DAY 8: MILE 82 TO 98

Sunrise after a windy night.  

Today was insane, and last night was insane. We finally decided to get out of the tent around 6am when it got brighter out. I had to go potty real bad and didn't want to go out into the wind storm in the dark. We finally packed up our things in the heavy wind and started walking. The sunrise was probably the best one I've seen since I've been out. We were on ridge walks all morning with 50 mph wind gusts. It was freezing and I felt my skin getting windburn.

Super windy desert slopes.  

For some reason, we didn't see a single person for so long. There were no footprints except for a mountain lion's. It was kind of creepy but we didn't see one. The rest of the day consisted of ridge walks and heavy winds. There was debris blowing into my face and eyes and my backpack strap whipping me in the face. Whenever we rounded a corner, we would almost get blown off the side of the cliff. It was so intense, I cannot even explain. I've never been exposed to that much wind before in my life. We all got pretty annoyed after awhile. We took a good siesta at the water cache since neither of us really slept well the night before.

Siesta at mile 91.  

After a good hour or so, we hiked off again. We weren't sure how long we would go for but we all knew we wanted to not camp in the wind again and to get off the mountain ASAP. We ran into Kristen and ended up waking all the way to mile 98, hoping there was a good space away from the intense wind. We were able to find a small but tight spot to fit all three of our tents. We were all completely exhausted. I felt like I was never going to escape that wind. I wanted to set up somewhere calm because I needed to fix my tent. The guylines were fraying because the rocks were rubbing on them from the other windy night. I just knew my tent wouldn't last another high wind night. Our site was still windy but not nearly as intense as last night, so we were all happy.

I got into my tent and wanted candy so bad so I pulled out some jelly beans from tomorrow's food bag and ate them. So far, jelly beans have been my favorite candy on trail. We each crawled into our tents and decided we will have a chill day tomorrow, which means 11 miles into Warner Springs. I don't want to wake up early and night hike. We will wake naturally and not rush getting up, we all agreed. 2 more miles until the 100 mark. Can't wait.

DAY 7: JULIAN NERO TO MILE 82

Last night, we had heard that Carmen had a pretty rough day yesterday at the restaurant. On top of being slammed at work, there were some hikers who were bathing in the bathroom and leaving a huge mess. All of us went to bed feeling so terrible about it because we were part of the hikers for that day but didn't know who was leaving the mess. We decided we wanted to get her some flowers, a card and give her an extra donation. I feel like as a thru-hiker, we need to be extra respectful to all of our trail angels and the businesses that serve us. They go out of their way to take care of us just because they want to, and I think we should just try our best to show our appreciation for them. 

Hitching with Jackie's sign.  

All the hikers that we shared a room with were so respectful. Everybody pitched in to make the beds, take out the trash and wipe down the bathrooms before we left the room. They are such great examples! I loved getting to know those guys. We each headed out in groups of two to hitch back into Julian. I took out my sign Jackie made me and a pick up truck pulled over to give us a ride. The man driving the truck was named Roger. He lived down the street and was on his way into Julian to have breakfast with his daughter. It turns out he's also really good friends with Carmen and told us that she was maid of honor at their wedding many years ago.

Roger dropped us off in town, and I went to Lani's Flower Shop to find Carmen a bouquet. We all signed a card and headed over to her place. She was brought to tears when we told her that we all loved her. I'm so glad she felt better the next day. She then immediately started making us all breakfast burritos. Carmen is AMAZING. She's like the trail mom of Julian. I ended up sitting by the outlet so that I could finally get some blogs posted. And MAN, I think it took a good 2-3 hours just to transfer text, add images, proofread and schedule all the blog posts. With that being said, I am sure there are a bunch of typos or autocorrects in the previous posts. So sorry! But I don't have much time to proofread and I usually type everything at the end of a long day as a zombie. 

We finished our nero (a day where you only hike a little and rest for most it) and decided to head out around 3pm. We walked to the end of the road to hwy 78 to hitch. Every car seemed to be passing us, then a blue pick up stopped for us. It was a hiker named Brett and who just had lunch with his dad and was heading back to the trailhead. He dropped us off on the PCT, and we were off!

I ended up hiking back up myself and then ran into the Texans. It turns out they go to The Village Church. I had a feeling they were Christians the whole time. I feel like God brings his people together and what are the odds that we all started on the same day and that we were able to connect! I ended up hiking with them. It was getting late so we needed to find a site soon. We passed up a few spots and ended up at around mile 82, but it was super exposed on the side of a ridge. As we were setting up, we could see the dark clouds rolling in fast and the winds were picking up. I was trying to pitch my tent but all the stakes kept pulling out. The wind was SO strong. I'm not even exaggerating. I could not get my tent set up and was so sad. I didn't know what to do. Meg said that I could try to squish into their 2p with them. I gladly accepted because there was no way my tent would hold up in the wind.

We somehow got all of our pads laid down and us to all fit in there. I mean, we were pretty squished but we made it work. The whole time I was thinking how thankful I was that I had shelter with them! I would've been so terrified if I was by myself and my tent had collapsed on me. I would've just laid there until it let up or something. We finally got everything inside the tent and just didn't move. It was too hard to change into my sleeping clothes or eat dinner. But I technically ate a bag of Cheetos for dinner few hours prior to bedtime. We had full service since we were only 5 miles out from the road so we FaceTimed Jenny. It was kind of fun and then we tried to go to bed.

The wind was flapping the rain fly around and pulling on all the walls. I was able to fall asleep a bit but we all got woken up by the 70mph winds a little after midnight. The tent walls were pushing my body into Meg and their heads were getting hit by the walls. It was SO INSANE. I have never been in such wind!! It felt like a scene off from Meru. The huge wind gusts went on all night into morning.

DAY 6: MILE 61.5 TO JULIAN

Last night was so windy. The wind became worse after midnight. We woke a little later at around 4 hoping the wind would die down but probably headed out at around five. The three miles out were all ridge walks with harsh winds. It felt like pins and needles on my legs since I was in shorts. I ran into Nate and Megs on my first break and we finally got to hike a little together.

Walking into desert land. 

When we reached the Rodriguez water tank, I got some water and laid out my tent that was wet from condensation earlier today. Took a good long siesta and decided we could maybe try to make it in to Julian at mile 77. We knocked a good 7 miles from camp and had 9 left. The terrain quickly changed to desert. It became drier, brown and all different sorts of cactus starter appearing. I was bound to see a rattler. Apparently, we just now reached the real desert and it's going to be like this for the next 600 miles. I had no idea. The days are quickly becoming harder, longer and more painful. The desert has literally no shade so when we siesta, we just hide under our umbrellas. I heard it just gets worse in Mohave/Death Valley. Just nothing out there with long water carries.

The long flat stretch to our road crossing to Julian.  

Giant asparagus plants.  

Descending from the mountains, we ran into Eddie from Tri-Cities. He and his wife, Lorrian are hiking together but had to send her ahead to Julian because of a knee injury. He was having issues with his pack and was hurting pretty bad on his hips. There was a long stretch of just flat desert surrounded by giant asparagus to reach the road. There were three men in their 60s from around Encinitas who were on a day hike that offered us a ride to Julian in their large pick up.

The hitch to Julian is 13 miles on a windy mountain road. I felt so car sick because I was so hungry, thirsty, hot and smelly. It was pretty miserable. The 3 men dropped us off at the Julian lodge bed and breakfast. The small touristy town was so cute. We had heard all the lodging would probably be all booked but we had to find out for ourselves. But they were right, no vacancies for the night. All of our shower, laundry and recharging dreams were quickly shot down. So we decided to walk through town to Carmen's. She is a trail angel who owns a restaurant in town who have been graciously letting hikers do laundry and use her backyard for things.

As we were walking through town, all of the well dressed touristy people were staring. I have never felt so out of place. Did I really look like homeless? Was I terribly smelly? I swear I didn't think I smelled that bad. We reached Carmen's and a bunch of hikers were all in the back hanging out and doing town chores. We were welcome by Carmen sitting in the back on her smoke break. She was so sweet and treated us like real people. This has been the first town where people were actually friendly to us and not irritated. I went to the restroom to wash my hands and looked into the mirror for the first time. I had dirt all over my face, no wonder people were staring at me. 

Burrito bigger than my hand.  

It's weird when you get into town because there are a million things on your mind and things you need to get done but not sure where or how to do them. At the same time, you're starving, dirty and want to find an outlet. We started a load of laundry and ordered some food. My burrito was the size of my head, I just couldn't finish it. The rest of our wave were all in town so it was great to see them. We talked to some people and they were able to find an open room three miles out. We decided to split it with some others since we needed a shower bad.

With Nate, Jackie and Meg at Carmen's. We were so happy to reunite. 

There was another man named Odie that was letting hikers camp out on his lawn, so I walked over there with Nate and Meg to check it out. He owned a cute little shop next to his lawn and giant RV and was setting up a campfire for hikers. His grass so lush and green and it was just like Heaven. Nate went and set up their tent and Meg and I walked to the store. The man inside was super friendly as we walked through each aisle searching for possible resupply snacks for Meg. I didn't need anything, I just wanted to see what my options would be in the future.

We all squished into Chrissy's van to the motel.  

At the end of the night, we waited until Chrissy was finished with work. She graciously was giving us all a ride to our motel three miles outside of town. The 8 of us: Kristen, Eddie, Lorian, Rosco, Gary, Domingo, Ryan and I stayed the night in a room and took my first real shower. We were all like sardines in the room. Eddie and Lorian on one bed and I took the other since my sciatica was hurting pretty bad. Before we went to bed, we all talked about how thankful we are for just the small things in life: laundry, shower and pavement. Life is too good to live in luxury all the time. We all got to sleep in comfort for the night, falling asleep to snores, farts and the muted sound of the television. 

