Planning, Organizing, and More Planning

I’m not known for my organizational or planning skills (just ask anyone that knows me well), so naturally I’m about to go on a trip that requires some of the most organization and planning I’ve ever done. Most of the planning for this trip consisted of compiling gear and planning food. Nick, Charles, and I also met to discuss topics of our group dynamic (what does everyone want out of the trip?) and group policies (what do we do if someone needs to leave the trail?).

A big component of planning what gear to take on the trail is how much it will contribute to the base weight. A hiker’s base weight consists of items that stay constant throughout the hike (not water, food, clothing worn, or fuel). The lower the base weight the less one has to carry and the faster the hike. To research gear I looked through several blogs of previous people who hiked the PCT. I certainly will not have the lightest pack, but I have replaced a few pieces of my usual backpacking gear with lighter items to try and bring down my base weight.

I compiled my gear on the website LighterPack (https://lighterpack.com/r/mktup) with weights of everything I am carrying. While some of the weights are estimated, my base weight is approximately 18.47 pounds. With all of my food and water, I’m hoping for a total pack weight around thirty five pounds. This weight might end up going down as I realize what I can live without as our trip progresses.

Our second major piece of planning was deciding how to resupply food throughout the trip. Originally, we planned to send boxes prepped at home to towns we know will have limited options or high prices. It is difficult to determine how much and what one wants to eat two or three months in advance of a major backpacking trip. With this in mind, we decided to mail resupply boxes while on the trail from towns with decent selections of reasonably priced food to the towns where the pre-planned boxes would’ve been sent. This strategy will allow us to have a few more options of food and to better estimate the amount of food we’ll be eating further into the trip.

We are sending three pre-planned boxes to Warner Springs, CA because we didn’t think boxes sent from a town before Warner Springs would arrive before us. The three of us went on a shopping adventure and bought what is probably already too many pasta/rice sides, snack bars/crackers,  and tuna packets than one wants to see at one time. I am not tuna fan, so these next six months are going to be interesting.

In addition to these two components, we have been doing other miscellaneous preparations. While I have taken Wilderness First Aid before for work, I took a refresher class since the likelihood of us needing those skills goes up for a six month trip. I also read a book, at Nick’s suggestion, called Pacific Crest Trials: A Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I’m slightly freaked out after reading it, but that is probably a good thing. We’ve also made a couple of items, such as insulated pot holders and cutting ground sheets to go under tarp tents. Charles has also sewn us some small stuff sacks.

While not necessarily preparations, this part is important to me. I’m probably the biggest sap one can know, so I’m also taking along a few of my favorite humans and my all time favorite pup.

For my next post we will finally be on the trail! Our start date is so close and the stoke is so high! (The nerves are also kind of high, but it’s mostly the stoke!)