[pct-l] New member

[DayLate07 .]

Wow, I couldn't even imagine having enough time before my thru hike to be
able to hike 80 miles a week!

Just for a comparison, I didn't do much training at all.  I do hike 10 to
15 miles every other week (on the weekends) and stay in pretty good
shape but before my AT and PCT thru hikes I had no time for any training as
I was working lots of hours to complete work projects before the hike.  I
just started slower and didn't push myself for the first few weeks - except
as needed on the PCT for water reasons.

I was about 50 at the time.  The biggest issue most new long distance
hikers have is figuring out what shoes work best for them.  I know of no
other way than trial and error and buying shoes that are bigger than you
think you should have.

Enjoy, the PCT is an amazing trail.

Day-Late



> I was an older newcomer to long distance hiking so I felt I really
> needed to prepare myself for the challenge of the PCT. I did my prep in
> my town over a period of six months. I started with 20 lbs in my pack
> and 40 miles per week. First I increased my pack weight by 10% per week
> until it was 35 lbs. Then I increased my distance by 10% per week until
> it was 80 miles. Each week consisted of hiking on local flat paths and
> roads on Monday, and Wednesday, hills on Tuesday and Thursday, off on
> Friday, a long distance hike on Saturday, and a trail hike with poles on
> Sunday. To help adjust to the weight and distance every 5th week was a
> "recovery" week where I dropped down my weight and distance 30% for just
> that week. About once a month I went to a local park and camped over the
> weekend to shakedown my other gear and to hike on different trails. My
> culmination was a multi-day hike to Big Bend National Park where I
> cached water (required by the rangers) and did the Outer Mountain Loop
> across the desert using all my gear including topo maps and GPS. By the
> time I was done I had hiked over 1600 miles and knew that I was ready
> for the PCT which I completed in 2014 in 144 days (April 16-Sept 6) with
> 7 zeros. This includes all the standard caveats of YMMV and HYOH.
>
> Bri/Tartan
>
>