Sardines in a room.

DAY 5: LAGUNA CG TO MILE 61.5

Today has officially been my hardest day. With doing 15 miles yesterday and today at 14 with very little recovery time, I am dead. The last .25 mile to our campsite was brutal. My feet and lower back were killing. And we finished the last part in the heat which made it just sluggish.

Steel cut oats for breakfast at sunrise.  

We carried out around 5L for the next 20 mile stretch. There was a water source in between but seemed unreliable with reports of it being green with algae. The morning hike out was so beautiful. We were ridge walking through sunrise and passing through so many mountain ranges. We made our halfway mark around  9am with 7 left. I had noticed something leaking in my pack and what do ya know? My huge thing of water was leaking and it somehow dripped through the cracks to the INSIDE of my trash compactor bag. Therefore, I had to take everything out during our lunch to dry it all out. Thankfully, the sun shines bright for most of the day so I got it dried up pretty quickly.

SO MUCH DIRT.  

The rest of the day was just hiking. Nothing super eventful but the last four miles or so was just brutal. Hiking in the high sun and every mile and step just seemed to be slugging along. We ended up camping up high at mile 61.5. It is SO windy. It was so difficult setting up the tent but it'll be a good test on how the duplex holds up in high wind. It's gonna be a cold night tonight but I don't care. I could not walk another mile. When o was sitting in my tent, I looked at my body and I had dirt caked on so hard. I have never been so dirty before. 

Probably the most scenic campsite so far.

We had a little bit of service out at our site, so I made some Amazon orders from my tent so they can get shipped to Warner Springs. I noticed I was starting to chafe in my thighs and didn't want it to get worse so I order a bigger thing of body glide since the one I have now sucks. I've never changed before in the past so this is all new to me. Sweat, dirt and rubbing is no good.  

DAY 4: CIBBETS TO MT LAGUNA

Last night I met a new friend from Nashville named Kristen who was solo hiking. She was the first solo lady I had met. Unfortunately, her husband was at home but will be her full support team. We immediately bonded and were pretty much gear twins. We decided to hike out super early this morning at 4am. All of the incline felt pretty awesome. We did about 9 miles to Mount Laguna. It was our first trail and we were super stoked!

Seeing the sunrise every morning is amazing. 

As we entered the campground where you exit into Mt. Laguna, I ran into a nice young fellow who asked if my name was Karen. He was an Australian named Lachlan and we were already Instagram friends haha. I really love his photos. There's been so many international hikers out here! From there, we all walked as hiker trash into the town of Mt. Laguna where we stopped at the restaurant in town. I walked in and saw my friends I hadn't seen in a day! Mike/Jackie and Nate/Megan. It's such a great feeling when you start seeing the same people from each wave. I feel like each day there are so many people and we just end up leap frogging each other. We ended up exchanging numbers because that's probably the best way to see where we all are.

Picked up my first resupply and poncho from Zpacks!

I ordered a special $5 hiker frittata and zoned out on my phone checking all my emails and errands. The cafe ended up feeling claustrophobic and I just wanted out. The lady at the counter seemed super irritated that it was hiker season. I did what I could on my phone and charged a bit and walked over to the Lodge Store where my resupply was sent to. There was a line of backpacks and hikers all under the shade of the doorway. I picked up my very package and it felt like home! There were so much good food I had sent myself (for now). I think I ended up sending too much so I threw a few things in the hiker box which looked extremely contaminated. I dare not to dig through there. I also ordered a Zpacks poncho/groundsheet that came in. I noticed that if you don't watch yourself in town, you can easily get sucked into the vortex so it's best to get out quick.

Selfie because I hadn't looked into a mirror in five days.  

​I spread out all my stuff on the ground and organized everything for quite awhile. I finally decided to head out in the heat around 2pm and realized I didn't have my trekking poles. I was pretty sure I left them at the restaurant and thankfully they were still there! I went back and connected on the trail and hiked out 6 more miles until the Laguna Campground. The terrain this day changed SO much. All of a sudden, I was in the mountains and was doing ridge walks. I met a man from Germany named Tusten (sp?) who hiked out to the CG with me. The road walk to the site was TOUGH. Man, today was my longest day so far coming in at 15 miles and my feet were hurting. My lower back also was bugging. I was so ready to just pass out. I don't like arriving to camp so late because I don't have any sunlight to rinse/dry my clothes and do chores. I ate my soaked rice and quinoa and plotted tomorrow's long stretch of no water till mile 68.

Tusten looking out at the view.  

DAY 3: LAKE MORENA TO CIBBETS FLAT

I was wondering when the trail would start feeling real and I would start to getting  emotional. Well, today was that day. Today, Jenny and I parted ways. I packed out super early in the morning and we said our goodbyes. She was going to catch a flight back to Seattle, and I continued on the trail north to my next water source. As I headed out in the dark by moonlight by myself, I could not hold back my tears. I was officially doing this on my own and my best friend who had started this journey with me would not be there with me anymore. We could no longer laugh together at our jokes or take siestas under a tree. I don't usually wear my heart on my sleeve but sometimes it's hard to express what I really feel in the moment.

Bffs at the border.  

Dearest Jenny,

Thank you so much again for coming out to hike out the first 20 with me. It meant so much to me that you would take time out of your busy work week to send me off. I know how insane Pack Animal is right now. It felt so weird to say goodbye to you this morning. As I hiked out this, I was just so thankful for our friendship. We have known each other since we were first newbs in Seattle and have been good friends since. We've gone through so much and have some of the best memories together. You can always make me laugh even when I am discouraged. Even though we are so different, we seem to balance each other well. You're always giving me so much grace even when I'm at my worst. One of the best gifts you could've given to me was taking this trip out with me. I feel like you truly got to experience a taste of what thru-hiking is all about. I am so proud that you did your first 20 mile thru-hike. 10 miles a day is not easy, and you did it just for me. Even though I always over prepare, I always know you can pretty much do anything you set your heart to. I just want you know how grateful I am that we got to start together and that you were able to live out one of my passions with me. One day I hope to do a moto thing for you someday. I love you so much and will miss you this summer! I hope this doesn't sound like a love letter but I just want you to know how I appreciative I am of you! I don't think my life would be the same without you. I bet thru-hiking has already broken your heart as you're back in the city life, so I'm really hoping to see you out here soon again!

Love,

Wang

Watched my first sun rise by myself.  

​I had so many emotions running through my head this morning. I started talking to God and just praised him for everything in my life that has led up to this point. I was shedding more tears of joy and just overwhelmed with what was actually about to happen. I was only on day 3, and everything has been so wonderful. I was thinking that the thing I've been waiting for so long was finally here: I will be camping every night and hiking out each day. Nothing made me happier. My legs felt so good doing the miles and somehow my pain only happens 25% of the day. I watched the sky turn pink at sunrise as I climbed higher and higher over Southern California. The first person I saw this morning was a man named Dave who came up behind me. He asked if I had yellow crocs and sure enough, he had my other shoe that I didn't even know I had dropped! I would've been so sad to lose them; I've had them since high school. What a sweet hiker to pick it up for me and carry extra weight!

Tick central.  

I continued to hike the rest of the day by myself. It was super strange to siesta alone and nobody to talk to. I barely saw anyone the whole day. I crossed so many different terrains though. From desert, to talk grass (tick central), highway crossings, red rocks and ridges. It became pretty exposed for the rest of my hike and I reached the campground at mile 32.6. I did a 12 mile day and felt pretty done. The campground ended up being almost a mile all downhill off trail. I couldn't stop imagining having to walk all the way back up to get back on trail. When I arrived, the place was dead. I barely saw any hikers and ended up taking a siesta on a picnic table. I was so exhausted my eyes could barely stay open.

The trail turned into huge rocks everywhere.  

Some hikers started filtering in but they wanted to go a bit more in for the night. I was a little worried I should go further since we all know the ten miles to Mt. Laguna is all uphill, but I just wanted to chill. I was in no rush and have been enjoying these early morning starts and just resting early when I get to my stopping point. Late afternoon, some very exhausted hikers came in and decided to camp all together. I met a friendly couple named Charlie and Tracy from Alabama who have been taking it chill and have had the best time so far. I love that people decide to thru-hike no matter what stage in life they are at and don't need the best ultralight gear to have a great time.

Our camp tonight gathered several international travelers. A couple from Switzerland and a gal from Poland. The women actually out numbered the men tonight! It's a very rare case. I am going to bed early tonight. I want to make my bed time at around 7p each night. I don't want to set an alarm anymore and will just rely on my natural body clock.  I am definitely the super early morning hiker. I kind of feel like I was born to thru-hike.

As I lay in my tent tonight, surrounded by squashed dead ants, I don't feel super dirty. At each water source, I've been able to wipe down and keep pretty clean. I feel like there's probably a bunch of more bugs all in my backpack that I don't know about. I'm still scared of bugs. 

DAY 2: MILE 11.75 TO LAKE MORENA

We woke at 4am to make an early push out because we knew the climb out of Hauser Creek was going to be tough if we were caught in the sun. Night hiking by moonlight is always so magical. The stars were still out and we saw the moon set over the horizon and sun rise from the east. We saw our first mini tarantula and it was terrifying. The morning light and temperature was just perfection. As we entered into Hauser Creek, it was so beautiful. Tall green grass everywhere aka tick central. We saw a bunch of campers and moved on to start our climb. The incline was long but moderate. I loved it. The rocks started turning red and there were desert flowers everywhere. We were able to climb most of the entire part in the shade, PTL. I can't imagine having to do that part during the hottest part of the day.

