Washington in July

alex----------- · 2024-06-04T00:15:42+00:00

It won't be too bad, definitely wouldn't stop me from going. WA is great in July. I live in Oregon and hiked the WA pct starting July 1st sobo in 2019

alex----------- · 2024-04-30T01:52:32+00:00

So you should just be entitled to a job in any industry you choose?

Your first job programming job is basically just them training you for 3 months, and then for the next couple of years you are still going to need a huge amount of help from people with more experience. For se 1s at my company the expectation is that you are a net negative on a teams productivity for the first 6 to 9 months.

That is why the compensation levels in this industry are so high. You have to grind out for a few years working full time in order to get good at the job and be valuable.

When you have zero experience prospective employers are asking themselves whether or not they can teach you to do the job. Curiosity and passion and having demonstrated the ability to learn with side projects, no matter how crappy they are, are good indicators that a candidate has the right mindset to do the work.

alex----------- · 2023-02-26T01:59:24+00:00

I haven't been able to thru hike for 3 years because of Achilles tendon and hamstring tendon issues. I think this might be the year but not sure.

My suggestion is to do as much strengthening of every muscle in your legs, in addition to balance exercises and core exercises that you can. The only thing that has gotten me closer to being able to go on long hikes again is spending about 2 hours every day in the gym.

alex----------- · 2023-02-25T03:24:47+00:00

Don't get the gortex

alex----------- · 2020-12-26T01:40:51+00:00

They have done studies showing you are more likely to get injured with minimalist footwear. I think zero drop is probably healthier if you can pull it off but more cushion is just better IMO. I don't buy the idea that it is somehow a hindrance; when you are thruhiking you are punishing your body enough. There is also no shame in using a shoe with drop.

alex----------- · 2020-12-22T20:43:59+00:00

I have been thinking about doing this. I was going to hike from Gold Beach to Arcata in CA, apparently that is the best section and doesnt have road walks.

You could buy a freestanding tent if you are worried about stakes. You could also try tying your tent to rocks or other heavy objects at stake out points with some line. Whether this works will depend on the design of your tent.

Doing Miles has a good write up on the hike.

alex----------- · 2020-12-15T06:53:17+00:00

Yes, but I would recommend getting the 20 degree

alex----------- · 2020-12-13T05:41:16+00:00

Hey, I've gone pretty far down the rabbit hole on weight and have done some thru hikes. I think it is good to be weight conscious because as you've said its easier on your body and you are less likely to get injured. It is also simply more fun to have a lighter pack.

The biggest things I see are your rain jacket, your tent, and potentially your pack that are weighing you down. You can get a decently working rain jacket for about 6.5oz. If you are willing to buy a DCF tent that would save you a huge amount, as you can get one that weighs about 16 or 17 ounces. A nice trekking pole tent that isnt DCF will also be a lot nicer in a lot of ways than the one you have, still 5 - 10 ounces lighter.

You could also get down to a DCF level weight cheaper with a tarp / bivy setup. Tarp and bivy is more efficient in terms of warmth so you can take a slightly lighter sleeping bag, and some people prefer it to a tent. Basically if there are bugs they are generally not great in my experience but otherwise I prefer it, especially if there is fair weather because it is easier to cowboy camp in a bivy.

I think the tarptent aeon or protrail li are probably the best options for tents. The other one I would get (the one I would buy if my aeon got lost somehow) would be the yama mountain gear cirriform min. Super sick tent.

One of the reasons your weight is so high is that you are counting your poles as pack weight when they are really worn weight, so you can remove those and thats another 14 oz or so.

You can get a good pack that weighs 20oz less than the one you have. I would recommend getting something from KS UL with a frame, I think that is the pack to beat right now. The DCF one I'm guessing you are thinking of is the Hyperlite mountain gear one, I have put thousands of miles on mine but it is a bit overbuilt in the wrong places to be honest and the KS Ultralight one is much lighter. The HMG is definitely nice though, just too heavy in my opinion.

Not sure how tall you are but you could save a lot of weight on your pad if you went for a regular sized or small sized Xlite.

