D - 1 : PCT Eve

In 10 hours I will be walking the PCT, I can't quite believe it. It has been an actioned packed last day, getting all the final jobs done. The first major chore of the day involved sealing my tent. I had my tent sent directly to Scout and Frodo's place as getting it delivered to Paris proved too difficult a task for Chronoposte. Getting it delivered directly to the US meant I put it up for the first time yesterday, a less than ideal situation given I'll be using it pretty much everyday for the next 5 months. It also meant that it was not sealed. When I opened up the box Frodo asked me whether or not it was sealed, a question to which i respond : quoi? Why wouldn't it be sealed, it's a tent! I had no idea what she was on about. It turns though that in the US when you buy a new tent the seals along all the main stitching lines aren't watertight, bizarre or what? I managed to get a lift to a local camping shop and set about making my tent watertight. I hope I did a good job, I don't want to find out 'no' in a couple weeks time in the middle of a thunderstorm. Ah well, nothing I can do about it now, the proof of the sealing will be in the enjoyment of dry gear.

The person who gave me a lift was Scout and Frodo's daughter Nikki. Nikki, untill recently, lived in York, had a boyfriend from Sheffield, was about to move to Manchester, specifically Chorleton, has done the Didsbury dozen, and work in Stockport. This won't mean a great deal to most people reading this blog, but for those for whom it does make sense, the world is small! Very small indeed! Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you imagine what working in Stockport would be like, she encountered some very poor HR people in whichever company she was supposed to be working for, so won't get to enjoy life in that highly sought-after suburb of Manchester.

In addition to the tent sealant, I also managed to buy some cheapy flip flops, and acquire some gortex rain trousers and a ground sheet from the hiker box. Hiker boxes are an Aladdin's cave of hiking food and paraphernalia and exist along the length of the PCT into which which people deposit all their surplus equipment and food, and from which other people like me pick out choice titbits after rummaging through them, as everything in them is fair game. Sometimes they are filled with everything you need for the days ahead, meaning you don't have to come off the trail for an expensive and time consuming resupply, but other times they are filled with the equivalent of the toffee chocolates from a selection box that no-one ever wants to eat.

With those last jobs done I did my final packing and weighed in. Egads! My base weight is 9 kg, I'm carrying 6kgs of food to last me up to Warner Springs 109 miles and 6 days up the trail, and I've decided to take 6kgs of water bringing my 1st day's pack weight to 21kg. EGADS!!! For comparison most others are weighing in at least 3kgs less than me, and sometimes as much as 5. I am going to have to start rethinking my weight. There are a couple reasons why my rucksack is heavier than the norm, I'm carrying food for 6 days, whereas most are resupplying 3 days in reducing their weight by 3kgs (the PCT requires 4000-6000 calories everyday, and ideally this shouldn't weight any more than 1kg, a difficult task given 1kg of pure fat is 9000kgs, it doesn't leave much room for anything else). Most people are also carrying less water, but I've decided I'm going to play it safe tomorrow as it is supposed to be a real scorcher, and i really don't want to run out of water on the first day. I reckon as well that I can reduce my base weight by in the future by swopping my shorts for some more running/gym type shorts, and also by investing in a lighter rainjacket. I reckon in 2 weeks time my average rucksack weight will be 17-18ish kgs, but tomorrow I have to endure the full 21kgs.

Everyone that I mentioned in my last post hit the trail today, so today I've met a whole new group that I'll be starting out with tomorrow, and I haven't remembered oall their names yet, I'll have time to do that in the weeks to come. The aim is to get to Lake Morena, 20ish miles into the trail, a big ask for the first day. After that I plan to do more like 15 for 2 weeks or so, to let the body adjust, but tomorrow will the first of many lot hot days under the californian sun as I head towards to the cooler Sierra Nevada some 700ish miles up the trail. A looooong way.

This will be the last post I make for several days as I don't think I'll have internet connection until I get to Warner Springs next weekend, so wish me luck!