I noticed something about my sciatica: for some reason, I feel little to no pain when I have my pack on and am going uphill. But I feel it the worst when I am descending or just walking normal without a pack. It's so interesting that my pain has worked out this way.

We ran into this couple from Texas named Nate and Megs. She had recognized me from the REI blog and also worked for them. And Nate is a photographer/videographer, so we all immediately connected right now. I do think the most exciting part of each day is probably meeting someone or running into someone we've met already. The last two miles into Lake Morena seemed like forever, but we reached the campground at around 11am and it felt awesome. We decided to camp there and wait for AA's that night.

We saw Jackie and Mike over by the bathrooms and they graciously let me use some of their soap for a shower. I paid for my camp site and got some quarters for the shower. $1 for 8 minutes was just what I needed. It's good to know how long I actually need to get rinsed. I had wondered why I was taking a shower at day two already but everyone was doing it so I did too. I rinsed all my clothes and set them to dry all over the pavement.

For the rest the day, we just laid in the shade and chatted with so many different hikers. There were a million bugs on everything and I just couldn't sit still. Like little red chiggers everywhere. We saw our first tick on the trail from Mike and he decided Jenny's trail name was Tick, because she was my tick checker but had no clue what they looked like.

We finally set up our camp. I was socially drained by the afternoon. I hadn't any alone time all day but finally got to just sit in my tent for a bit and now I am writing my blog. I am not sure if I plan to type daily or just write about highlights between each resupply but we shall see.

Campsite at Lake Morena.  

My back was hurting eally bad from walking back and forth so I couldn't work up enough strength to walk into town. So Jenny went in and got herself some shampoo and got me some chips and baby powder. It was just what I needed. I noticed I just hated having damp arm pits and crotch (sorry, TMI). So hopefully this will make me feel better. Tonight is also Jenny's last night on the trail. I am SO proud of her and grateful that she took the time out to hike with me and got to experience first hand what thru-hiking is all about. I think she really enjoyed the whole lifestyle of it all and talking to so many people. Not a lot of friends would sacrifice this for me but she did. I'm hoping she'll want to come out again on the trail this summer and meet up again for a longer section so we can hitch and do towns together.

Amanda and Aubs came out later and we got to hang out and catch them up on our last two days for a little bit before be. Another big day in the morning.

DAY 1: CAMPO TO MILE 11.75

At the Southern Terminus.  

Today is April 18th, 2016 and I started hiking from the Mexico border on the Pacific Crest Trail. The morning of, we woke at 4:30am and drove to Campo, CA from Encinitas. We arrived at the Southern Terminus around 7am to see a large crowd of hikers all taking photos with the monument that have been recently dropped off by Scout and Frodo. We each took our turns with the monument and started walking. Jenny is walking the first 20 miles with me as her first thru-hike for my moral support.

The air was cool at first, but the sun quickly warmed up the sky. The dusty trail rolled up and down around the corners of the hills. The huge group of hikers we saw in the beginning quickly disappeared ahead of us. After just a couple of miles, the sun became harsh so we took a small siesta under the next shade we found. I decided to use my umbrella for the first time to shade myself from the high sun. At around noon, we found another great siesta spot under a large tree and rested for awhile. At every break, we made sure to change our socks and clean/dry our feet. It really made a huge difference on preventing blisters and feet comfort. Your feet are probably the most vital part of your body when hiking, so it's really important to take the time to give them lots of TLC.

The trail became more rolling hills for the rest of the day and the sun just made every step seem even harder. We were only going just a few miles but it just seemed like forever. Our most eventful part of the day was when I walked into a bee swarm. A bunch of bees got trapped under my umbrella and a bee was stuck in my hair and couldn't get it out. It was terrifying and we just had to run through that part. We think Jenny got bit on her ankle by one. The bugs here are no joke. There's always things flying around and things crawling all over the floor.

The trail winds up on top of this hill filled with dried up trees and desert flowers.  

Cold soaked coconut curry rice for dinner. So yummy!  

After mile ten, we knew we wanted to just go a little bit further but before Hauser Creek. It was around 5pm, and I was just exhausted and super sluggish. The sun completely drained my energy and we got started much later than I had hoped. We stumbled upon a little campsite and decided to call it a day. Several hikers passed us by as they were attempting to make it further that night. We questioned if we should had hiked further as well but I knew I was just too tired. I couldn't wait to eat my coconut curry rice for dinner. It was SO good. We met our first friends Mike and Jackie from New York who stopped at our site to eat their Subway dinner with us. They were super friendly and great to talk with. I noticed that the best time to actually chat with people is probably at breaks, water sources or at camp. 

I passed out pretty much immediately around seven and slept so warm.

ENCINITAS, CA

I safely arrived to Southern California Friday night with Jenny. Amanda and Aubrey picked us up from the San Diego airport and brought us back to their precious little home in Encinitas. I don't think I've ever really experienced Southern California before. Life is so different here! I can totally see why people love it. I woke up to so much bright sun and could not stop smiling as we walked through the little beach town. Everything was SO close! There is definitely this super chill vibe where everyone seems to not have jobs and just goes surfing everyday haha. 

Aubrey and Amanda, sisters forever.  

We had breakfast at Better Buzz Coffee and ate the most delicious first meal. We ordered an acai bowl and some avacado toast. Everything tasted so fresh and healthy.

Our yummy breakfast! 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach but DAYUM, it gets hot fast! I was like dying after thirty minutes. I tried to get into the water but the cold made my leg pain and numbness more intensified, so I couldn't get in the whole way. 

Surfer people walking by. I've been living in crocs for the past week, it's been ok. 

The sun really drains you, so it was nice to get a feel of what it's going to be like when we're hiking in the desert. Pretty much the hottest time of the day is 11-3, so if you can try to get most of your hiking done before/after that, it is the most ideal. And you just can siesta in between when you find shade.

We're not in Kansas anymore.  

I have to admit, I've been feeling pretty sad all weekend because I've had bad pains down my leg from just walking around town with no weight. So last night I decided to fill my pack full of the 8L of water, 4 days of food and all of my gear pushing at 37 lb (which is not exactly ideal since my max load for my pack is 35 lb). We walked to the bluff for sunset and to my great surprise, I felt really good. There was just a slight numbing/tingling down my leg but that intense pain was not there. There was still that pinch on my back and felt the pressure of the weight on my lower back but it was bearable. After that, I was starting to regain a little more hope for Monday. 

Walking down the Pacifc Coast Highway in my full thru-hiking ensemble.  

Amanda and Aubs took us to this little lookout over the bluff to see the sunset that overlooked the coast.  

The sunset spot. So amazing.  

The view was so beautiful and the weather was so perfect. My heart and legs were happy.    

Jenny took this pic of me looking out over the Pacific Ocean.  

I am overwhelmed by everyone's support and encouraging words in these last few days. I am so grateful to have so many people cheering me on! Everything still does not feel real to me yet but am starting to get a little nervous knowing tonight is my last night in comfort. But I am so ready to do what I love most: walk forever, live outside and meet likeminded others. But also ready to face a lot of my fears and discomfort in so many different situations. Please continue to keep me in your thoughts and prayers as we head out bright and early tomorrow morning since I will be needing to take many breaks and go slow. 

Life is still so weird right now.  

FINAL DAY IN SEATTLE

It's 5:16am, and I am laying on the floor in my empty apartment in my sleeping bag. This is the first time I am blogging from my iPhone and squarespace app on my phone. I have no clue how these posts will look on desktop, so pardon me if they start looking strange from here on out. I can already tell I will miss typing on a real keyboard. :(

My last night in the duplex. :( 

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I finally finished my resupply last Friday and brought it all over to Jackie's house and gave Nancy a run down on how everything is organized. I did feel that once I got all my boxes out of the house, I was able to breathe again. Then it came down to packing up the house. I thought I didn't own much, but when I was bringing them over to storage, it made me rethink my entire life and why I kept the things that I did. Half of me thought I should've just gotten rid of everything but then starting from square one can be really expensive. :/ Oh well. All is said and done. 

I must mention that for the past two weeks, I've been experiencing some sciatica pain which made me really anxious for awhile. Two weekends ago, I went on a hike to Tunnel Falls in Oregon and I think that's where the pain began. We only went in 8 miles and 8 out and the trail was NOT strenuous at all. In fact, it was the most restful and relaxing trip that I had ever taken in a long time. But I did notice on the hike out, my lower back was hurting a bit but didn't think much of it. The following week, I woke up with some lower back pain on my right side and it went into my glutes and down my leg. The more I googled the symptoms, the more I was freaking myself out. I thought I had a herniated disc. 

Tunnel Falls, where my body was broken.  

The following weekend, I had a friend in town who is a PT and was able to give me an assessment. After talking with her, I was immediately relieved that I was not (that) broken. She gave me a bunch of stretches and exercises to do for the next few days. The pain comes and goes. I typically wake up feeling awesome and by mid day, if I'm moving extra hard, the pain becomes more intense. So I think what had happened was is (did that even make sense?) that my pack was sitting too high on my lower spine and compressing down on it causing a pinch to my nerve which has lead to my sciatica pain. The shooting pain down my leg is what got me worried. But I asked the PCT people if they've dealt with it on trail and a lot of them said they were able to manage the pain with daily stretches at every break along with the morning and evening routines. My PT friend advised me that I was probably okay to start the trail as long as I take breaks every 30-60 minutes and take off my pack. I just need to take it slow and easy. This is a good thing since I decided to shorten my mileage for the first few weeks and I am in no hurry. 

