Just A Week To Go - Final Preparations

 I now have everything I think I need for hiking the PCT. I worried, changed, optimized, eliminated, brought back and thought about every piece of clothing and equipment many times over. I portioned out the food, distributed it into supply packages, looked at it, had a little panic attack and bought more chocolate and a jar or two of mayonnaise. My friend Minor has agreed to be in charge of the shipping for which I am very grateful. PCT logistics can be a real pain.

Happy Shipping!

As I said before, I am not much of a planner in my personal life and to have all this completed feels immensely satisfying. I have never prepared nearly as much for any life event, and that includes temporary and permanent moves to different countries on different continents.

All that is left to do is to try it all out. Living in Seattle gives me access to pretty spectacular backpacking options within easy driving range. As there is still a lot of snow in the mountains, I opted for a trip to the Pacific coast in the Olympic National Park. While very popular in the summer, permits are easy to get in the spring, so I was able to snatch a weekend permit for one of my favorite areas - the beach between Strawberry and Toleak points on the Olympic South Coast. Just far enough from the trailhead to deter most day hikers, the area provides solitude and great tent spots along with spectacular scenery. 

That is where I am now, writing this post offline while relaxing on the beach. 

Luckily it is sunny and I was able to try out my solar charger for cell phone and camera batteries. I opted for a solar charger  instead of a power pack because I don’t want to be dependent on finding power outlets or, worse still, having to detour to recharge my devices. While I don’t plan on using my phone for actual calls (as this drains the battery very fast), I do need it for navigation, email communication, blog posts and, above all, for storing pictures from my camera. I love photography and would not even think of going on this hike without my camera. I will use the phone as storage and backup device. The solar panel just charged the phone from 50% to full in about two hours. Not bad! For the camera batteries I bought a special charger that connects to the solar panel’s USB port. It charged the camera battery from zero to full in three hours. Also pretty good.

Charging The Camera Battery

I’m also getting better at setting up my new tent, although I’m still not as fast as I am with the old one. It uses hiking poles as tent posts to save weight, which makes the staking out a bit more cumbersome. It also needs a few more guy lines for stability, especially when it’s windy. In a few months I can probably set it up in my sleep!

My new sleeping bag is much lighter than my old one too. The outer material is thinner, but also slicker and, unless the ground is perfectly level, it is easy to slide off my slightly smaller new sleeping pad. This is definitely something I still need to get used to. Probably not an issue while hiking in the desert, but something to pay attention to when it is cold.

All in all, everything worked as intended though and I feel ready. Now it’s time to relax and enjoy the sunset!