[pct-l] This will be more than you're bargaining for.

Wed Apr 20 17:57:11 CDT 2016

This is just awesome. Any specific tips for someone new to backpacking who is planning just one week? I could start anytime from mid May through late August 2017.
Thanks Shroomer!

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 20, 2016, at 4:06 PM, Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey Alexandra,
> 
> Welcome to a wonderful outdoor fellowship.  You'll meet more great folks on
> trail than you'll find concentrated just about anywhere else on the
> planet.  But I'm not biased or anything.  All that has been said so far is
> right on the mark so I'll try to address other aspects.  If you've got a
> month, and you're new to hiking, I'd say a great place to start would be
> Ashland, or just outside of Ashland at Callaghan's Resort off Hwy5, just
> below Siskiyou Pass, the southern entrance to Oregon for PCT hikers.
> Ashland is a wonderful town with a world famous Shakespeare festival and
> the home to Southern Oregon University, making it a very cosmopolitan small
> town, with great gear shops and food stores to get ya started.  Then hike
> north just as far as you comfortably can, always getting closer to Portland
> as you go.  That's about 500 miles.  If you've got more time at the end,
> shoot on up into WA for a bit.  You'll still be close to Portland.
> 
> For me, the most important thing I do before every long hike is to walk a
> lot in the months preceding.  Gear, food, maps, plans and all the rest is
> secondary and subject to change and modification all along a trail.  I went
> through 3 packs on my first thru hike on the PCT and didn't settle on one I
> really loved till Oregon.  But that pack has gone all the way on the CDT,
> AT, Camino and other long walks.  I thought I had it right when I started
> only to find better and better stuff all along the way.  But what you can't
> trade out or modify is your feet and knees and ankles and just being
> comfortable walking long miles, day after day.  So I train 3 or 4 and more
> days per week, as much as I can, and that may only be 45 minutes for some
> of them, and all day for others, including some 20 and 25 milers, but then
> I back way off to only 10 to 12 miles per day the first week of my hike, 15
> to 17 the second and only hit 20 by the third week.  A plan for 18 miles
> per day over a month is a lot of miles if you're new to hiking.  Over the
> course of my PCT thru hike, the folks I was traveling with became so strong
> by mid hike they were all knocking out 30 to 35 miles per day by Oregon.
> Over time, the miles and the ability to do them comfortably will come on
> all of itself.  But for me, I can't force it too soon.  Over the course of
> a month, you may not have the break in time a full thru hiker has.  But
> while you're at home at this point, walk somewhere as often as you can, and
> add in every hill you can find.  For training, the hills are your friends.
> They really give you the fitness.  Start with a light pack and work up to a
> full carry as your training continues.  If you're already strong as an ox,
> do what you think is best, but for me, every mile I get before hand is less
> pain and more fun when I'm actually on trail.
> 
> Several friends I've trained with this past winter are on the PCT right now
> and suffering from pressure blisters.  These are not caused from the
> rubbing of ill fitting shoes or other mechanical issues, but simply from
> too many miles too soon.  Check out different people's blogs on
> Trailjournals and Postholer or Wordpress.com and see how some of the folks
> are doing early on.  From what I'm hearing from these friends, lots of
> people are suffering from blisters and overuse issues.  Folks are excited
> and hiking too far, too soon.
> 
> When I began the PCT, my first long hike, I followed the formula as
> outlined above, forcing myself to hike low miles at first, stopping early
> and enjoying the first days.  I had no serious pain and no blisters at all
> on that hike, but friends on trail who started at 20s and continued for a
> week or more, all ended up off trail with overuse issues and blister
> complications for several weeks before they could come back and start
> slow.  Several years later, I started the CDT with a plan for 12 miles the
> first day, but the trail angel's truck broke down on the way to the Mexican
> border and we had to do a 20 mile first day to get to water.  By the next
> day I had a pressure blister, simply from the miles.  It's the only blister
> I've had in 15,000 miles or long trails.  On the AT, I adhered to my slow
> start and had no physical problems due to foot or ligament issues.  Noro
> virus in the Shenandoah, yes.  That trail is infected!  But no foot issues.
> 
> 
> A very important quality for a long distance hiker is flexibility, so
> although we all start out with some "plan" in mind or drawn out quite
> concretely on paper, it is really important to be able to flex out of that
> plan due to weather, blisters, exhaustion and other unforeseen exigencies.
> If you can remain flexible, whatever you do, and that might be hiking over
> the Bridge of the Gods and knocking out some of WA before you're done, will
> make for a wonderful experience for you.
> 
> So my advice at this point is do all the prepping you can, Yogi's guide and
> Halfmiles maps are great places to start, but mainly walk every chance you
> get, start the trail slower than you're planning at present and stay
> flexible so that you have a great time.  Then, have the summer of your life!
> 
> Good luck and wonderful adventures!
> 
> Shroomer
> 
> On Mon, Apr 18, 2016 at 4:28 PM, Kaercher, Alexandra <akaercher at liberty.edu>
> wrote:
> 
>> I think that people who are avid backpackers get a little frustrated when
>> newbies get excited (in my experience thus far) and don't know what they're
>> doing but jump right in.
>> 
>> So please don't get upset with me, but I am a newbie, but I'm trying to
>> prepare as best as I can before embarking on the journey I hope to take
>> this summer.
>> 
>> My hope is to hike for a month (35 days allotted since I don't have
>> experience with this) from June 5 to July 10, last stop being Portland (I
>> know I'd have to hitchhike to get there) where I'll meet up with friends
>> who are there. I live in Lynchburg, VA. I've never done this, I hope to
>> cover 560 miles in the time that I'm on the PCT (eventually averaging 18
>> miles a day).
>> I'm in the beginning planning stages so I'm researching gear, comparing
>> reviews and costs as best as I can in my blank slate of hiking knowledge
>> other than a handful of hikes I've done for sunrises and whatnot. I think
>> I'll need a long distance permit, since I hope to go more than 500 miles. I
>> can't quite determine where I should start yet (presumably 560 miles south
>> from the last stop I'd make before getting a ride to Portland), but I don't
>> know where that is.
>> 
>> Basically, I'm trying to do this in an educated manner as best as I can so
>> as not to frustrate people who know about doing section thru-hikes and also
>> to be wise, but I'm a little uninformed about a lot. So if anyone is
>> willing to help me in a way I can understand, I would be very grateful.
>> I've got about a month and a half to plan this. I know, that's not a lot of
>> time. But hey, that's okay.
>> 
>> Anyway I have reached out to people I know directly, I just thought people
>> actually doing the PCT would be a good place to seek out as well for advice
>> and guidance.
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks homies!
>> 
>> 
>> Alexandra
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