In amidst of all this happening last minute with all my health problems, I feel like God was trying to teach me how important it is to take care of my body, even though I had thought I initially was. I was definitely not putting it a priority and was letting it fall through the cracks. I don't believe it was a sign that he wanted me to not do this, because I do know that this is my calling, but he was trying to help me take care of my body on trail. I would've NEVER thought to stretch as much as I have been nor make flossing a daily routine, but I do it everyday now. I guess you just have to learn the hard way. 

After this week, I was able to see how the pain was with moving all my boxes. It's definitely still there but once it starts getting intense, I stop and stretch for a good bit and it helps alleviate some of that pain. I made the call to move forward with my initial plan to head out and am praying that it will heal on trail. If you know me, I am a person who always wants to be able to do everything on my own. For example, when I move, I try to do everything myself until the last bit where I need an extra hand because something is too heavy and I just cannot do it on my own. It's been a real humbling move this time around. Because my body is broken, I had to ask people several times for help because I couldn't risk injuring myself even more. I've been really overwhelmed with everyone's generosity and grace who have stepped in to help make this trip possible for me. People have come over to bring me boxes, help me pack, buy stuff I was selling, let me store things, borrow things, fix Ellie and even just come to say their final goodbyes. I keep thinking that I am burdening others just so I can go on this (painful) vacation for myself. But at the same time, I know they are happy to help and I need to accept that. 

I said my final goodbyes at my going away party on Saturday and got our nails done with some ladies last night. It was weird to say bye because it didn't feel real yet. I feel like some people won't even notice I'm gone. I'll be back before they know it. It'll be weird to not hang out with my friends this summer and do all the fun things together but I am excited to follow along with everyone back home. So many friends are starting families, getting married, launching start ups and moving. I feel like all our friends are currently in this mid-life stage where a lot of big changes are happening. I will miss everyone but am excited for them to also follow their callings. 

Today, I am dropping off Ellie and it will be my final goodbye to her. She's been having a lot of trouble in the past month and so I've had to drop a good chunk of $$$ on her but I think she is finally running well now and should be ok for the summer. I love her so much. She's taken me on so many adventures and helped me move every single time. I love her shape and how she can fit pretty much all of my belongings in like two trips. I'm glad to be keeping her and that I'll be able to come back to her. Once I turn in my house keys, I will be officially homeless. This is a strange feeling. 

I hope to update one last time in San Diego or maybe after I have officially reached the Southern Terminus. Until then, please keep me in your prayers! Thank you for all the encouragement and support already!!

FUN-EMPLOYED

As of last Friday, I am officially done with work.  For those who don't know, I gave up full time wedding photography 2 years ago and nannied/worked for multiple families, so that I could have a steady income to pay for my living situation and other expenses.  The whole "freelance" thing was becoming too unstable for me and providing a monthly income was always a guess every month.  Plus, rent in Seattle for a 1 bedroom is no joke.  By the grace of God, I've been blessed with some really amazing families.  They each took me into their families/homes and provided me with substantial income that I could live off of and finally be able to buy my own groceries.  Even though I always felt like a total newb in the nanny world, they all trusted me with their children, and I've grown SO much in such a short amount of time.  The craziest part is seeing how much the kids have grown up since I first started.  It's so cool to look back and actually notice the differences and areas they have changed.

I made all the kids take a selfie with me on my last day:

Gianna (7) and Dominic (9).

G is super fun.  She makes me laugh every morning and we are similar in so many ways.  We like to sing in the mornings together and finish each other's sentences.  She loves anything outdoors and being active.  She's currently super into playing crazy 8's and is getting REALLY good at winning.  She loves school and homework, always wants to include all her classmates in everything and be their friends.  D is one of the sweetest boys that I know.  He's obsessed with Minecraft and computers and will no doubt be a computer science guy when he grows up.  He has a really big heart and is sensitive.  He loves anything with trains, light trails and transportation systems.  He's super creative and is always creating his own board games or comic books. He is also an early bird just like me.  :)  He has these little quirks that I adore about him.

D and G made me these super sweet cards.  Yes, they call me KK. :) 

Lucy/Bean (5) and Cora/Grape (6.5).

The Shafers are probably the most special to me because they were the very first family to take me in.  I had not babysat since I was like 15, and they completely trusted me with their children in the summer of 2013.  If it weren't for them, I would've never been able to work for my other families.  Even though I only watched the girls once a week, I became really close to them.  I feel like they were just little babies when I first started watching them.  I could barely understand Lucy's words and Cora had these little baby bangs back in the day.  Even though they have also grown up SO much, they are still the same as when I first met them.  When you first meet Bean, she doesn't like to talk to you and gives you the eyes.  She doesn't really care about what all the other kids are doing, she's always fine doing her own thing.  When you get to know her though, she's super funny and surprisingly chatty.  She's super into pre-k right now and is learning how to read/write so quickly!  Cora is also super funny.  She's growing up into such a big girl so fast.  She loves going on adventures and looking at all the pretty flowers/plants when we go on walks.  She likes to be silly but is also becoming more responsible.  She is really good at math and spelling.  She was telling her 1st grade class about me, and they all want me to come and talk to them about the PCT haha.  Apparently, they had so many questions that Ms. Kauffman couldn't answer.  So I'm going to their class this week to do a little presentation on my trip haha. :)

Tanvi (10) and Shilpa (15).

I technically don't watch Tanvi and Shilpa since they're older, but I do house stuff for their family, and I've gotten to know the girls while I was there.  Tanvi is pretty hilarious, loves music, soccer, and the Seahawks.  She always has high energy and is always creating some type of baking experiment in the kitchen.  She also loves to read books and keeps me up to date on celebrity news.  Shilpa is very quiet and is one of the most mature high schoolers I've ever met.  She values good conversations and friendships.  She is multi-talented and loves art, music and horses.  I feel like we both have similar clothing styles.  Casper is also their new puppy right now, and he's super cute but I am allergic. :(

I am going to try my hardest to remember to write letters to my kids when I have my zeros.  Kids LOVE getting mail, and it'll be super fun for them to see where I'm writing from.  I will miss seeing them so much.  It's going to be SO crazy to see how much they've grown when I get back.

I know this blog is not really PCT related, so most of you won't care about my children, but they're a huge part of my life right now.  It's going be super weird not seeing kids everyday, which wasn't my life at all just a few years ago.  I feel like kids all of a sudden came at me in 2013, and every mom I knew was always texting me to to have their watch their kids and I just couldn't say no haha.  But it has changed my life completely.  I've always loved kids, but I am so much more confident around them and learning how to have authority so they don't walk all over you.

Something I've been thinking about lately is how I am wanting some type of "vacation."  I mean yes, technically I am going on this 5 month vacation where I don't have to work, but it's by far a luxury vacation.  I'm talking like going somewhere where I can just lay around on a big comfy bed, go to spas all day and eat delicious meals.  But no, people choose to make themselves uncomfortable, put their bodies into extreme pain, walk all day, be really dirty and have to work really hard.  It's kind of funny that people think of vacation differently.  Some people choose luxury and some people choose to sleep on the ground.  I've never really taken a luxury vacation before and all my past times I've taken work off is to go walk really far and camp.  Not that I will actually go on some vacation, but something I've just been thinking about.  :)  I am going to get my nails done right before I go though haha.

So I have a very big goal of finishing ALL of resupply by this Friday.  This gives me 5 full days to be done.  Done as in food completely packed, all labels printed and paid for and ready to take over to Nancy's to give her a run down on how to send me boxes.  Since I won't have work to distract me, I am sure hoping I can be super productive and knock it all out before my going away party this weekend!  I need all the prayers I can get this last week and a half!!

RESUPPLY: NO CLUE WHAT I'M DOING

I know it's been close to a month since my last update but honestly, nothing really PCT related has happened.  I just got back from Texas a few days ago for my best friend's wedding in Austin.  I knew that after this trip, it was crunch time: aka, I've got only 5 weeks to get everything packed, sold and moved out.  I'm not a huge procrastinator, but sometimes I don't get motivated to hustle until I know I have a tight deadline.

Plotting all my stops via Yogi and Craig's PCT Planner

The thing that I had been dreading for so long (planning out all my stops), finally had to happen.  Even though PCTers have some of the greatest resources such as a generator that will literally give you an entire overview of all your resupplies that you can stop at, it's all the little details that really overwhelm me.  Things like which towns to buy/mail food to, how many days per box I need, how much food for one day, addresses, post offices, grocery stores, hours of operation, road walks, hitches, water sources, etc...I think you get the idea.  And after that, there's all the unknown detour routes--there's quite a handful of fire closures on the PCT that you have to get around.  BUT, I am happy to report I did finally finish a rough draft of my resupply, so that I could get an idea how many boxes I will be packing.  And the grand total is...18 boxes!

I'm using my living room floor to spread everything out while I put things together.

Not too bad, I think.  I went off three sources for my decisions on where to stop: Yogi's PCT Handbook, Halfway Anywhere's 2015 survey and the list of all resupply points.  I read a lot of mixed opinions on Yogi's book, but I personally found it super helpful.  She gives you all the details on each stop and what to do as you plan.  From there, I calculated how days of food I would need for each box and what size I would need.  Medium flat rate boxes will hold approximately 3-4 days and large is 5-7 (supposedly).  I will ship mainly priority flat rate with the exception of 2 UPS only boxes.  USPS flat rate is highly recommended because you can stuff as much in the box as you can and weight will not change the shipping cost.   You can also forward the box if you don't end up needing it.  Conveniently, you can place an order of however many boxes you need for free and get it shipped right to your house via USPS.  I numbered my boxes, labeled the destination, and put my name on the sides in big letters.  I also added a useless piece of mustache duct tape on the side that didn't have my name...not sure if that would make it stand out at all, but whatevs.

