PCT Planning - Tonight we dine in hell.

So as I hinted at in previous posts, Chris and I are making all of our own food. My Mom has offered to throw a couple things into later boxes, but primarily we are doing all of it ourselves. As things get closer we are starting to get some of the food stuff,
or are dehydrating and vacuum sealing at home. So it seemed like a good time to try out our recipes and make any last minute adjustments.

In a previous post on food I wrote a little bit about making sure you had enough calories and enough variety. Chris and I have planned few dinners and we may throw in one luxury dinner per box (instant Indian/Thai food etc. for some variety).

Also, Chris and I are soaking our dehydrated veggies during the day as we hike, if you use dehydrated veggies and are planning on soaking them make sure to use the water you soaked them in, that way you don't lose any nutrients. We also are dyhdrating our chicken and tuna, if you do this you need to add the tuna/chicken at the same time as the starch and with a little extra water.

Recipes under the cut.  Click the link below.

PCT Planning - Resources for Planning Your Hike

The elevation / distance graph and map of our planned PCT hike

I realize I maybe skipped some steps and neglected to post information about actually getting started planning. Of course, these are just the resources Chris and I used, and certainly not an exhaustive list. In fact, I'm only covering two things: Yogi's Guide Book and Craig's PCT Planner. That being said, I honestly think if you have those things, you can get everything else pretty well figured out.

Yogi's PCT Handbook

We had decided to do the PCT, but were a little unsure where to go from there. If you've googled anything about the PCT you've run into people mentioning Yogi's book. There's a good reason for that.

It's fucking ah-mazing.

Jackie McDonnell (a Triple Crown Hiker) aka Yogi wrote this guide book that basically details everything you need to know about the PCT. She covers gear, additional resources, water, dealing with the snow, food, etc., it's fairly exhaustive. It also incorporates information from about half a dozen other PCT hikers. Which means you get a pretty well-rounded look at what people think, the gear they bring etc.

It breaks the whole trail down into sections which include maps of the towns (including where to have your hiker boxes shipped to and how to label them), a breakdown of where water sources are, good campsites etc.  Each section is perforated, so they can be torn out of the book and included in your hiker box. She also sells these handy-dandy laminated cards which have similar information about the towns in a condensed form.

Yogi also partners with Half-Mile maps (they are available for free) she will print very nice copies of the maps for you and they include all the water and camp information that is in the book. Chris and I are going to have ours laminated, particularly for the Northwest.

So far I have to say it's been invaluable to us. Things that have really stuck out to me reading this are the things that we thought about, but her suggestions just make a ton more sense. Here are a few examples:

1. Buy running shorts with built in liners. No added weight from carrying underwear, also, hiking underwear is expensive as hell so being able to cut that out of the list is awesome.

2. What goes in your First Aid Kit. This is one of those things that I probably wouldn't have thought about till I was on the trail. I'm not saying I wouldn't have a first aid kid, but I probably wouldn't have altered it much. However, the stuff you need for a thru-hike is different. I would have brought duct-tape, but I wouldn't ever have thought about bringing desitin for chafe.

3. Get trail runners that are breathable and not waterproof. Consider getting them 1/2-1 full size larger than your feet. This was more for me than for Chris who had already made the switch to trail runners. Your feet will be wet no matter what and are likely to swell on the trail. The last thing you want is a stiff boot that is going to be holding all the moisture in.

I can't even stress enough how amazingly helpful this book has been. I think you could probably get away with just this. I say this mostly, because Craig's PCT planner is in the list of resources.

Link to Yogi's Website

Craig's PCT Planner

This is a free service that Chris and I are ABSOLUTELY going to be donating money to. The PCT planner lets you put in your start date, your estimated mph, and how many hours of hiking you're planning to do each day. Once you put in your start and end point it spits out how long it's going to take to get there. This all on it's own would be pretty handy.