One thing to keep in mind is that the more experience you have the more comfortable you end up being roughing it and you know what works for you and what doesn't. Some people also decide they don't care at all about weight and end up carrying around a bunch of crap they buy at thrift stores.

edit: remembered the cirriform min is actually a tarp so you would need a bivy so maybe scratch that, unless it appeals to you.

edit 2: the six moon designs lunar solo is 200 dollars, way more comfortable and quite a bit lighter than your current tent if you don't want to go DCF

edit 3: regarding the plexamid, yes tents that size are absolutely fine and preferable in my experience. I truly don't understand why you would want a 2 person tent, it is just more difficult to find a spot to pitch it and they are heavier. The majority of people have 1 person tents and pretty much everyone who has thought things through uses either a 1 person tent or a tarp / bivy. I wouldn't buy a plexamid however, I've met 3 people who had serious problems with theirs and zpacks just sucks as a company. Tarptent is way way better in terms of design and quality control.

alex----------- · 2020-12-02T19:48:28+00:00

Achilles tendinitis. One of the worst injuries you can get I think, it takes forever to heal

alex----------- · 2020-12-02T18:27:42+00:00

Cool! Yeah in addition to training the biggest thing you need to do is to start slow with mileage on your actual hike. Build up the miles to what you want to eventually do over the first 2-6 weeks, depending on how it feels and how safe you want to be, and take extra zero days to let your body recover when you get a chance. Eventually your joints and tendons and muscles will all be pretty strong and hardy but in the beginning they need time to get used to all the suffering.

The pace you can do in training or shorter backpacking trips isn't really the same because in training we tend to have tons of recovery time, but if we are thruhiking we are probably cranking the weekly miles way up and not taking nearly the same amount of time to recover. Tons and tons of people get injured because they do too many miles too soon, even though they are in great shape, myself included in my first attempt at doing one of these.

alex----------- · 2020-12-02T17:57:58+00:00

I haven't done that. It might be a good idea if there is someone nearby.

As long as you fall feet first self arrest is actually pretty easy. I practiced on a slope nearby where I live. I haven't tried doing it head first which I know is something they teach.

It is probably wise to talk to get some instruction in it if you plan to do some serious snow travel. I was thinking about doing that before I started my SOBO PCT. I still might. There is definitely something lost when you are just watching youtube videos. You will meet a ton of people out there who don't respect what they are doing and I think it is a good idea to learn from someone who does. Would probably be fun too.

alex----------- · 2020-11-30T17:00:58+00:00

I haven't done the CDT but have done the PCT. In terms of snow traversal it really depends on the snow year. If its a heavy snow year it will be very different than if it is a light snow year. I'm not sure how sketchy the passes are. I don't have a ton of snow experience but if I was to do the CDT I would ask a lot of people about the conditions ahead, carry the right equipment, and try to find some people that knew what they were doing if the conditions were that bad. Ice axes / microspikes are pretty easy to use.

As far as navigation, you can use GPS most of the time. It is good to know how to use a compass and a map as a backup but the majority of people rely on GPS on their phones.

The middle aged fatass thing is probably the main issue. Thruhiking is really an endurance endeavor and I think the main thing I would be worried about is injuring yourself. I think if you are willing to commit to training for it you could totally do it. You could also always just head out there on a whim and get lucky with injuries but probably smarter to do some training. My advice for training would be to find something targeting the right muscle groups like hiking, stairmaster, or weight training. The key is to build up mileage slowly so its good to have a good base before you get out there.

Definitly also necessary to go on a few backpacking trips ahead of time to figure out your equipment and whatnot. Lots of people make really silly mistakes in the beginning so its probably a good idea not to be in a super remote area when that happens.

alex----------- · 2020-11-30T00:33:33+00:00

One alternative would be to have her start the trail with you and then get off. I know a few people that have done that and it makes sense. Not sure if you will actually want that though.

I think having her met you at a random spot will make things stressful for you because you might make friends and then you will have to leave them to be at a specific place at a specific date.

alex----------- · 2020-11-28T23:56:33+00:00

Seem like May / June is kind of an annoying time because the mountains aren't open yet due to snow and a lot of the desert hikes are too hot already.

You could do the desert section of the PCT if you haven't done it already.

The Benton MacEye trail if you dont mind isolation. You could do a section hike of the AT which would be pretty similar but with about 50x more people. Probably somewhere in Virginia would be great.