Some pre-marked boxes...some reason I feel like it doesn't stand out much. o_O I need better markers/tape.

After knowing how many boxes I needed, I finally made my grocery list and did my food shopping.  My first stop was WinCo, of course.  If you are not familiar with this place, I suggest you check one out ASAP.  Prepare to have your mind blown.  They are open 24 hours and have the most amazing bulk section.

WinCo has these huge bulk bins of pretty much any dried food you have ever imagined.  And my most favorite: VEGGIE CHIPS!

So many nuts for so cheap.

Spices in BULK!!

So I didn't exactly have a plan of attack on how much food to buy of each thing, but I did go through a bunch of recipes I wanted to try, so I wrote down those ingredients.  Then I literally just threw in whatever I thought I needed into the bags and figured I could come get more as needed.  I am also going gluten/dairy/soy free on trail, mostly.  And then in town, I will probably be a ravenous animal, so who knows if I'll end up sticking to my food allergies.

All gluten free things.  Candy to feed my hungry soul.

I also went to Costco for the things I couldn't find at WinCo.  They actually don't have very much of what I needed, and it's much more expensive, so I would recommend going to WinCo first.  I ordered more specific items online such as raw plant based protein powder, dehydrated coconut milk powder, dehydrated honey powder and a bunch of freeze dried veggies (thanks CQ) that I would be too lazy to dehydrate myself.

I will be using my dehydrator and was gifted a food vacuum sealer by the Shafers!  They've had it sitting in their garage for several years and didn't need it.

I am pretty paranoid about dehydrating meat/fatty things and having it go rancid, so the only meat I'm drying is canned chicken.  Backpacking Chef has great information on all your dehydration needs.  I was talking to Stella this week about that, and she was like "We have a food vacuum sealer we haven't used for years, please take it!"  It was such a huge blessing out of nowhere!  I will be mainly dehydrating rice/quinoa bases.

Pre-cooking the rice/quinoa will help it rehydrate quicker.

Oh, did I also mention that I will probably be going stove less for the first 700 miles through the desert until Kennedy Meadows?  Not necessarily for weight, but because I am lazy when it comes to cooking.  I noticed even when snow camping, firing up a stove and waiting to "cook" is SO much work.  I'd rather just crawl into my sleeping bag and eat my food right away that's ready to eat.

I plan on pre-soaking my food in this peanut butter jar.  Soak dinner at lunch, and next morning's breakfast at bedtime. 

I'm not sure if I'll be craving those warm meals (typically, it's not a big deal for me), so we'll see.  I'm going to be trying out all my recipes cold soaked to see if I can eat it.  I did try cold mashies the other day, and it was terrible.  I think it's because I didn't soak long enough and the texture was bad.  There's a good chance I'll ship my Jetboil to Kennedy Meadows and onward since it'll be a lot colder, but who knows, I might just love not cooking the whole way.

Preparing my pre-cooked organic brown rice and quinoa to be dehydrated for the next 5 hours.

Dehydrating yourself seems like it's a lot of tedious work and it can be, but it's also just waiting around for it to dry.  I would dehydrate my own veggies, but I feel like cutting up all the carrots and junk seem like too much for me, dunno.  I may end up trying it if the packages I bought were too tiny.

Packing snacks into mini baggies was actually kind of fun.  I stopped weighing them after the first bag and just fit whatever I could into that bag size.

I've heard oatmeal sucks almost immediately on the trail.  Oh well, guess I'll have to find out for myself.

Another thing I was concerned about as I was making my batches was how much food to pack per day.  According to Carrot Quinn, she says, "I know that as a woman hiking around 25 miles a day, if my food averages 120 calories an ounce I'll need about 2lbs a day to get the 3500 calories I need- that being said, when I'm at the store yeah, I just buy however much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, the PCT is very forgiving in that you can buy trail food in every town, so if you send yourself not enough you can just buy more."  So instead of calculating every little calorie per serving, I'm just going to pack my main "meals" and throw in whatever snacks into the bag until it weighs about 1.5-2 lbs.  Simple, yeah?  I hope so.  All of the calorie counting in my google docs was making me go cray cray.

Currently what my house looks like: an explosion. 

As of now, I'm taking a food packing break while I wait for my dried veggies come into the mail.  I can't really put together the recipes without those ingredients, so it's just going to be on hold until then.  I guess I could probably pack some more snack bags, but if I can get into a groove, it's usually more productive.  So that's kind of it for the very beginning stages of my resupply.  Not clue what I'm doing here, but I can't help worrying I won't have enough food if I decide to take it "easy" on a day.  I know everyone says to not over plan and it'll just work out, but it's hard to imagine having enough food if I suddenly decide I want to do shorter days or something.

John Z is a long-distance hiker gifted with storytelling via his vlogs.

In other news, I met up with John Z this week and did a little video interview with him.  I was thoroughly impressed with all of his recent adventures, and we spent a good deal of our time chatting and sharing our stories.  When he first thru-hiked the PCT, he had cycled to the Mexican border from Canada, and then started the PCT immediately after.  Then this past year he had hiked the CDT and went on to do the AT right after.  Insane in the membrane, I know.  He also is super passionate about sharing his adventures and storytelling through his videos.  They are all beautifully edited and features some of his own music.  Take a look at his videos, and he's in the process of finishing his AT ones.  I'm excited to continue meeting other thru-hikers, it's been really fun getting connected with all these different types of people.

WUT.

If you haven't heard yet, it's El Nino year, so everyone is freaking out about the Sierras and all the possible snow pack waiting for them when they arrive at KM.  California is about to receive over 100 inches of snow in these next few days.  It's great for all the water sources but a little scary if there is a ton of snow when hikers are crossing through all the passes.  I'm not super worried since I've done a handful amount of snow travel in Washington, but I would be terrified in a white out where I would need to route find.  So today I had a friend give me a crash course on map & compass/self arrest over at Snoqualmie Pass.  

What exactly is self-arrest?  Watch this video below.  Thanks Jeff.

The snow we practiced on was super fresh, so it wasn't the best of conditions, but I think I got the picture.  It's a LOT harder than watching videos, I promise.  I'm pretty sure if I ever slipped and had to self arrest, I would fall to my death or impale myself with the axe.  Let's just hope nobody would have to come to the point of self arresting.  Small, slow, easy steps, plz.  

Left: NOT the correct way to self arrest.  Right: The correct way to fall.

I hope the massive amount of photos in this post makes up for the last month I had no updates.  I am officially down to 4 weeks until departure.  I feel like I still have SO much to do.  Money has been coming out of the wazoo lately.  Been dropping hundreds on car maintenance, allergy tests, dentist/doctor appointments, resupply food, etc.  I feel like it's all coming at me now.  I also found out I won't be able to pro-rate my last month's rent.  :(  So it's like $500+ thrown away for half of the month I won't be here.  Such a bummer.  I don't feel like it's hit me that it's really happening yet.  Maybe because I'm distracted by all the busy stuff I'm trying to sort out before I go, but I hear it doesn't really hit you until you're driving up to the border.  Also, change of plans to San Diego.  We gave up our spots at Scout and Frodo's because we had a friend offer to drive us instead.  Though I would've loved to meet them, I didn't want to take up a spot for someone who doesn't have family/friends in the area and really needed a ride.  

Life is weird right now.

IT'S OFFICIAL!

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Sorry, blurred out confidential info.

All of us little thru-hikers have been eagerly waiting for the approval of our long-distance permit this week.  I am happy to announce that I was approved for my April 18th start date!  I can't even begin to tell you how many people keep asking when I'm leaving, and I usually reply, "April something."  So yes!  I can finally say the eighteenth now.  Things are starting to get more real, and I can begin nailing down specific logistics on coordinating things regarding my resupply and San Diego options.  I'm looking at flights right now to buy a one way ticket to SD for Jenny and myself!  I'm also discovering that there are specific ways to bring all your gear through airport security.  So crazy, all these little details you have to think about before you can just head off.  We can't check in trekking poles and multi-tools through carry-on, so I think I'm going to be booking via Southwest for a free checked baggage and keep those items separate and buy my fuel when I get there.

Scout and Frodo are legendary thru-hikers/trail angels who have hosted hikers in San Diego for the past 10 years.  Their generosity and hospitality is over and beyond.  They will pick you up from the airport, take you to their home for a communal dinner, let you spend the night, feed you breakfast and take you to the Southern Terminus early in the morning!  Unbelievable.  Each night, they will typically host 5-25 hikers during the season.  They won't even take donations but will encourage hikers to join PCTA or buy Scout's book when it is published.  Words can't describe how appreciative all of the hikers are for them!  I am looking forward to meeting them to start off my journey.

We also learned that ADZPCTKO (Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off) will not be taking place this year.  The event is an annual kick off party that gathers PCT thru-hikers held at Lake Morena.  Most people have already started their hike by the time the kick off takes place, so hikers will hitch back to the event and then hitch back to where they left off on the trail.  It's a place where all the hikers can meet each other, learn from one another and visit vendors.  I've also heard it's just a giant party, but I mainly wanted to go so that I could meet Team ZPacks!  I am currently talking with them about joining them as an ambassador on their team and was looking forward to finally meeting them face to face!  Sooo maybe not this year, but maybe if I ever make a trip down to Florida!

