[pct-l] planning priorities

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

On Nov 13, 2010, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> A couple folks gave suggestions for food suppliers. Any others?
I bought some from Wilderness Dining. Just Fruits and Just Vegetables.
>
> I'm not planning to buy any gear other than shoes and the PEG.
Careful with the shoes. Your feet may expand. I wouldn't buy shoes  
for the entire trail. But for maybe the first couple of months.

> I'm a pretty fit person. I bike to work pretty much everyday, and  
> hike with
> my dogs as much as possible.
You ought to be fine then. Not knowing you, I think the assumption is  
that you're going couch to PCT like a huge number of people.

> My plan
> is to start out only shooting for 10 mile days and let my daily  
> mileage
> increase as my body adapts.
My plan was similar to that but didn't turn out like that at all.  
Right off the bat I did 15 mile days. It was easier than I thought.  
The trail is well-graded and smooth. The water is about 20 miles  
apart. There's lots of daylight. You naturally fall into a rhythm  
that fits with the daylight and water and before you know it, 20+  
mile days are the norm.

>
> 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.
People will yell at me and call me mean names and totally disagree  
with me, but you're likely overestimating the physical rigors of the  
trail. It's smooth and well-graded and the trail is easy to follow.  
You can walk fully upright without carrying a hand saw or pulling  
foxtails out of your shoes and socks every few minutes. It doesn't  
really get difficult until around mile 600 or 700. A huge number of  
people do fall apart on Hauser Mountain, the first climb. But if  
you're in good hiking condition, you'll find it relatively easy to at  
the beginning and wonder what all the fuss is about.

However, it is a repetitive motion injury machine. If you have one  
little injury, perhaps a blister or a twinge in your knee or a seam  
in your shoe rubs the wrong way, you will compensate somehow and the  
repetitive motion injury machine will beat that compensation into you  
until before you know it your knees or your hips or back or something  
is completely out of whack, you are crippled and limping and have to  
leave the trail.

Don't leave the trail. Rest. Heal. Get back on. Destroy those evil  
shoes and buy bigger, wider ones. Take your shoes and socks off every  
few hours and let them dry. Do whatever it takes even if it takes a  
knife to your $150 shoes. Even if you have to hike in your Crocs  
until you can get to the outlet mall in Cabazon or to the computer at  
the library to order something else.

You are right that the mental challenge is greater than the physical  
one. But the mental challenge may not set in for a while. The energy  
of people is high and exciting at the beginning. I think if I had to  
pick a trail town to live in, it would be Idyllwild. The hikers are  
full of that spark and energy of people living their dreams. The  
dreams fade a lot way up in Washington.

Diane