*My great adventure* - "I think it's a good idea...

Tolmekian said:
Kudos to you and your wife.

Whatever you're expecting it to be; happy, emotional, exhilarating, I'm sure it will even be infinitely better than that when it comes :) Very jealous

Edit: Some beautiful photos on your website, will be keeping up with this thread and your blog photos when it kicks off.
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Cheers. :)

Megahurtz400 said:
Come visit me in Whistler next summer? :)

EDIT: Note to self, look at thread date.....
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Why look at thread date? Oh, and there is a chance I may be in Whistler. As per the other thread, we have applied for our Canadian IEC visas, so depending on how much money we have left at the end of the walk, we might return to Canada for a year.

ManInRed said:
I've seen that video, it inspired me to research further and buy a book on the trail.
I found you on BPL but do send me that spreadsheet if you can :) Trust enabled.

I have a 6 month sabbatical at work I can take anytime. I'd love to do the PCT in that time and can afford it, but would be solo. I just think I'd get bored on my own for 6 months not seeing a soul.
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Spreadsheet sent.

If you can get a 6 month sabbatical and can afford it, then go! As Tolmekian says, you will meet people out there. A surprising amount of people do it solo (Most people can't find someone as insane as themselves to also want to do it). Right at the start of the season (Last weekend in April) there is the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Kick Off Party (ADZPCTKO) which is held 20 miles into the trail. It's a huge party of people setting off, with demonstrations, stalls, films etc. You would be bound to meet people to hike with there, if not along the trail.
 
bigjimmyauk said:
Might benefit you to get a solar charger i have one it's about the size of 4xAA batteries takes around 40 hours direct sunlight to charge up fully but comes with an abundance of leads for charging items up with. Could come in handy in an emergency and could be strapped to your backpack to capture as much light as possible.
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Unfortunately I need to really keep the weight of my pack down as much as possible. A solar charger is tempting since we will get loads of sun, but I'm not sure the efficiency/weight ratio is good enough. If anyone knows of an ultra light weight one with a decent charge output I would be all ears though.

Our MP3 players and phone should be easy enough to charge as they are USB charged, but the camera batteries a mains supply. It is also the camera batteries I would want the most.

LeJosh said:
Solar charger is a great idea.

Wish I could join you both on this epic journey!

Take as many photos as possible. :D
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Don't worry, plenty of photos will be taken. I now have enough SD cards for each of us to take 96 RAW shots per day, everyday for 180 days! :D
 
MK I know it would add a slight amount of weight but wouldn't taking a pedometer be tempting? Obviously I expect you'd go round the clock with it but Would be interesting to see a total.

Also have either of you gone on first aid courses in preparation?
 
Messiah Khan said:
Unfortunately I need to really keep the weight of my pack down as much as possible. A solar charger is tempting since we will get loads of sun, but I'm not sure the efficiency/weight ratio is good enough. If anyone knows of an ultra light weight one with a decent charge output I would be all ears though.
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they weigh naff all maybe 200grams at most if that, i will weigh mine and let you know roughly
 
Aero said:
MK I know it would add a slight amount of weight but wouldn't taking a pedometer be tempting? Obviously I expect you'd go round the clock with it but Would be interesting to see a total.

Also have either of you gone on first aid courses in preparation?
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Don't think I'll be taking a pedometer. Wouldn't mind a gps to track where I'm going (Not for navigation) but batteries would be an issue.

We are actually going on a outdoor first aid course this weekend. We are doing the Outdoor First Aid & Emergency Incident Management course which is 16 hours long. Hopefully won't need it, but as it is a certified course it may help me in the future as well.

bigjimmyauk said:
they weigh naff all maybe 200grams at most if that, i will weigh mine and let you know roughly
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Not too bad. 200g is still weight though, and I am literally counting every gram to try and get it down as much as possible. When I'm hauling 23Kg up a mountain, thinks like solar chargers will be the first I will want to chuck away. If I take luxuries like that, they need to be light enough that I can't justify chucking them out. I'm not saying 200g is too much for a charger, but I need to balance up the use I'll get out of it and the pain it will cause.
 
Messiah Khan said:
Afraid not. No tyres are allowed on much of the trail. People and horses/goats/llamas only. There is however the Ride the Divide mountain bike race which goes along the Continental Divide Trail further to the east of the PCT
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Aww, what a shame :(. As soon as I saw the pictures in the OP I immediate thought how great it would be to ride there.
 
Out of interest, how are you carrying enough food and water to go between towns for however long? It's what I struggle with as water weighs loads!
 
Moses said:
What if you take a charger, but are offsetting that by carrying 300g less of batteries, or something?
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The mp3 players have inbuilt batteries and I'm not taking a spare battery for the phone. The only batteries I need lots of are the camera batteries, and they unfortunately need main charging. I should be fine taking enough batteries to allow me to charge at resupply towns.

Totality said:
Out of interest, how are you carrying enough food and water to go between towns for however long? It's what I struggle with as water weighs loads!
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The longest section is about 7-8 days. The heaviest sections however are shorter, but occur near the start in the deserts of south California. They are the heaviest due to the amount of water required. At some points we will require 6-8 litres of water each, which isn't going to be much fun.

Unfortunately there isn't going to be much we can do about food and water weight. We have however tried to reduce the rest of the pack weight down as much as possible, so I am maxing out at about 23Kg and Sarah at about 13Kg with food and water.

fadetoblack said:
Loving the trip
Will you arming yourself? ( bears,wolves & mountain lions or horney redneck)

What stove will you be using? (hobo,trangia,bush buddy? )
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No we won't be arming ourselves. Firearms aren't permitted in most of the national parks. Also the risk of Bear/Wolf/Mountain Lion attack is minimal as long as you practice safe camping (minimise food odour etc). I will probably have knife with me so can always make a pointy stick of needs be, lol.