The next part is so awesome it almost made Chris and I cry. And it saved us a TON of time. Based on your start point, rate of travel and end point it provides a list of places to stop and refuel. It auto-selects the most popular, but you can add or subtract as desired. It tells you the mileage between each stop and your estimated date of arrival. It also tells you how far off the trail the town/campground c-store/whatever is. Figuring out you want to bypass a town because it requires a 32 mile hitch is a good thing to know. You have the option to add zero days or notes about the location if you want as well.

It also spits out a small graph of your elevation changes for that section which is incredibly cool. This becomes especially helpful when you're trying to break things up. If you have a 12 day stretch where you won't be getting a box you are going to be carrying a ton of extra weight. If that section starts off with a big uphill battle, you might consider refueling elsewhere.

I seriously love this site. I can share my schedule with relevant people and it makes things much easier for me to have everything already organized for me.

Link to Craig's PCT Planner

GPS Spot

 When Chris and I explain to folks that we're planning to hike 1250 miles the question we get most  (aside from questions about food) is how we're going to deal with emergencies, communicate with family etc. Luckily Chris and I had a good answer for this from the get go, and this past week the actual item was gifted to us by Chris' Mom (THANKS TANYA!!!!).

The Spot GPS Satellite Messanger is basically a thru-hiker's Mom's best friend. This thing fits in the palm of my hand, takes 3 AAA batteries and can save your butt if you need it to. With batteries it is only 3.2 oz, so it's not a big concession for weight.

The Spot has an emergency beacon that pings the closest 911 dispatch through the GPS satellite system. It also can send messages to family members, track your location at 2.5, 5, 10, 30, or 60 minutes intervals. With heavy usage the batteries last about 3.5 days, but Chris and I are just planning on turning it on 1-2 times a day to hit the check in button and that'll be it.

You do have to purchase a subscription
- $9.99/Month or $90/year for the basic plan
- The tracking is another $4.99/month
- They also offer $100,000 of insurance for $20 total for a year of coverage (just in case you want to take a last minute helicopter tour).

It provides a good deal of reassurance to our family for minimal weight and inconvenience.

PCT Planning - Food, Calories and Eating Like it's the Apocalypse

An example of food for a 3 day backpacking trip

Most of my family's questions about our plan to hike for three months have been centered on food. It makes sense; my mother, sister and brother are or have worked as professional chefs, I at one time wrote a food blog and the whole family certainly loves eating.

The big concerns on the PCT when it comes to eating are these: Eating enough. Eating enough. Eating enough. Eating enough...different stuff that you don't want to claw your eyeballs out when you see oatmeal for the literally the 100th time. And of course getting the nutrients you need.

Small people hiking upwards of 10 miles a day are going to be burning around 3000 calories, large people will be burning closer to 6,000. There are fluctuations with this depending on pack weight, how strenuous the hike is, etc. This means a lot of food. If there were fast food restaurants dotted along the PCT there wouldn't be any worries, but there aren't, so you end up battling a consistent, ravenous hunger that doesn't stop.

The trick here is carrying enough food to meet your caloric needs without weighing yourself down.

Fresh food is a luxury you can only have when you go into town. Canned food is preposterously heavy and often doesn't have much in the way of calorie pay off. Find yourself a store with a good bulk foods section. Folks in Eastern Washington, Nevada and Idaho should absolutely check out WinCo. I could almost write songs about their bulk foods. All the nuts, dried fruit, dried soups, oatmeal, etc. a hiker could want.

After that it's really about making sure you have variety and calories. Chris and I are like most hikers in that between breakfast and dinner we mostly just snack on the trail. Maybe do some sort of tortilla wrap or energy bar, but certainly we don't stop to cook.

I'll do 3 additional posts with recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner once their finalized (we're testing everything over the next couple weeks).

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.

2nd Nevada Hike, Marlette Lake

Marlette Lake - August 8th, 2014

Lake Tahoe State Park - Incline Village, Nevada

Distance: 8.8 mi / 14.2 km (Round Trip)

Elevation Gain: 1,200 ft. / 426.7 m.

Highest Elevation: 9,400 ft. / 2865.1 m.