Slowly getting rid of stuff to create more floor space so I can lay out gear/resupply boxes

I finally got rid of my couch and most living space things this week.  I was a little sad to part ways with them but am happy most of the things have been passed down to families that I know!  My next step is to finalize my route/stops to calculate how many boxes I will be shipping out.  I also plan on looking up some recipes and will start dehydrating come next week.

I will check in again with everyone soon and let you know how the resupply process is going!  EEEP!

GEAR LIST

This week I've been trying to scramble to get my gear list ready to be "presentable."  I had most of my stuff already and was just waiting on some last small items--mainly consumables and first aid kit type things.  Obviously, I have some things not measured, but this gives me a good idea of what my pack will be looking like.

Weighing a pair of running shorts on a food scale, using a mixing bowl to tare--a whopping 3.25 ounces.

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View my full list via lighterpack.com (much more organized and pleasing to the eye).

PACKING:

• ULA Circuit lined w/trash compactor bag

SHELTER:

• Zpacks Duplex w/stuff sack
• Zpacks 6.5" titanium stakes w/stuff sack
• GossamerGear Polycryo groundsheet

SLEEPING:

• Zpacks 10 degree down bag, reg width/length
• Zpacks ultralight goose down hood
• Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite, small w/stuff sack
• Sea to Summit 8L Ultra-Sil dry sack
• GossamerGear Thinlight Foam Pad - 1/8"

COOKING:

• Jetboil Sol aluminum
• Snow Peak titanium spork
• Zpacks cuben fiber 12.3L Blast food bag
• Opsack

HYDRATION:

• Sawyer Squeeze
• Smartwater 1L x 2
• Evernew 2L x 2

CLOTHING PACKED:

• Filson midweight merino wool long sleeve
• Icebreaker Oasis 200 lightweight merino wool leggings
• Injinji toe socks
• Darn Tough ankle socks
• Mountain Hardwear Plasmic Outdry gloves
• Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer no hood
• Smartwool Micro 150 tank top
• Patagonia underwear
• Rain Shell
• Icebreaker Sprite merino wool bra
• American Apparel acrylic beanie
• Zpacks cuben fiber stuff sack

SURVIVAL & TOOLS:

• Swiss Army Classic pocket knife
• First Aid - dental floss, bandaids, ibuprofen, triple antibiotic ointment, moleskin, bic lighter
• Repair Kit - cuben fiber tape, thermarest repair, tenacious tape, needle
• mini nail clipper
• Supplements - multi-vitamin, electrolyte

HYGIENE:

• Zpacks ultralight travel toothbrush
• Eucerin healing creme in contact lens case
• Aveeno Baby SPF 55 in contact lens case
• 1 oz Nalgene bottle hand sanitizer
• Deuce of Spades trowel
• TP, Diva Cup
• 1 bandana, 1 pee rag

TECHNOLOGY:

• iPhone 6 w/case
• Moment lens wide
• Moment lens tele
• Petzl Tikka XP 2 headlamp
• Anker 10000mAh portable external battery w/cord
• Dual USB charger for iPhone w/long cord
• Sony earbuds

OTHER:

• Wallet - ID, 1 credit, 1 debit, health insurance card
• Fake Ray-Bans
• Sea to Summit head net
• Liteflex chrome umbrella
• Chapstick

WORN:

• ExOfficio Super Dryflylite Shirt UPF 30 long sleeve shirt
• Brooks Epiphany III running shorts
• Smartwool PhD seamless strap wool bra
• Patagonia underwear
• Altra Lone Peak 2 trail runners w/Superfeet insoles
• Bearded Bros cap
• Injinji toe socks
• REI Traverse Powerlock trekking poles
• Original Buff
• Dirty Girl Gaiters

TOTAL BASE WEIGHT (minus food, water, fuel) = 12.4lbs

You can view my gear list here in full.  It's much easier to read there--I couldn't get the list to embed in my blog.  I will also be updating that list to my most current gear as I finalize the rest.  

But yep, that's it!  I've compiled all the things from various blogs and people's suggestions, but mainly from Carrot Quinn because she's my hero.  I will most likely have some tweaks here and there before I leave, but I wanted to make sure my base weight was under 15lbs.  So yes!  I'm pretty stoked that it is.  I may throw in some extra luxury items or extra layers once I get my consumables weighed out.  But don't forget, I'm going to be carrying a week's worth of food and water, so my total pack weight will actually range from 30-35lbs.  I've read you can carry up to 4L of water at a time throughout the desert, yikes.

And yes, there is no sign of a DSLR.  There's just no way I can carry 5-6lbs of camera gear and have to worry about batteries/charging.  This number is insane because as you can see, my camera gear would literally be the same weight as my big 3--that would not be wise to bring it with me.  It's SO hard to focus on miles when you're trying to take photos and have a heavy ass camera digging into your shoulder/collarbone.  And I'll probably be way too exhausted to wake up in the middle of the night to take star photos, so the tripod I'd be carrying around would just be dead weight.  It is sad to leave the big ole cam, but I know I'll be complaining how annoying it is.  The only thing I may do is ship it to the Sierras or Crater Lake.  Plus, iPhone takes great photos, so it'll be fine.

Today, it was also announced that the long distance permits will be open on Feb. 1st.  So come Monday, I will finally be able to apply for a permit/official start date!  And then I can buy my one way ticket to San Diego.  I feel like once I secure a start date, I can get the ball rolling more on my schedule and resupply.  Hopefully the next time I write, I will have a date, but it might take a few weeks to process.  I am learning there is so much patience to be had in this whole process.  It's especially hard when you're mentally ready to go, but not necessarily physically ready.

FEARS ABOUT THE TRAIL

Today, I wanted to share my fears about the trail.  Yes, I do get asked those same questions all the time: "Are you going to carry a gun?" "What if a bear attacks you?" "Are you starting alone?"  And yes, I am terrified of all those things, but no, I will not carry a gun.  I thought it might be interesting to list all my fears here now and see how I feel about them at the end of my trip.  I know some of these may seem a little ridiculous or stupid, but hey, these are just what I fear.  I can't help it.

1.  BUGS

From upper left corner: black widow, scorpion, tick, fire ant, mosquito

This might be silly, but all my life, I have feared all types of bugs.  I apologize for these gross pics in your inbox, but that's exactly why I fear them.  You're lucky I didn't post the ones of them on someone's skin--I suggest you probably don't google search those images.  First of all, a black widow.  I've never encountered one before and don't really know anything about them, but any spider that is poisonous pretty much terrifies me.  Second, I've never seen a scorpion before, but damn those claws look deadly.  Third, THE TICK.  I'm pretty sure everyone fears the tick and would rather not let these things burrow their heads into your skin and suck out all the blood from your body and puff up into a gross looking bubble filled with your blood.  But worst of all, they carry Lyme Disease.  No further explanation needed.  Fourth, I've grown up with fire ants in Texas, but I just still hate ants in general.  I hate how they travel in huge packs and can crawl so fast onto your body before you have time to flick them off.  And lastly, not just any mosquito, but a swarm of them.  I've heard they can get pretty bad, so I'll be looking forward to using my first mosquito head net when I face my mosquito fear.

2.  RODENTS

Rodent infestation.

I've been hearing so many stories of the rodent infestation in Washington.  The thought of them crawling on my tent or getting inside and picking at my hair/crawling on my body is quite frightening.  And then the thought of people who get used to them being around all the time and just brush them off with their hands is also unfathomable to me right now.

3.  ODORS

Odors, it's a legitimate fear, ya'll.

This is probably the lamest of all my fears, but all my life, I've literally had a fear of odors.  But what kind of odors you ask?  Particularly the gross, sour, rotten, foul, smelly odors.  This can range from armpit odor, to foot odor, to sweaty clothes and even that mildew odor.  Is this weird?  Maybe.  Let me give you a little Asian history lesson.  East Asians are born with fewer apocrine sweat glands than westerners--these are the glands that make you smell.  It's not that we don't sweat, we just don't carry as much of the smelly glands as others do.  Yes, I sometimes do smell in my pits, but it's typically only if I'm somewhere super hot for a long period of time.  I used to always wear deodorant in Texas, but when I moved to the northwest, I stopped wearing deodorant because I barely sweat up here.  And when I do, it's rare that I smell like BO.  I also hate the smell of foot odor.  It's NASTY.  My feet almost never smell for some reason.  But I had this terrible memory in college when my dorm mate came home one day from class, she took off her shoes in our tiny 7x7 room, and my nose literally started burning from the toxins released from her sweaty feet.  I almost passed out and had to run out of the room.  My life has never been the same.  I also cannot stand the smell of wet clothes or laundry that has been sitting in the washer that wasn't thrown in the dryer.  My nose is just VERY sensitive and I can't stand odors. I am officially ready to become immune to my own foul body odor.

4.  THUNDER/LIGHTNING STORMS

Photo from Google Images.

No explanation here really.  Who wouldn't be terrified of being stuck on a ridge during a storm?

KIND OF FEARS:

4.  GETTING LOST

I have zero map and compass navigational skills.

Since I lack any navigational skills, one of my biggest fears is also not knowing where I am.  However, Halfmile, has some pretty good maps/apps for hikers that I feel ok about it.  But maybe if my phone dies, the GPS won't work, so then I'd be pretty effed.  You can never rely on technology, so I should maybe look into learning how to read a map and compass.

