POW POW!!! Another Sponsor !! Raw-Revolution

The kind people over at RAWREV.com have decided to send me a box of their line of Raw Revolution organic live food bars for my PCT hike!!

This is from their website: "Raw, living foods are clean, and have higher nutrient content than cooked food. Processed foods such as protein isolates and grain based fillers are acidic and cause fermentation in the body. Raw Organic foods are closest to their natural state, bringing us closer to healing ourselves and the global ecology."

They have some amazing flavors to choose from like Lemon Dew, Tropical Mango, Tropical Banana, Apple Cinnamon,  and many many more. These should help in keeping me healthy on the trail and are much appreciated!! Thanks Raw Revolution!

gear

alright, i am trying not to freak out about gear. i still need a few things. a LOT of a few things as i start making mental notes of what i still need to get. i am hoping, after our little holiday season, some of this list will dwindle, and then start falling off faster and faster soon after...

major things i still need ~

• down sleeping bag
• down jacket
• shoes

consumables i still need (not food) ~

• jet boil fuel (i plan on using about 20 canisters i would imagine)
• bulk supply of ibuprofen
• bio-tp and 'wag bags'
• batteries
• bandanas (i plan on getting new ones pretty often)
• bulk box of 1 gallon zip-lock freezer bags (250 count)

things i would like, don't really need,  but would still be nice to have ~

• polarized sunglasses
• watch w/temp reading (altimeter would be nice too)

 minor gear items i still need or may choose to use ~

• a couple more pairs of socks
• dry sacks for storing gear inside my pack
• rain pack cover (probably make my own)
• gossamer gear foam mat 
• sturdy, small, pocket sized notebook for jotting notes (moleskine) thx kolby :-P

i am sure there is more and i will probably take less. this is just some thoughts off my head i have been meaning to get down on paper, so i figure i'd make a post about it and let you folks inside my brain a little bit...

food prep, info, and what i am thinking about it....

so i haven't actually began any food prep yet. i have a dehydrator ready to fire up, and a plan i am working on to make resupply as efficient and stress free as possible. thankfully there are plenty of blogs, you-tube v-logs, articles, and books all about resupply. the logistics are pretty much easy to follow. for me, i will be sending the majority of my food to me on the trail. i am hiking on a SMALL budget. i don't plan to be able to stay in many hotels, unless costs are split with other hikers, and it is a low price. i also don't plan to spend TOO much money in town. i do plan on eating fresh meals here and there, but i do not plan on getting the majority of my resupplies from the trail stores and towns. i know what i like to eat, i know i can make the majority of it quickly, fast, and at a much lower cost if i buy the supplies in bulk from Winco and Costco now, as opposed to while hiking. so basically, i need to make a bag of food, for as many days i plan to be out on the trail. and i plan to be out for roughly 150 days. so i am planning 150 bags of food before i go so when i need resupply, i can ask erica to send me 5 bags here, or 6 bags there, and so on however i need. this should make it easy for her, as then all she has to do is box up my bags, add my maps for the next section, tape it up, and when i can have packages mailed to a post office, they will come and pick up my resupply box from my house. priority mail really is worth its cost when it comes to making sure your food for survival is on time.

here is how the bags of food sort of break down...

150 food bags
1 food bag = 1 day of food
1 bag =          3000-5000 calories
1 bag =   
                breakfast   500-750  calories
                lunch         750-1000 calories
               dinner        750-1000 calories
               snacks       750-1000 calories
               drinks        300-500  calories
              *extra        unknown  calories
          
               total           3050-4250 calories a day
                   

*extra is anything i get in care packages: cookies, jerky, candy, home-baked goods, really anything my lovely family, friends and followers would like to send me to keep my spirits up along the way. keep in mind, any care packages that are sent to me are extra weight i will be carrying out of town, along with the food supply i already have sent to myself. it is also wise to give me a heads up that you may be sending me something. i know this sort of spoils the surprise, but you don't have to tell me what it is, just a heads up so that i know to look for/ask for extra packages waiting for me other than my resupply box.

also, anything that i will have to carry, and can not eat, sent to me in a care package, has the chance of being left behind or sent back. i can not be adding a TON of extra weight once i start. specific gear and what i actually carry with me in my pack is a painstakingly detailed process. i am not as much of a 'gear head' as most thru-hikers, but it is not uncommon for hikers to stress about their base pack weight down to the ounce.

some good care package items that are not food, that would great, would be batteries (AA & AAA) but really i only need a few at a time, so 2-4 max. energy shots. stamps so i can send you guys post cards and letters. and as always i am sure we can barter some stickers or future artwork, real work, or anything really for donations....

my 'top 5' and the pct

here are a few random, off the top of my head top five lists for this hike...

top 5 things i am excited about ~

• getting in the best shape of my life
• camping for 5 months straight, in a new spot every single night.
• meeting new friends, that i will be bonded with forever, and trail angels/magic
• following an outdoor, non-societal norm, vagabond type lifestyle
• the unknown. the little indescribable things that no book, blog, picture or person can capture...