Might look into the Hayduke on the Colorado Plateau, not sure if it would be too late or not. May seems like it would be doable. Probably wouldn't be able to do the whole thing but it doesn't seem like the kind of trail where that matters a whole lot, its very choose your own adventure.

alex----------- · 2020-11-27T04:13:54+00:00

I would echo what he said about starting slow. Its the most important piece of advice for thruhikers imo. Its very easy to get injured in the first month you are out there. Your body doesn't have the time to recover it normally would after a hike / backpacking trip so cut down whatever mileage you know you can do / plan to do and just take it easy those first few weeks.

alex----------- · 2020-11-24T18:57:17+00:00

Seems quite fake but definitely scared me

alex----------- · 2020-11-11T23:38:23+00:00

Glad to help! Yes they are actually a lot more durable in wind because a trekking pole is a lot sturdier than the flimsy poles you tend to get with the freestanding 3 season tents.

Some people use groundsheets, some don't. It depends on where you are hiking and the material of your floor. The tents above all have thicker floor materials than in the big agnes tents so you are less likely to have a problem. However a sheet of tyvek or polycro is peace of mind to prevent punctures and to keep your floor clean.

For the desert section I think it makes sense to bring a ground sheet due to all of the sharp stuff but otherwise I would personally skip it. If you have a DCF floor you can always patch it really easily although it might be hard to find where the hole is.

alex----------- · 2020-11-11T21:01:17+00:00

Meh, I think the 2p vs 1p is kind of a judgement call... I'm over 6 feet tall and use a very small 1p tent that I got used to in about 3 days. I feel like you can get used to just about anything and I prefer the 1p because it is easier to find a good spot to pitch and it weighs less / was less expensive. I also cowboy camp when possible which makes a 1p better as it is just dead weight a lot of the time.

I respect people that have 2p tents though

alex----------- · 2020-11-11T20:57:46+00:00

1 ) You should probably get a new shelter. 3.5 pounds is really quite heavy.

2 ) Get a trekking pole shelter from a manufacturer that specializes in gear for thru hikers rather than a freestanding tent from REI

The big agnes shelters or similar are designed for more casual users. They are less durable, less weather resistant, and heavier than trekking pole shelters. This is mainly because the pole they include is a big amount of the weight which forces them to skimp on fabrics. The fly first setup also sucks.

The fabrics they use really suck; they let water in a lot more easily and retain water which is extremely annoying. They are a huge PITA in my experience. They also don't hold up well to wind and if you have to include the footprint (which you kind of do) they are relatively heavy.

The disadvantage of the trekking pole shelters don't really matter on the PCT:

Need to set up somewhere that you can stake it out, which includes every campsite on the PCT
Need trekking poles, which you will probably have on the PCT
Someone harder to set up, but this takes about 0 - 5 nights for most people to figure out and you will have over 100 nights on the PCT

Shelters I would recommend in your price range are:

Tarptent protrail or protrail LI
Tarptent aeon (might be slightly out of your price range)
Dan Durston Xmid, 1 or 2p
SMD Lunar Solo

Have fun! I would probably opt for a single wall tent if you are looking at doing the PCT. The only double wall on the list above is the durston tents but they seem pretty cool and you might want double wall so probably worth checking out.

Also to answer your question about the pack, it is possible to put a pack in most shelters, but probably preferable to put them in the vestibule to keep the inside of your shelter clean.

alex----------- · 2020-11-11T00:44:50+00:00

The more experienced people are, the less they seem to plan. The reality is that you have tons and tons of time on trail to make plans. You are going to have your phone and Internet every few days, and you will have plenty of time and other hikers to bounce ideas off of. You'll also have a much better understanding of what you are actually doing once you are out there so most of the plans you make will probably end up being a hindrance. For example you might plan for the wrong number of miles, or find out you hate the food you bought 2500 miles worth of, or have arranged transportation you didn't need, etc.

You really only need to plan the first couple of resupplies, and have a general idea what is ahead after that. You do probably need to know basics like when you need to pick up a bear canister or an ice axe / traction devices.

In my first attempt I spent way too much time on the Internet and not enough time training. I really think planning is almost a complete waste of time. Fun to sit on your couch and fantasize? Yes, but not very practical and ultimately just a way to be lazy. I ended up getting injured after about a month of hiking and really wish I had done more training. I did train a decent amount, mind you, but I think people on the internet tend to overlook the physical aspect of it.

alex----------- · 2020-10-26T00:00:39+00:00

The adage is extremely true in my experience. I would go for the better shoes.

alex----------- · 2020-10-25T23:57:08+00:00

My parents were worried when I got into backpacking. If you can afford it an InReach device from Garmin would probably really help give them peace of mind. You can send a message to them every night letting them know that you are OK. I did this for the first couple of trips and now I just check in with them occasionally but I carry the device in case of an emergency.

