Two feet wide and 2667 miles long

March 25, 2014

It must have been the summer of 1993 during my college stint at the University of Oregon.  During a day hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon's Mount Washington Wilderness I ran into four backpackers. We all stopped to chat for a few minutes and, to my amazement, I found out they hadn't just been backpacking for a long weekend or even a week... they had come all the way from Mexico... and had been backpacking for the past four months!  I think that was the first time it occurred to me that it was possible to hike from Mexico to Canada.

Mt Washington, Oregon - Summer 1993

It wasn't until a couple years ago that I actually decided to attempt the adventure myself.  After quitting my job, updating most of my gear, and months of planning and prep, it's almost time to hit the trail.

The trail. The PCT.  The Pacific Crest Trail.  Two feet wide and 2,667 miles long, from Mexico to Canada.  Conceived in 1932 but not officially completed until 1993, this trail generally follows the crest of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges through California, Oregon and Washington.  Along the way it passes through 25 national forests, 34 wilderness areas, and 7 national parks; it crosses portions of the Mojave desert and traverses snow-covered mountain passes higher than 13,000 feet.  Waterless stretches of 30 miles or more are not uncommon.  And it can be 180 miles or longer between resupply locations.  At times, it will be necessary to carry 7 liters of water or more... and at others, up to two weeks worth of food and supplies.  Assuming all goes well, it should take about five and a half months, averaging 20 miles a day (with the occasional day off, of course).

There are places along the trail where resupply (of food, etc) is possible.  The trail actually passes right through a couple towns but more often than not a side trip/detour of up to 20 miles or more is required (walking or hitching).  Even then, many of the smaller towns lack adequate resupply options.  Therefore it's necessary to arrange resupply boxes to be sent via mail or UPS.

Example of resupply box contents.  Hopefully, I'll be picking this one up at Shelter Cove, Oregon around the end of July.

Much of my planning and prep entailed organizing these resupply boxes: determining where the resupply locations would be and how much food and supplies need to be included in each.  The first couple of boxes have already been sent out and I am so grateful to Shannon, my amazing girlfriend, who will be finalizing and shipping the remainder of the boxes as I progress up the trail.

All twenty three resupply boxes and one bear resistant resupply container.

Flying out of Charleston to San Diego tomorrow morning and planning to hit the trail on Friday.