Training for the PCT

Sorry these haven't come up more frequently. This semester is kicking my ass. Between now and May Chris and I will be doing exclusively PCT planning posts, and then once May rolls around we'll back on hikes/trail reviews. They will NOT be PCT updates (though we'll try and do those as we hit WiFi areas) rather they'll be guest posts and backlogged hikes.

Let the madness begin!

There are two camps on training for long distance thru-hikes. The camp that trains and the camp that doesn't. The latter think that the trail will beat your ass into shape and anything you do before hand is not going to matter because the stuff that long distance hiking does to your body can't be replicated by training.

I personally find this explanation to be completely ridiculous. Sure firing a gun in combat is way different than being at a gun range, but you wouldn't want to be dropped into a combat zone not having fired a gun before. I think I've actually had that nightmare before...

Chris' Mom on one of our training hikes

So obviously, Chris and I decided that while training can't completely prepare us, some preparation is going to be better than none.

We've been getting up at godawful o'clock every morning (something I am less than thrilled to do) and walking for an hour with our packs on. We built training packs, which are basically our old backpacking packs (we'll switch to the new ones when we get them next week) loaded up with milk jugs full of water wrapped in blankets. I'm training with about 30 lbs of weight and Chris with about 35. This is about 5-10 lbs less than what we're going to be carrying on the hike.

At the Base of the "N"

We try to walk on uneven ground as much as possible since walking on asphalt doesn't allow for support muscle strengthening. We're lucky enough to have some nice opportunities for some elevation near by as well. We hike up to the above "N" in Reno (which means nothing to those of you outside the area). Every week we do a 4.5 mile hike with about 700 feet of elevation gain and once a month we're doing a 12-16 mile hike. In a few weeks we'll also do a practice run with full packs for approximately 30 miles over 2 nights.

Aside from the early mornings, I've actually been enjoying the daily exercise. I think it's definitely making me a little less crazy. Although I have to put up with Chris singing made up songs to me at a ridiculously early hour of the morning. Jaxx is also benefiting since one of our routes takes us through a dog park, so he is getting some extra ball time.

The views aren't much, but the pay off physically is great. When Chris and I recently visited and hiked around Arkansas (posts forthcoming) we felt like super heroes! Between the training and being significantly closer to sea level we basically ran up hills.

East Peak via Rattlesnake Ridge Trail

At only 35 miles from downtown Seattle, Rattlesnake Ledge is one of the most popular hikes in Washington and definitely offers unquestionably the best visual payoff vs difficulty of any hike this close to Seattle.  We decided to do a modified version of the traditional 3.8 mile hike to Rattlesnake Ledge, tacking on an additional 5 miles and 1600 ft of elevation gain to reach East Peak.  The view in the picture above can be reached just above Rattlesnake Ledge and is one of the best views I've seen anywhere in Washington.

Unfortunately, because this hike is very close to Seattle and relatively easy, compared to other hikes in the region, it is also very popular.  The main parking lot was almost full when we arrived at 11 a.m.  We passed throngs of other hikers on the way up to Rattlesnake Ledge.  Amazingly, Allison and Katie have done this hike before and assured me that the crowd was actually much smaller than it had been on their last outing.  Despite the population density, we had a great and quick hike up to the ledge.  We hung out for a few minutes, had some food and then continued our way up hill.  Most of the hikers only go up to the ledge, so we got a nice break from the crowd for the majority of the middle section of the hike.

  About half way up to East Peak, we ran into patches of snow which continued sporadically all the way to the peak.  It was an absolutely a beautiful day during the entire hike, and we had seen pictures of a view of Mt. Rainier which was supposedly taken from East Peak.  Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed with the view, which did not rival the view from the Ledge and did not contain Mt. Rainier, when we finally reached the peak.  We had a nice hiking lunch, chatted a bit with a fellow hiker and headed back down the mountain.  The trip down was fairly uneventful except for a small detour where we ventured out onto a rather precarious ledge a little above Rattlesnake Ledge.

This ledge was surrounded on three sides by a several hundred foot drop.  It has been a long time since I have been near the edge of something like this, and I have to say that I'm a bit more afraid of heights at this point in my life than I remember having been in the past.  Needless to say I was relieved when we made our way off the ledge and back onto the trail.

Overall this was one of the groups favorite hikes, despite the crowds, especially the Rattlesnake Ledge portion of the hike. It has great payoff, the trail is graded well, and it's a very manageable drive.

WTA Link

Guest Post: Chris hikes in Discovery Park cause the Mountains are covered in Angel poops.

Discovery park is a very unique place.  There are very few city parks in the country where you can be in the city one minute and then be transferred to a completely remote, incredibly naturally diverse setting in literally about the time it took me to write this line.  This is the magic of discovery park.  Located on the property of a former US Army base, Fort Lawton, Discovery park at 534 acres is the largest city park in Seattle.  It is located on the Puget sound in the neighborhood of Magnolia and is easily reached in 20 minutes or less from about any location in the city.  The park offers expansive views of the Puget Sound from atop high cliffs overlooking the water, an incredible view of Mt. Rainier (on the five days of the year it is clear enough to actually see that far), hikes through fern laden forests and access to several miles of Puget Sound sea shore.

Katie, Amber and Eric were fortunate enough to accompany me on this trip to the park.  It was a perfectly nasty, cold and rainy Pacific Northwest day, but that didn't stop us from going and in my mind only served to increase the neat atmosphere of this park.   Katie and I have spent lots of time in Discovery park but Amber hadn't been there for years and Eric, who is new to the area, had never been.

We started at the main visitor center, then after getting lost because of my flawless sense of direction and orienteering training through BSA, we finally made our way out to the cliffs overlooking the Puget Sound where we were luck enough to capture Epic Eric epicly surveying the landscape.  

After seeing a couple of people who we though were our friends Kevin and Jamie, but turned out to not even be the same nationality once we got closer, we made our way down to the beach and the lighthouse (photo: David Unger, 2006).  Unfortunately because of the weather, we weren't able to see the great view of Rainier.  Here is what it would have looked like.  

After the lighthouse the friends went exploring tide pools and messing with sea anemones, we hopped back into the forest and began the ascent back up to the upper part of the trail.  We also during the beach part of the hike were able to see several seadog saltwater merpeople (Sea Lions) playing around in the water.  I don't know about everyone else, but for me, it is always a treat to see large animals of any kind in the wild instead of captivity.  After much huffing and puffing we finally got to the upper trail and had a relatively flat hike for the last mile.  We hiked the loop trail (3.5 miles).  Our total mileage, because of getting lost and exploring, was closer to 4 miles.  For anyone who is interested, there are another four miles of trails besides the loop trail in the interior of the park.  If you have some time to kill in Seattle and want to get into nature fast I would highly recommend you checking out Discovery Park.