top 5 worries ~

•  injury
• food/nutrition taking care of my body
• large groups of ravenous thru-hikers
• being too much of a burden/dependee on my gf & family
• what to do when i am done.  i have time to figure it out on the trail.....

top 5 cravings i expect  ~

• freezing cold soda and energy drinks
• gorging on food, pizza buffets, sushi rolls, pollo asado burritos
• flannel sheets, down comforter, warm girlfriend
• milkshakes
• lemonade

top 5 places i can not wait to see, that i have NEVER seen before ~

• crater lake
• lake chelan
• the high sierra & the john muir trail/pct overlap
• lake moreno & adzpctko
• monument 78 (northern terminal pct)

top 5 places i can not wait to see that i HAVE seen before ~

• yosemite national park
• lake tahoe
• mt whitney
• mt shasta/castle crags
• columbia river- (while i have seen the river itself plenty, not where it actually crosses with the pct)

POW POW POW!!! FIRST SPONSOR!!!

tired of taking those super close headshots of yourself when you are hiking? the ones where you can see your arm sticking way off to the side snapping the pic, and not much of the background itself? or have you ever wanted to make your own videos? your own version of  les stroud survivor man? well there is a simple, cheap solution ..... STICKPIC! it clips to the end of you hiking pole, and allows you to attatch any camera with a screw on mount. the possibilites are endless!!!

Rod-the inventor of the stick pic has graciously donated a Stick Pic to me for my PCT hike!! i cant wait to get it in the mail and start taking pics....

thanks again Rod.
check them out and order them here!!!  STICK PIC

itinerary....

well i spent all day planning my stops, and getting an idea of where i am going to be stopping and resupplying....
now that i know where i will be stopping along the way, and the mileage in between, i can start preparring my resupply boxes and planning how many meals and snacks will go in each....
there is so much planning still to be done, but i am taking my time so that i don't become overwhelmed. i know once the holidays pass it will be full force food planning and gathering....

there are some really great tools online to help with the process of planning. i found that a past thru-hiker named 'eric the black' has a really simple to use spreadsheet. you just input the info specific to you and it does the rest. i was less worried about the dates and my hiking speed for now, and more interested in finding my resupply points and the mileage between them.... i do however think the dates should be pretty close to what i plan on doing. i def would love to be at echo lake BEFORE july 4th to spend the holiday with family... and i hope to finish in the last ten days of september, so this itinerary works out pretty well....of course, this could all be changed and have to be re-figured due to the snow level at the beginning of the hiking season....

soon i will have specific details about where care packages can be sent, and the best methods for the best locations. some places only accept UPS or FedEX, some places i have to pay money to pick up packages....all this info is coming soon enough...

you can now check 'THE PLAN' tab at the top of the page to get an idea of where i will be and approximate dates....

thanks folks.
kristo

dreamin....

I had a dream last night I was playing cribbage against an 'older' gentleman while in a trail town....
This was the first dream I have had about the PCT since I decided to make 2k12 my year...
Funny how I have been processing so much info and strategizing about my first 'thru'  hike, and the first thing I dream about is playing crib against some old gentleman that resembles my grandfather (who taught me how to play cribbage, and was no doubt my most worthy adversary).

Even though planning or mentally preparing can leave your mind spinning out of control at a million miles a second, I can honestly say since deciding to hike this coming year, i have never felt so free, and at ease. I know this hike will lead me to a place I want to be in my life and prepare me for the next challenges life throws at me....

Yogi Handbooks....

well i just received my 'Yogi's PCT Handbooks' in the mail today! and i thought i was excited before....

for those of you unfamiliar with thru-hiking, Yogi Handbooks are pretty amazing. Basically, a lady by the trail name of Yogi has been hiking the PCT and CDT (continental divide trail) over and over taking new notes every year on the trail towns and collecting information. she is part of a tight knit hiking community that helps her answer questions about their experiences on the PCT, she then updates the handbook every year as far as i can tell, and it has literally EVERYTHING you could want to know about hiking the PCT. all the information for EVERY town you come across. the best places to rent a room, where to find internet, the best stores and restaurants for supplies and hot, greasy, fattening carb-heavy meals that you are dreaming of on the trail. it shows how far  these places are from the trail, it is pretty amazing all the info she has crammed into these amazing books.

the second handbook is all about planning your hike. Yogi draws on several different hikers experiences and lays out their responses from a near 100 response questionnaire to help you understand how they went about almost EVERY aspect of their thru-hike. extremely helpful for some of those decisions you just aren't quite sure about....
anyhow, needless to say, it just made me that much more excited, stressed, overwhelmed with how much really goes into preparing for a thru-hike.

i cant wait to start walking.....

here is the link to those handbooks....
Yogi's PCT Handbooks.......

custom Nor*Cal Hikers stickers !!!

