Time to Launch (March 16)

Here we go! We are officially on the road and this thing is real.

We are covering 500 road miles this afternoon and evening, leaving home in Issaquah WA and spending the night in Crescent City, CA. This 8 hour drive will parallel the section of the trail that I’ll walk back over 2 months in July and August if the plan holds! I’ve done this I-5 drive behind the wheel and as a passenger (like right now) countless times so my brain isn’t quite understanding that I may not see the PNW live at all for months, as I slowly work my way back at 2.5 mph.

As my first real blog post, I’m in experimentation mode during these drive days before the hike starts on Sunday. Any feedback about what would be interesting, that is if anyone clicks to read any of these words, is welcome in the comments!

I’m setting out to do this hike with total openness to what might happen, and may go 10 miles or may go all 2,650. The snow pack in the Sierra’s officially is the highest in recorded history, always the biggest external X Factor for a normal human pace for a northbound Thru Hike. To try and best manage the snow concentrations, I’ll be flip flopping and hike some sections south and some north until July when I plan all north travel. But that is far from a sure thing and I’ll just be getting trail reports from people in the area and then will adapt.

What I’m carrying: a test load of my pack with 2.5 liters of water and starvation-level rations for 5 days was 45 lbs, about 10 lbs more than I was targeting. Basically I’ve elected to sleep more comfortably and have an extra battery for electronics which are about half that weight gap! I’m bringing my small 2 person tent to start but probably would have just used a bivy if the weather wasn’t so out of season, and that’s 3 lbs right there. However, I was pleased this all fit in my 68 liter Gregory pack that I’ve used for years and fits me like a glove.

I just paused to check on weather in a place I pass through during my first 5 days, and really, just wow. Probably the coldest and wettest it’s been in later March, at that latitude and elevation and general desert environment in human history!

Ok, my turn to drive. Any and all comments are welcome!