitter and healthier you are before starting your hike the easier time you will have adjusting to trail life.

I am not an expert in personal training. I just know what didn't work for me in the past, and I'm using that knowledge help me better prepare for hiking the PCT. Thru-hiking the AT changed my life in many ways one of which was becoming a fitter, healthier person in my off-trail life. Now, I workout rather regularly and I'm lucky enough to live in some beautiful mountains which provides ample opportunity to hike. My current job also requires me to be on my feet 8-12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. As a result, I'm already use to being on my feet for long periods of time which will make it easier to transition to a life of walking northward everyday.

When I'm not living on the trail I spend a lot of time in the gym. I do total body strength training 2-3 days a week, as well as cardio 2-3 days a week. About three months prior to leaving I spend my non-gym days out hiking (weather & personal health permitting) with my fully loaded backpack and put in 6-10 miles once to twice a week and do one long hike a week of 10+ miles a week. I'm currently striving to increase my long hikes every week by 2-3 miles so that before I leave I will have hiked a few 20+ miles days on terrain similar to that of the PCT with my pack on.

Thru-hiking hurts. There will be sore legs, possible blisters, and definite ass-chafing. There will also be incredible rewards, plenty of laughter (mostly at myself I'm sure), and lots, and lots of eating whatever I want. My training plan isn't a perfect substitute for thru-hiking but it's a start to creating some unforgettable (and less pain filled) memories.

You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram. More photos will be uploaded to my Smugmug Site when possible. I'm hiking with Cori "Grommet" Holladay. You can read her blog here.