i have been giving these out since i got them, but i have about 50-60 left that i am gonna try and use as a 'donation incentive'. if you donate 5 dollars to my hikers fund (via paypal) i will send you 2 stickers in the mail. you can email me if you are interested so i can get your mailing address....

thanks for your support!!!!

also, a huge THANKS to Erica LeSaint for designing the NCH logo and having the stickers printed for me!!!

magic!!!

well, it is just under 6 months until the actual hiking part of the adventure begins. i have read a lot about trail magic, and trail angels and am realizing this is one of the truly great things about thru-hiking. so many people are excited and willing to help, and lend support and be part of this adventure. whatever their reasons for helping are, it is truly a blessing. folks who have always dreamt of hiking for an extended period, or have had dreams of the PCT themselves always seem eager to lend a hand, or want more info, as if storing it as fuel for their own attempt one day. it really gets me excited. others, want to help simply because they are kind-hearted people, excited for me. my friends and family want to see me succeed and want to make my trip as enjoyable and seamless as necessary and i am truly grateful...

i just returned from washington where i was visiting my mother and aunt tresa, and a little time with a couple of my super cool cousins (only leland and danielle this time). as well as the coyote sisters (patti and geri) and a few other people i have began to consider friends of mine from the  great northwest. i love it up there in western washington along the coast. almost every time i am up there now, the coyote sisters take me out to a place we call 'serenity cove' up on the tahola indian reservation. it is a section of beach that nearly no one ever walks on. everything is so green, and the short hike is through the forest is so awesome and dense with greenery and shrubs and trees. it is a truly magical place. you need special permission from the indian reservation just to be on the land, and thankfully the coyote sisters have a great friend that is a tahola native and lives there as well, granting us basically free access. we see eagles soaring every time we hike in and every once in a while we even find a few beach treasures.

my trip to washington was short. i plan to spend another couple weeks up there before i take off on my hike. i plan on doing some training hikes up there maybe in early march to do some good testing for heavy weather gear. my mom lives only about an hour and a half from lake quinault and the hoh rainforest. always good for a cold,wet and damp hike anytime of year....

i have to give a huge shout out to Patti and Geri for hooking me up with my biggest 'trail magic' score thus far for my trip..

a 2 month supply of candy bars for me to plan into my resupply packages, with another months worth that they held onto to send me in their own personal packages to be sent along the way! that was so nice! i have enough Mars bars now to keep me going on the trail...the twix they send me will be awesome as well, as i am sure everything they send me will be just as amazing and well thought out...

the most awesome thing they gave me though:
a food dehydrator. with like 10 shelves. old, durable, amazing. now i can get crackin' with making my own meals and dehydrating them into daily portions and meal plans. i am so thankful. this was just one more expense i figured i would have to buy out of my own pocket as part of the overall hiking plan. now that i have one for free to use, i am gonna look into investing into a vacuum sealer for packaging meals to cut down on weight and space the food will take up in my backpack....

so as you can see, trail magic is in full force, and i am still almost half a year away from taking off.....man 2012 is gonna be an awesome year!!

the plan...

well, i will keep it simple for you. the plan is to start hiking in late april, and finish by the last week of september. averaging roughly 20 miles a day for 5 months, i will hike just short of 2700 miles from the border of california and mexico, ending 8 miles north of the washington and canadian border. i will have roughly 20-30 supply boxes sent to me along the way full of food, and other necessities i may need en route to thru-hiking one of worlds greatest long distance trails.

i hope to carry no more than 35-40 lbs on my back at any time. i am not an 'ultra-lighter' by any means. i usually pack WAY WAY to much stuff for just the simple over-nighter, however, a lot of the ideology behind the lifestyle/change of hiking the PCT is simplification...so i will be keeping it simple as well. only carrying what i need and what i use on an everyday basis...

i also have the idea of acquiring a travel sized guitar for the adventure. it would be worth its weight in gold just for the entertainment value along the trail...we will see....i have a vision of writing an albums worth of music to be recorded along the trail using my iphone...

as some of you may know....

....as some of you may, or may not know, i am planning on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in April of 2012. it is a huge decision with lots of planning and preparation to be done before April even gets here. For those of you not truly aware of what the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is, basically, i will be hiking for nearly 5 months straight, for a distance of nearly 2700 miles, and from the border of US/Mexico to 8 miles across the Canadian border. This blog will hopefully serve as my Trail Journal throughout my adventure and I plan on keeping everyone updated with my progress both pre-hike, and during hike through this outlet, as well as on twitter/facebook as most social networks are all linked together these days anyway....

i need to give a HUGE thanks to my family and friends who have already committed to, and began helping support me throughout this adventure.

My parents for encouraging me to be myself, and follow my dreams, and to embrace the wilderness and experience the great outdoors.

My brother for encouraging me to get out and get it done, and my girlfriend Erica for basically taking on the duties of support logistics and detail. if anyone finds themselves wanting or needing to get anything to me at anytime during my hike, you will be dealing with Erica...

thank you guys so much for your support and i cant wait to get on the trail...



more to come.
kristo