Dogs: Allowed

Difficulty: Moderate

Fee: $10.00/vehicle

We mentioned in the second to last post that our first experience hiking in the desert was kind of a mixed bag.  Also, it is pertinent to this post to mention that after a few weeks in the ugly valley part of the desert in which Reno and Sparks proper reside, Allison and I were both missing the lush environment that we had become accustomed to in the PNW. We both were having some misgivings, in that respect, about our decision to relocate to the freaking high desert.  Those feelings were happening up until the day we embarked on our first adventure to Lake Tahoe.  For those of you who have never gotten a chance to experience it in person, let me tell you that Lake Tahoe is an indescribable natural phenomena which is as immense as it is beautiful.  It was also our saving grace, keeping both of us from spiraling into a situational outdoorsman's depression.

Panoramic of Marlette Lake (click to enlarge)

Now I'd like to share a few interesting facts about Lake Tahoe.  #1. Lake Tahoe definitely has a huge sea monster living in its depths.  I know this because at maximum depth of 1,645 ft. it is the second deepest lake in the United States, and I also happen to know that any lake that large and deep has to come with a sea monster.  #2.  It is not only deep, but it is also huge, surface area wise, with a surface area just shy of 200 square miles.  #3.  It is high.  The lake itself sits at 6,225 ft above sea level and is surrounded by mountains that top out at 10,981 ft. above sea level.  All of these features combine to create a region where you can't look in any direction from anywhere even close to the lake without seeing an absolutely stunning view.  

Chris, Allison, Jan & Jaxxon

With that said, we were thrilled when our friend, Jan suggested that we take a short 45 minute field trip from her house in Sparks, NV up to Lake Tahoe St. Park to hike one of her favorite hikes in the area, Marlette Lake.  Now, while Marlette lake is a mere speck of a lake compared to Tahoe, it is also very very pretty.  

Being that the beginning of the Marlette Lake hike sits at a sizable 8,200 ft. of elevation with the hike's highest point being at ~9400 ft., and given the fact that the highest peak Allison and I summited in the PNW during the summer 2014 hiking season topped out at ~5000 ft. above sea level, we were both unsure of how our bodies were going to handle exertion at this elevation.  Luckily, as we had mentioned in the second to last post, we had been making a concerted effort to walk for 45-90 minutes almost everyday of the week to help get acclimated.  Honestly, I think that expenditure of time ended up really paying off.  Don't get me wrong, the Marlette Lake hike wasn't like strolling through Central Park drinking a latte, but even though we were both huffing and puffing during the 1,200 ft. of elevation gain, I can't imagine how much worse it would have been if we hadn't decided to do our training walks.

Here are the bikers I was talking about

The hike starts at one of the Lake Tahoe State Park's ranger stations right off of Highway 28.  There are several ways to get to Marlette lake, but we decided to leave the car in the parking lot of the rangers station and begin the hike from there.  The hike is out and back on the same trail, with the mid point of the trail being the lake itself.  The trail system in most of Lake Tahoe is shared between hikers, cyclists & horseback riders.  This combination can be somewhat infuriating, especially on particularly popular trails.  What it usually means if you are a hiker is you end up having to move off the trail multiple times throughout your hike to avoid getting in a collision with bikers who may or may not be following proper trail etiquette of alerting you of their presences vocally or with a bell and giving you the right of way.  While this was also the case with the Marlette Lake trail, it was also designed so that a little after the beginning of the trail, the path splits in two trails, one which is designated as hikers only.  This made for an overall much more pleasant hiking experience for the four of us.  

After being treated with beautiful terrestrial views through the first half of the hike, we arrived at the lake.  At this point in the day it was almost perfectly clear except for some brilliant white clouds in the sky.  This caused the water to be a brilliant blue which was especially cool when contrasted with the greens and reddish browns of the surrounding Sierra Nevada landscape.  Jan had packed us all of the fixings for some really upscale sandwiches.  After about ten minutes of meticulously constructing mine, I fumbled and I dropped my sandwich which exploded as it hit the ground, covering all of these awesome ingredients with a fine, inedible layer of tiny pebbles.  Needless to say, this was one of the most heartbreaking, earth shattering experiences I have ever suffered during a hike.  Luckily, I was able to salvage some of the materials and augment what was left with some leftover fixings the rest of the group didn't want.  Jaxxon also didn't mind eating a few little rocks and some dirt and ended up getting a nice little snack himself.

