Proplyds - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2015

And the serious prep work begins...

When I was in high school two of my teachers had through hiked the AT. I thought that was an amazing accomplishment but doing the same never truly appealed to me. It seemed too busy, too crowded. The first time I heard about the PCT, however, the itch started. At first I only thought about it as a "wouldn't that be cool" idea with no expectation of fulfillment but in 2011 my grandfather died, leaving me some money that had only one caveat: I had do do something with it that was special, something where I could say, "Granddad gave me this". I knew immediately what that something was.
Of course, as soon as I got the resources and the true drive I found myself with an abundance of other opportunities which occupied almost all of my free time. First, I rafted the Colorado on a family trip. I'd wanted to go with my mom since she rafted it in the early 90's and she had finally received a permit for a private trip. Next, I became a chaperone on international service trips and travelled to Australia, Argentina, Africa (Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa), and Nepal. Finally, I was spending two weeks of each summer as faculty on paleontology digs in Montana and Utah. I occasionally got other small trips in, such as acting as support for my sister's Pacific Coast bike ride (approximately Aberdeen, WA to San Francisco, CA), but I never had enough time to seriously contemplate hitting the trail.
This year I'm not leading any of the service trips and my family has decided that my next big adventure should be this hike. Consequently, I find myself with two weeks this spring and 5-6 weeks this summer and willing hiking partners in the form of my brother and sister. These next two months will be spent finalizing my gear list, menu planning - because who doesn't love an excuse to try new foods - and getting into decent enough shape that I will be able to enjoy the process from the get go and not spend the first week on the trail in too much pain :).
I have the funds, the desire, the time, and the support. It's time to hit the trail.

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