[pct-l] planning priorities

[Kevin Cook]

Thanks for all the responses everyone.

I'm hearing food and shoes are the things I should be paying for now. Anyone
have suggestion where to find bargain shoes? I'm partial to New Balance
running shoes if that helps. I'm not even going to ask about recommendations
for which shoes wear! ;)

A couple folks gave suggestions for food suppliers. Any others? I'm planning
a mixed approach. I'll be sending a lot of dinners, dehydrated at home, and
supplemental ingredients like freeze dried veggies, fruit and meat. These
would be added to the oatmeal, soups, liptons or whatever I buy in town.
Stops with lessor grocery selections will have more food sent. I'm
accounting for tastes to change this way. I'll bag up dinners, veggies,
fruit etc, and label each resupply box with the numbers for how many of each
type. My wife will be handling my food logistics, so I'll just let her know
what to toss in the next box when I hit town. This way I can modify the
relative quantities of dishes based on my tastes. If I'm sick of all of it,
I can still buy from the stores. I'm not real picky on the trail though.
After hauling a pack around all day, I'm usually hungry enough to eat just
about anything. :)

I'm not planning to buy any gear other than shoes and the PEG. I've spent
plenty of time in the backcountry to know what to expect in foul weather.
The only motivation to change any gear would to get it lighter. If I do
change anything, I'll probably make it.I'm pretty good with the sewing
machine after many many hours of practice ;)

Getting fit before the hike seems like a pretty popular theme among the
replies to my questions. That is interesting. My intent was to help
prioritize my hike related cash flow between now and a few weeks before the
hike, but this common response leads me to question my fitness strategy.

I'm a pretty fit person. I bike to work pretty much everyday, and hike with
my dogs as much as possible. I'll admit, I hike less in winter when limited
daylight and deep snow make it more difficult. In March I can hike most
days, so I'll be upping my hiking routine as the hike gets nearer. My plan
is to start out only shooting for 10 mile days and let my daily mileage
increase as my body adapts. My estimate is that after 4-6 weeks, I will be
hiking at 20ish miles per day average. I hiked for 10 weeks several years
back, and I remember it took about 4 weeks until the pack felt good, or
normal, on my back. I'm a little older now, so it might take 6 weeks to
adapt this time. ;)

I don't think I'm underestimating the physical rigors of a thru hike. At
least I hope I'm not! I expect it to be hard and, at times, miserable. I've
told people, for all the years I've dreamed of a thru hike, that anyone can
do it. They just have to want it badly enough. Your body needs to be up to
the task, but I think the harder part of the trip is the mental hardship of
adapting to a life so very different from the land of concrete and cubicles.
I know my body will adapt, so I'm starting a little early and slowly to
allow for that physical change. I can't wait to make the other change. ;)

Thanks again for all the advice!

p.s. I deleted all the quoted text. I hope it helps those that have problems
with that.

~ Kevin
Soon To Be PCT Thru Hiker!
"The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial." Edward Abbey