Gatorgaunce - Pacific Crest Trail Journal - 2019

Hike with Pack On

After assembling my pack for the first time yesterday, I decided today to try it out on the trails here in Sedona, AZ. Very impressed with the A3 system and getting the proper tuning on all the many adjustable straps. Loaded with about 20 lbs of my current gear, which includes nearly everything besides food/water. Although the pack was light and not burdening in any way, I will be sure to be conciensous of adding any additional gear weight. (Duh). I did wear jeans and a long sleeve shirt with rolled up sleeves as it was nearly 60 degrees and sunny here in January. My Vasque hiking shoes are excellent with the Carbon Green in-sole technology, am literally considering hiking in basic socks! (Great idea, hehheh) Still need to get my clothing in order.. rain gear, etc. I tried my MightyMo cooking stove out at the park after the hike and was impressed! The Flux Ring pot I used (same brand) did not have a warning about the bottom cozy cover, and I literally infernoed a giant hole in the pot which leaked black tar everywhere! The locals did not seem confident in my ability to prepare a dehydrated meal using a propane tank and burner; however, I was able to recall my past expertise with propane cooking and finish boiling the water. The MightMo stove did survive after I did some cleaning, and recycled all of the plastic mess from the liquidated cover. Ordered a fresh new cover from Jetboil $ 5.95 on the website, should be arriving next week! (Hooray!) Main takeaway was that the dehydrated meals (especially the cheaper brands) are all full of great flavor and have plenty of quantity with the 2 serving size packs. I feel very confident I should be able to survive the entire PCT hike on dehydrated meals as my go-to meal planning. I am a vegan so would only consider the vegetarian options, however all brands seem to have plenty of options. Thank you to all the great dehydrated meal teams: Outdoor Herbivore?, Backpackers Pantry, Alpine Foods, and Good-to-Go. I'm sure more will present themselves and I really have surpassed my expectations.. I did purchase a free-standing tent and will be shelving my Nemo Spike 2P tent for the first part of the hike until I feel more comfortable with campsites, as it is large and takes up a lot of room. The Tiger UL2 is a much smaller footprint and sets up in a few minutes, which will allow more flexibility on the trail and with other hikers. Plus I feel less anti-social with a free-standing tent, rather than needing my own zipcode to stake out my acreage..(haha) Only planning to hike a couple times a week if that up until April. Haven't been using my gym membership at all. Eating healthy, vegan sugar-free and am feeling more confident now that I am able to plan accordingly as such. Next step, get some hiking clothes!

Yoshi
4/13/19 start date
9/13/19 planned end date

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