The day was so nice and the water was warm enough, so Allison decided to take a dip.  It was pretty neat to be at a lake that high up and be able to spend any amount of time in it comfortably.  That would never happen in Washington!  After her dip we explored the bank of the lake a little further and then began the journey back.  By the time we turned to head home, it had started sprinkling.  About half of the way back to the car we started hearing thunder in the distance which continued and became more frequent for the duration of the hike.  This was pretty much okay for everyone except Jaxxon who, believe it or not, is deathly afraid of thunder.  So, every time there was a thunder clap, Jaxxon would explode with barks and growls.  Needless to say, this situation, which happened every 200 or so feet for the rest of the hike wasn't really so nice for the rest of us.  Luckily we got to the car and avoided any real precipitation.

Overall it was a really great hike and really deeply influenced our feelings towards our new home in a really positive way.  We have since grown to really like even the uglier parts of our new climate and hiking region and we also continue to be pleasantly surprised by the stunning places we continue to find as we further explore the region. 

Goat Lake

Goat Lake - February 21st, 2015

North Cascades - Mountain Loop Highway

Distance: 10.4 mi / 16.8 km (Round Trip)

Elevation Gain: 1400 ft. / 426.7 m.

Highest Elevation: 3161 ft. / 963.4m.

Dogs: Allowed

Difficulty: Easy

Required Pass: Northwest Forest Pass

About the Author:

My name is Katie Young. I am a veterinary technician in Seattle, WA. When I'm not fixing sick puppies and kitties I am out romping around in the great outdoors. Chris and Allison got me back into hiking a few years ago and paved the way for me to organize my own hikes in the PNW through the 'Katie Pushes People Down Mountains' hiking group.



Contact information:

lkatieyoung@gmail.com 

I chose the Goat Lake trail hike in honor of Chinese New Year: the year of the Goat! Nah, I actually chose it just because the most recent trip report on WTA.org said that it did not have snow and it also looked pretty and rewarding. At 10.4 miles round trip and 1400 feet of elevation gain I knew our group would finally get a chance to stretch our legs after a long winter hiatus. 

We started out with the promise of a clear day as the sun broke free from the clouds and revealed stupendous snow-covered mountain views. We arrived at the trail-head at about 11 AM and began our journey. A gradual incline led us along a fairly straight gravel path with occasional glimpses of snow covered mountain peaks. You could see an obvious line in the trees where the snow began and stretched toward the mountain peaks. We were down below the snow and soaking up the sun.

We reached a sign for Lower Elliot about three fourths of the way along the trail and discussed taking this alternate route on our return trip as it intersects with the main trail near the trailhead. Shortly after the sign our mild incline turned into a bit of a climb up the last half mile or so. We soldiered on and reached a fork in the trail with one trail leading off to a waterfall! Of course, we took the short detour to the waterfall, got some pictures, came close to sliding off the edge of a rock (the rocks are slick! be careful!), and headed up to the lake. 

We walked up a short trek from the waterfall and reached a clearing with a gorgeous blue green lake surrounded by stunning snow covered mountains.

We watched as people floated on inflatable rafts in the center of the lake and made a mental note to bring our own rafts the next time we visit Goat Lake. We ate lunch and soaked in



the view and a little bit of sun before we started to get cold and decided to get moving again. 

Our descent led us to the Lower Elliot trail which ran alongside the river. If you attempt this hike I highly recommend following the Lower Elliot trail for at least one leg of the trip. It is a lush and green trail that meanders along, mimicking the twists and turns of the river. 

Our legs were a bit achy and our stomachs were growling by the time we reached the end. Overall, it was a beautiful hike and I hope to try it again when the weather is a bit warmer. Maybe I'll even take a dip in that inviting lake.