5.  ANIMALS

Left: Mountain lion, Right: A bear patiently waiting for some dinner when I approach camp

My animal fear has gone down quite a whole lot over the last year.  Maybe it's because I finally saw my first bear last summer or just getting out on my own more and realizing that animals are more afraid of you than you are of them.  But I have yet to run into an animal that's right on the trail in front of me, yikes.  I figured I'll deal with it when I get to Kennedy Meadows.

6.  RIVER CROSSINGS

Some intense river crossings.

I have read that there are some pretty gnarly river crossings on the trail, quite dangerous ones actually.  For some reason I am not as worried about them as I am about the bugs, but I'll make sure to always cross with people or something.

7.  RATTLESNAKES

Rattlesnake in the desert, waiting to take a bite with dat nasty tongue.

I feel like I should be more afraid of rattlesnakes, but I think because I've never been around one, I don't really know what I'm in store for.  Or maybe because I just hate bugs more.

And I think that's actually it.  You can say some of these are quite irrational, but I have no shame here.  It'll be interesting to see how most of these things will become the norm within just a few weeks: sleeping with rats on my head, constantly checking my body for ticks and ripping them right off when I do, learning how to take cover during a storm, all while smelling like a huge walking armpit. 

OVERWHELMED WITH GRATITUDE

Wow, ya'll.  This week has been filled with so much gratitude.  I am overwhelmed with all the support and kind words everyone has shared with me! I was a little hesitant on sharing so much, but it's evident that God wanted me to testify His grace and goodness in my life.  My last blog post was just a small bit of me, but I am so grateful on how many people were encouraged by it!  I was literally shocked by the response I received, and so thankful that some of ya'll took the time to read through the whole thing...thank you!  Especially those who also sent me a text or comment about it.  I didn't realize Squarespace made you login an account in order to comment, so I apologize to those who wrote a long comment and it didn't save!  :(  I think I fixed it now though.  But my mom was one of them that wrote something and couldn't get it to post but wrote:

"This is your mom...it is so touch my heart...after I read the words and lots of precious pictures...I now know you are not a baby girl anymore...you grew up yourself with intelligent young lady....very bright...very brave...very independent...very mature...you are not my baby girl anymore..like you said I didn't give you much when you were little...but you grew up so intelligent...you know what you want in life...you are so brave..you want to experience the outdoor activities...nature beauty in the woods....you are so enjoying the valuable / nature lifestyle ....I now truly understand you...we all believing God...Trusting on him...only God will help us through all the difficulty...mommy love you so much...and will always give you 100% support...May God stay with you from the begging to the end...he will send Angels on your shoulders.... even you don't see him.. Every step he is with you.....towards the successful ending..."

I don't know what the deal is, but I feel like I know so many parents who like to use a bunch of "...." when they type, so I left the text in all its authenticity, grammar errors and all.  I shared what she wrote with some folks who know her and were all brought to tears.  Just to know how much she's been through, it was so sweet to read that from her.  Asians aren't exactly the most affectionate to each other.  We never grew up saying "I love you" or give hugs really, so we've come a long way since then.  It also gave me a sense of peace that she understands why I'm doing this now.  When I first told her about it over Thanksgiving, she just didn't get it and asked why I couldn't just go find a real job.  But she's always wanted me to do what makes me happy, so she was supportive.  Both of us started following Jesus around the same time, and it's encouraging to know that we both trust God in our lives now.

But in other news, besides being so busy with trying to finish that blog post (it took me like a whole week to write out), it's been an encouraging but also hard week.  Hearing some unfortunate news about some different people I know had been on my mind as of late.  They are currently in my thoughts and am reminded that life is precious.

Last week, I finally was able to go real snow camping.  I knew I had to get in at least one snow camp trip before I started really training on the weekends.  We went to Artist Point at Mount Baker, and it was the most majestic.  We had a super rad group of friends and had so much fun.  I'm trying to get away all winter without ever using snowshoes, and I think I would've been totally fine if we hadn't misrouted.  By the time we realized we were going the wrong way, it was starting to get dark, and I had used up most of my physical exertion. 

If you see this view, then you are NOT en route to Artist Point.

I definitely was the last of the group the entire time, but the others wanted to help me out because we had to climb up this STEEP ass ridge after getting back on route.  Well, we made a shortcut and thought we could make up steep snowy powpow before dark.  Amber ended up taking my 800lb pack, and Mike took her's (so yes, he was carrying 2 packs haha).  

Amber being a boss and carrying up my pack.

As we started climbing, and even though I didn't have a pack on, we were all post holing and sliding right down.  Even the others with snowshoes on were having trouble.  I mean, I was barely making it up and didn't even have my own pack on haha.  It took us FOREVER to finally get up the ridge, and the sky was turning colors and glowing over the ranges.  Amber had such a tough time getting up because she was carrying my heavy ass pack, and her snowshoes weren't even working anymore.  Everyone was pretty much a beast for getting up.  I think we all had thoughts of turning around to just get back on the normal trail, but we were SO close that we just HAD make it up.  I was seriously dead from exhaustion.

Check out that incline, Elise is literally on all fours trying to get up!

When we finally made it up, we weren't even at Artist Point yet.  It was already dark, but I just knew we had keep climbing till we reached it.  I was determined to sleep above the trees with Shuksan/Baker views.  Everyone agreed and we followed the snow packed path until we "thought" we were there.  Doing snow things in the dark is kind of fun, but next time I'll make sure I actually have my headlamp.  We were trying to find a good spot to set up camp, and there was this mini hill that I wanted to check out.  I ended up climbing up there and knew it was the perfect spot.  I made everyone do their last climb for the night, and we all agreed it'd be a good spot for sunrise.  It was exposed, so I was a little worried about the wind throughout the night, but I knew it would be worth the view in the morning.  All of us were way too tired to fire up the stove for a legit dinner, so we ate some frozen bars and called it a night around 6pm.

Mt. Shuksan at around midnight

I got up at 11pm and shot till around midnight.  It was cold but not the worst I've ever been in.  It was surprisingly calm and peaceful out there.  I noticed the sky was a little bit more interesting facing Baker--there was some light pollution on that side.  I don't know what the deal was, but even though it was a new moon that night, for reason I didn't get a clear view of the Milky Way.  I don't really understand the night sky; I am clearly no expert.

Mount Baker and lots of light pollution.

 I thought my night pics were pretty mediocre--there just wasn't much to work with.  And all my glow tent ones were okay.  My ideal shot would've been taken at a higher angle so you can see more of the Shuksan range, and the glow of the tent could've been more even, but I did get a cool meteor in it.

Glow tent pic with Shuksan in the background.

Aaron generously let me borrow his 4 season tent for this trip.  We were debating on taking either this Mountain Hardwear one or the Black Diamond I used all last summer, and I'm SO glad I ended up taking this one.  It was heavier, but it photographs much better.  We're all about what looks good, you know?  MH even picked it up on their Instagram.  It's just kinda funny because I think I could've gotten a better pic if I would've spent more time on it, but glow tent pics are always hit or miss.  They are so tricky.

The view outside outside our window.

Waking up was INCREDIBLE.  I have never seen the things that I saw.  We had 360 views of Baker, Shuksan and all the ranges.  Our shoes and water were all frozen over, but we saw the most beautiful sunrise and color in the sky.  Absolutely gorgeous.

Mount Baker at sunrise.

I barely ate breakfast because I was so excited and running around taking a million photos.  The sun finally peaked over the Shuksan range and warmed us up.  The sun had never felt so good.  We hung out for a bit and packed up--it was so hard to leave our beautiful spot!  I think it took us only like 30 minutes to get down haha.  Probably because we were actually on the right trail, and it was downhill.  The weather was spectacular that weekend.  Even though I normally love clouds, I think having that clear of a sky up there made it that much more amazing.  What an epic trip with some amazing people.

Mike taking a potty break with the most spectacular view

This week I also met up with some ladies who have hiked the PCT in the previous years.  I got some good insight and listened to some stories.  My fears are still the same, but I am ready to face them.  I'm also kind of rethinking my resupply strategy.  I want to eat well and would rather not fuel my body on Chips Ahoy or Pop Tarts, but sometimes at these gas stations, it's all they have.  I think I'm going to be looking into some better dehydrated meals again.  I decided mid February is when I will start downsizing my house (getting rid of big things in the living room, start boxing up things, purging my closet, etc).  That way, I'll have some nice space in my living room to sort all my gear/resupply.

Until next time!

WHY AM I HIKING THE PCT?

I figured maybe some of you might be wondering why I want to hike the Pacific Crest Trail?  Is it because I've grown up camping and hiking my whole life?  Is it because I don't want to get a real job?  Is it because of Reese/Cheryl?  Or is it because I'm looking for a way to escape real life?  Don't mind me if we get a little personal here.

Left: Me sitting on a Honda in Taiwan, Right: My only exposure to the outdoors as a child

First of all, let me give you a background on my little life.  I was born in Massachusetts, November of 1986.  I never grew up doing "outdoor" activities (like camping, hiking, climbing etc).  I mean, we played outside, rode bikes and went places, but that was it.  Both of my parents are from Taiwan and immigrated to the states before they had my sister and I.  I've been to Taiwan a few times when I was little, but I can barely remember a thing.  I'd love to revisit though.

Left: I'm in the red with my sister--I've always been into snacks, Right: Mom, sister (hiding), me and my daddio

I have to say, I do feel like most of my childhood was a blur.  We didn't grow up in a normal family household, but who's actually normal these days?  There was a lot of conflict between my mom and my dad's side of the family (they all lived in MA), so we technically lived life as both of my parents were "separated."  I think divorce is looked down upon in the Asian world, and my mother desperately wanted out.  My dad's side of the family lived in Burlington, and my mom was in Lexington.  We would go back and forth between homes as if they were divorced; I don't think I really understood what the deal was as a child.  I felt like we were kept in the dark with all the family drama, and honestly, I still don't really know the deets to this day.  All I can say though is that my mom has always worked her bum off to support my sister and I.  I finally got to hear some of her story this past Thanksgiving--she is a warrior.