The most dangerous parts will be river crossings and dehydration, not wild animals or rednecks.

As for the stove, we will be using a Trail Designs Caldera Sidewinder, which works great. It is really light weight, pretty windproof, very stable and burns alcohol or wood. For most of of the walk we should be able to use small sticks as fuel, which will save weight, then in the mountains I can switch to alcohol which is easy to get hold of (Can use car de-icer for example).
 
Wow, what an amazing trip.

I wish you both the very best of luck, it seems like it will be the experience of a lifetime, something I am very jealous of. Make the most of every day you are there as it will provide you with a lifetime of fabulous memories :)
 
This looks absolutely amazing MK, best of luck to both of you! Certainly looking forward to all the shots you take along the way!

Any chance you mind flinging that spreadsheet my way? Been thinking of doing something similar to this and have never really gotten round to looking at the budgeting side of things...

Definitely one of those life experiences you'll never forget, literally green with envy right now. :D
 
OMG maximum respect mate.

THIS is the way to see the world. I do similar things but have done nowhere near something as epic as this!

I just hate the whole slouch-around-by-pool kind of vacations which is why I find myself going alone :( Cuz all my mates just wanna fly to Spain and get smashed. Youre so lucky your gal is into this as well. Cant beat meeting someone who likes the same things. U know ur all set for life then! Woot! Enjoy and stay safe...watch out for them bears!
 
I spent 6 weeks traveling the Western U.S. a few years back. Be sure to visit Yosemite National Park and do the hike to the summit of Half Dome, one of my best experiences ever.

Yellowstone National Park and the Cascade Mountains in Washington are a must too, absolutley stunning scenery.
 
King4aDay said:
23k isn't completely mental, but you'll definitely feel it on the uphill :P

Hopefully you'll be having too much of an awesome time to notice.
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Aye, I can carry the weight, but it's not going to be fun, especially uphill. The pain:awesome ratio should hopefully be pretty good though!

bJN said:
This looks absolutely amazing MK, best of luck to both of you! Certainly looking forward to all the shots you take along the way!

Any chance you mind flinging that spreadsheet my way? Been thinking of doing something similar to this and have never really gotten round to looking at the budgeting side of things...

Definitely one of those life experiences you'll never forget, literally green with envy right now. :D
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Aye, here is slimmed down version of the spreadsheet (Ie, doesn't include stuff like flight numbers, which you don't need anyway.) It isn't anything fancy, but it is a way of having all my information in one place.

http://www.afowler.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/PCT-Plan_reduced.xlsx

In terms of budgeting, there are several books, blogs and sites out there from people who have done stuff like this and more, where they talk about reducing costs and how to calculate costs over a long time.

For the PCT, the Yogi guide books are great and cover most things that need considering. But generally, you can get the costs down fairly low as long as you have the equipment or put up with cheap equipment and can also tolerate eating cheap food for months.

It is very easy to want to do things like this but keep putting it off or find reason why it isn't the right time (I'm not saying you are, just saying in general), but the truth is there is never a perfect time for something like this. You just have to bite the bullet and accept that there will be tradeoffs and compromises with other things in life.

It may be harming my long term career, but a saying I heard recently sums it all up for me;

"He who dies with the most toys still dies"

You only have one life, and scrambling to amass more wealth is not a good way of spending it. Have enough money or resources around you to feed and shelter you and your family and make life a little more comfortable, but there are much greater things out there to be spending your time on. :)

Psyisk said:
There is a lake in the crator? WOW
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Yup, and it is all from rain water. The amount of rain balances out the amount of evaporation so the water level stays the same. I think its also USA's 2nd deepest lake.
 
KatanaDV20 said:
OMG maximum respect mate.

THIS is the way to see the world. I do similar things but have done nowhere near something as epic as this!

I just hate the whole slouch-around-by-pool kind of vacations which is why I find myself going alone :( Cuz all my mates just wanna fly to Spain and get smashed. Youre so lucky your gal is into this as well. Cant beat meeting someone who likes the same things. U know ur all set for life then! Woot! Enjoy and stay safe...watch out for them bears!
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Yeah, poolside holidays have never appealed to us! I went to Cofu with mates when I was 22ish, and although I enjoyed it I couldn't spend all my time just lying down. I wanted to go and explore. Since meeting my wife, our holidays are much better and involve walking, exploring and wildlife.

If you really want to do it, there are like-minded people out there. Maybe consider joining a hillwalking or mountaineering club? Even consider travelling on your own. Scary though I admit, but there are a surprising amount of people who see the world on their own. Most of the people who thru-hike the PCT are on their own as they can't find mates who are equally as mad as them.

weyland yutani said:
I spent 6 weeks traveling the Western U.S. a few years back. Be sure to visit Yosemite National Park and do the hike to the summit of Half Dome, one of my best experiences ever.

Yellowstone National Park and the Cascade Mountains in Washington are a must too, absolutley stunning scenery.
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We tail passes through Yosemite. My parents are also going on holiday around the Sierras/Yosemite later this year, so we are plannign to take 3-4 days off around Tuolumne Meadows with them. Half dome doesn't appeal to me that much due to the amount of people, but I would love to see Yosemite Valley just for the climbing history in that area.

We don't go anywhere near Yellowstone, but do pass through the Cascades. We have already seen some of the Cascades in 2010, but from the Canadian end. Big and scary, but should be inspiring to walk through. :)

wannabedamned said:
You sir, and the mrs... are mad! I would love to do something like that! but honestly the sheer scope of the whole thing is immense, and I honestly don't think I could do it. Eat plenty!! and good luck to you both
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