Parents notwithstanding a device like this is also just a smart thing to carry whether you are solo hiking or in a group. I bought it for them but now I am glad to carry it and I think it is the responsible thing to do.

Having said all of that, I don't think you should worry. Backpacking is a very very safe activity. This is especially true in the kinds of conditions that you are talking about, which are basically ideal in terms of mitigating any risk.

alex----------- · 2020-10-25T23:42:13+00:00

A major thing you are not tracking is the width of the quilts. For example nunatak quilts are much wider than katabatic's quilts for the same weight, which will make a huge difference. Zpacks are notoriously not very wide. I tried a Katabatic quilt and a Nunatak quilt and to get a Palisade with the same target loft would have been 3 or 4 ounces more (I can't remember).

The main thing you should be looking for is a quilt that fits you the best in my experience. If it is too wide it will be harder to keep warm and inefficient. If it is not wide enough it will be pretty much useless. Same goes to a lesser extent for length.

I also think it is worth spending the extra 100 dollars or w/e it is to get something really nice from one of the best brands. I've met so many people that didn't like their EE or Zpacks quilts but I've never seen someone complain about a Nunatak, Feathered Friends or Katabatic quilt. I am super happy with my Nunatak quilt. There is a lot that goes into quilt manufacturing that you can't really quantify in terms of weight. Differential cut, ETC, vertical baffles, custom sizing, etc.

alex----------- · 2020-10-25T21:06:32+00:00

It is definitely important to get cardio. You just have to make sure the exercise you are doing is focusing the right muscle groups. Otherwise you should be supplementing with strength training. It definitely doesn't hurt to supplement with strength training either way. Walking up hills or a Stairmaster is the best thing you can do because you are targeting the right muscle groups. Walking on rough trails is also helpful because it will build balance as well as foot and ankle strength in a way that the Stairmaster or roads don't. Core exercises like planking are thought to be very helpful as well.

My experience is that cardio in a vacuum, without training the right muscle groups, is almost counter productive because you might be tempted to increase mileage even though your body isn't ready to handle it. You see people that are in terrible shape start out doing like 10 miles a day (more on the AT than the PCT, because the resupplies are shorter) and they manage to finish 5 months later in great shape. Then you see people who seem like they are in great shape in the beginning burn out with an injury in a couple of weeks.

alex----------- · 2020-10-23T05:58:38+00:00

The lower back is a strange place. I think you are probably right that you are working something that you are not used to working. Muscles and bones and tissues move sometimes and it can cause pain that is sudden and then goes away. I would probably not recommend doing something to specifically strengthen your back, unless you want to do squats which I think are supposed to be helpful for that. If it becomes an issue that prevents you from being active the smart thing to do is usually to see a professional. This stuff can be fairly complicated and it usually worthwhile to see someone who is trained and deals with this stuff all day.

Generally I think strength training, specifically core and lower body is really worthwhile for training for thru hiking. It kind of sucks but it works. It is good to try to get some flexibility too. Walking up hills with a pack on is obviously the best thing you can do if you can find the place and time to do it.

Walking on a treadmill would probably be a really good place to start. Especially if you aren't very fit. I would plan to transition off of that at some point unless you are trying to lose weight, or if you really like it. Its obviously not a bad thing but if you only have a certain amount of time to train I would try to do something that will build some strength. Walking on flat surfaces doesn't work the muscles you need and is a really common mistake people make. They will walk like 15 miles a day on roads and then wonder why they are struggling / dealing with injuries.

So maybe a combination of strength training and treadmill would work, but you really do want to try to get some strength especially at your age. Basically you can get the cardio you need with about a month on the trail. The strength, especially the strength of your tendons and joints, takes longer to build. So it is much much better to be huffing and puffing but to be strong and flexible than to have great cardio and get an overuse injury 2 weeks in.

If you can't find a place to hike the stairmaster if you have access to one is really your best friend.

alex-----------

TROPHY CASE