And the Award for Least Prepared Goes To...

   I guess I should start by appologizing to anyone who is reading this after being referred here by my Postholer account. I am keeping up two blogs during my pre-trip phase, and I have found that there is a lot of overlap. I have benefitted so much from the many journals and gear lists at Postholer that i felt it appropriate to contribute something there as well. I plan on using this blog, though, as my primary and more expanded journal for the PCT. So I appologize to anyone who finds these posts repetitive.


   Ok, disclaimer aside, this post is all about how poorly prepared I am at this point in time, relative to the rest of the "class of 2012." I may have mentioned this in a prior post (and I know I have mentioned it over at Postholer a couple of times); my plan for 2012 is either to get into a job that has long term potential, or do the PCT and switch careers when I get back. I have given myself a deadline of March 1st to have a solid lead on a job, and if not, then to commit fully to PCT planning at that time. Meanwhile I am doing job interviews and simultaneously doing some basic legwork for a through-hike. Unfortunately, I am finding that it is hard to stay fully focused on PCT preparation when the future is so uncertain, and especially when I have a full time job and a rennovation project that eats up weekends. Furthermore, there are a number of things I cannot do until I am sure I will be hiking this year. For example, putting together meals requires a great deal of investment in terms of time and money. That is an investment I only want to make after March 1st. Granted, should I commit to the PCT, come March 2nd I will be one busy boy because...




Planning Meals for the PCT is No Small Task  


   Anyone who is planning a long distance hiking trip knows the difficulties of planning a menu. I won't get into all the considerations here, because I will eventually have to deal with them in great detail. Suffice it to say that it requires a balance of high calories, cost effectiveness, reduced weight, good taste, and variety. With a hike in excess of 4 months, and adding in the complication of resupply, the planning becomes a Herculean task. As if that were not enough, once the meals are planned the food has to be procured and prepared. That means time to dehydrate fresh foods and repackage store bought meals.

Getting in Shape is Key to Staying Happy and Injury-Free


   For those non-backpackers: imagine walking a mile down at the local high school track. Four laps don't seem so bad do they? Now imagine doing those laps over rough terrain, often uphill, and carrying a 35 pound pack. A bit harder to do. Multiply that by 20 to 25 times and you have a typical day on the PCT. Imagine doing that day in and day out for 4 months and you have an idea of what kind of physical task this is. It is crucial that a hiker eases their way into the challenge to avoid sprains, muscle strains, blisters, and general fatigue.




   So with all that in mind I headed over to Postholer to see what my fellow classmen are up to. Over the weekend they were preparing and testing recipes, wrangling with maps and guidebooks, out testing gear, or hiking to get in shape. Here is my weekend:


Saturday: Framed up a few walls at the Durham house. Went to the Sierra Nevada Brewery for dinner at their Taproom restaurant. Enjoyed some of their newer beers, including the delicious Knightro Irish Style Stout. This concluded my PCT preparation for the day.


Sunday: Sat around watching the Superbowl while stuffing myself with hot wings and spinach dip. This concluded my PCT preparation for the day.


   As you can imagine, I feel somewhat less than productive, especially when you consider that I have less than three months left. I decided, then, to pull together a plan to get in shape in time for the PCT. That way, when March 2nd rolls around, I won't be caught totally unprepared with less than two months left.

1. Running - I have been running off and on for the last couple of weeks. Admittedly, it has only been one mile each time, but the idea was to gradually step up the mileage over time. Starting today I will bump myself up to two miles per day, and will increase the daily mileage by one mile for every two weeks. That means I should be up to running 6 or 7 miles per day by late April.
2. Walking/Hiking - For the last few weeks I have also been sporadically walking to and from work. Including a trip home for lunch, that amounts to 4 miles per day. I will keep this plan up until mid-March. At that point I should be losing my current job (long story) and will be able to start hiking 6 to 10 miles per day.
3. Total Body - I have been doing a modified version of P90X which includes 30 minutes of exercise each day. Exercises include pushups, situps, pullups, dips, crunches, bar curls, dumbells, and wall squats.