In 1995, when I was 8 year old, my father passed away.  He had been sick for awhile, but I never really knew from what.  I recently found out that he was diagnosed with Hepatitis B (I guess back in the day, they didn't have the vaccines for it).  He had gone through a liver transplant, but his body ended up rejecting the liver and that ultimately caused his death.  I was so young and barely understood what happened--I think I was numb to the whole situation.  I don't remember feeling any emotion at his funeral.  After that, my mom pretty much took us girls and left the great colonial state of MA, there was nothing left there for her anymore.

This is a Texas flag.

That brought us to Texas.  My mom's older sister was living in Houston, and it was a good place for her to escape since she had family there.  From there, I feel like that's where I gained most of my independence.  My mother was now a widowed single mom.  She had to work nights, so she could make more money to support us.  My mom was not really around during my childhood, so my sister and I basically raised ourselves.  Even though my mom was not present, she kept a roof over our head, put "food" on the table, and cared for us so much.  I think the Asian love language is through financial support, and that's how she showed it.  I felt like when we moved to Texas, we were finally free.  Free from the abuse, free from the "prison-like" home in MA, and free from family obligations.  But we never had any sort of rules as kids.  She never told us to do our homework, study, apply for college, etc., and we had no curfew.  My sister and I were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted, but I think I can say that we turned out just fine.  Sometimes the "hands off" approach in parenting isn't so bad after all.

Taking Back Sunday // Northstar, probably somewhere around 2002-03

From Junior High to High School, life was pretty mediocre.  I never participated in sports, clubs or fun things.  I basically had no hobbies, but I wasn't a loner or anything.  I had friends from all different "groups" at school, I felt like I got along with all of them for some reason.  But I mean, I also had no clue what real "friends" were either.  My friends were always disposable to me, if they had wronged me in any way, I would drop them like flies.  In my sophomore year of high school, I got really into the punk rock/pop-punk/screamo scene and going to shows.  Music was my idol, but it was probably some of the best times of my life as a kid.  I would go to shows on school nights, mosh a bit, scream my lungs out to the words of my favorite band's songs, take photos and meet some amazing people.  Sometimes I would want to see a band multiple times that I would drive to Austin or San Antonio (around a 3 hour drive from Houston) after school, see that show, rock out, drive back home that same night, sleep for like 3 hours and wake up for school the next morning.  But remember, we had no curfew/rules, so my mom had no clue we were doing this.  Not that we were hiding anything, it's just what we did (whatever the hell we wanted).  Also, shooting live shows was where my photography began.  I would just use disposable cameras or my 35mm SLR, and I had a ton of fun.  I spent SO much money on film/printing back in the day, but it was my new hobby.  

Circa Survive, 2004

After graduating high school, I moved to San Marcos, TX where I attended Texas State University.  I declared my major in Business Administration in Accounting because well, what else do you choose as an 18 year old right out of high school?  All the other Asians were doing it, so I thought it was the most logical thing to do--choose a major with numbers (though accounting is technically more rules and ethics) because I might be good at it.  Like most average kids, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life at that age.  I wasn't the computer or nurse kid, so I was clueless on what major to choose.  In college is where I learned to study for the first time.  I discovered in order to get good grades on exams, you had to actually read the textbooks (I promise I'm Asian, okay?).  I excelled all four years in college, made Dean's List every semester except one (got my first and only C and was so bummed haha) and graduated Cum Laude.  This was a big deal to me, because in high school, I just didn't care about studying/making good grades even though math came naturally to me.  I was just the average kid trying to get by.  I also picked up photojournalism during this time.  I was a photographer for our newspaper for a few years and became Photo Editor my senior year.  I feel like that's when I really grew my passion for real photographs of real people.  None of dat posey fake over edited shit.

One of my photos printed for our newspaper, March 2008

So where does Seattle come in?  Well, I planned a little trip to visit Seattle my last year of college (mainly because I was working at Seattle's Best Coffee in our college town), and I loved looking at all of the pictures of the city we had up in the shop haha.  It was literally that famous coffee cup photo with the public market sign that drew me in.  So I was like, "I have to go to this place that's covering all of our walls," and then BAM.  I made the decision that I should move there after I graduate, whether I had a job or not.  I sold all of my things, packed Ellie (my trusty little Honda Element) to the rim and drove her across the country to the northwest from the lone star state.  All 2,181 miles, and we knocked it out in 3 days. It's not super easy to get a job in a new city with no one you know, especially if you have a super basic degree like a BBA in Marketing (btw I changed majors my junior year).  Also, the recession was still going on in 2009, so like most other recent grads, I ended up working as a barista at Starbucks.  Did I really spend 4 years of my life working my bum off in college just to come back to the same job I had when I was in high school?  Yep.  I didn't know a single person in the city, so I had to find a place to live off of craigslist, but that ended up going down the crapper.  That's a whole other story that I won't get into.

A photo from my first Seattle visit, November 2008

Enter Jesus, the One Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega.  I spent most of my life growing up in the Bible Belt where everyone is a "Christian," but all of those "churchy" kids were just a bunch of hypocrites to me--I had no interest.  I had no clue who Jesus was, what the bible was about; I didn't care.  I never rejected it or anything, it was just never on my radar--there were other more important things in life than some dude and church songs that I didn't understand the words to.  I feel like a bunch of different things happened in my senior year of college, and meeting Jesus was one of them, the best one.  I ended up finding a church (no names here....) in Seattle where I got plugged in right away.  Everyone I met in my small group was so loving, welcoming and generous towards me.  If you knew me my first year in Seattle, you are very dear to my heart.  My faith grew immensely that summer and in the fall of 2009, I was baptized and officially gave my life to Christ and no longer wanted to live life for myself, but for Him.  I literally felt as if I had been living my life with a blindfold on before I met Jesus...it's so weird to explain.  He died for me, for my sins, and so that I can live this very day.  The Lord completely softened my heart in parts of my life where I was so stubborn and unforgiving.  I mean, hello, I used to make fun of all the churchy kids and Jesus back in the day!  Who did I become?!  But I feel like the biggest thing that God has taught me is how to love others the way that He loves us.  I seriously think I had no clue before.  I no longer viewed my friends as "disposable" and wanted to pursue the people that had been put into my life and really value them.

"Test everything. Hold on to the good." - 1 Thessalonians 5:21

This verse has stuck with me ever since I became a Christian.  I like to apply it to my relationships with people.  God wants us to "test" everything, does this "thing" reflect the truth of God?  Are we discerning what is put in front of us, and how are we going to honor Him once we figure out it is "good?"  We shouldn't be quick to judge or disregard anybody or anything that is placed into our lives.  But you know, I've done that numerous time that I can't even remember.  He's taught me to put aside my preconceptions and seek what is true according to His word.  Once you know that truth is "good," hold on to it, because you just might be missing out on a really good thing.

Some silly looking pics of me riding during STP, my crotch was destroyed, July 2013

If you're still with me here, thanks for reading so far.  I plan on getting to the hiking part, I promise.  All my life, I've never really been "athletic" or into sports.  I never was lazy, I just didn't see it as a priority.  I've always been infatuated with mountains though.  I used to look up photos of some of the most majestic peaks and save them to my desktop.  It's weird to think now that I've actually been to some of the places I used to dream about.  I was technically always a chubby kid growing up.  In 2012, I was laid off from my desk job and was forced to rely on photography (mainly weddings) as my main source of income.  Because I worked from home, I finally had time to put my health as a priority.  I think it was something I've wanted to do but never fully did it because I was working so much.  But I look back now and think it was probably all excuses.  In that first year or so, I dropped around 45 lbs by cooking at home and joining the gym.  It was a super weird/embarrassing time in my life when I had to tell the public about it, but it completely changed my life in its entirety.  I realized that my health is far more important than any work deadline.  Our body is a temple, and God tells us to be good stewards of it.  Why had I always been putting my health on the back burner?  Laziness.  Not necessarily physically, but mentally.  That switch in your head has got to click in order for you to change your lifestyle.  But from there, I got super into cycling and did my first STP bicycle ride.  I rode 204 miles from Seattle to Portland in 2013, and it was one of the best things I had ever done.  I realized I had a mental shift in long term goal setting and learned how to be consistent with my goals and actually achieving them.  Then I told myself I was going to learn how to run, and so I signed up for my first 5k on Father's day in honor of my dad.  I learned how to run correctly without injuries and then registered for my first half marathon the next year.  Remember, prior to all of this, I never did any type of exercise for fun haha.  Who did I become?

Selfie on my first backpacking trip through the Enchantments, October 2013

Then finally comes in the hiking.  I've always enjoyed hiking but never really pursued it.  I'd probably go here and there but was never something I got really "into" like all the other things I did.  I was taken on my first backpacking trip to the Enchantments in the fall of 2013 and absolutely fell in love.  We thru-hiked 18 miles in two days, and I snow camped for the very first time.  I think it's safe to say for a first overnighter, it was pretty gnarly.  I've never felt so much pain and joy to be surrounded by God's beautiful creation, right here in Washington state.  When I got home from that trip, I said that I would teach myself how to backpack.  I didn't want to rely on others to take me out--I wanted to learn things for myself and do it right/well.  I'm not about half-assing things.  I want to do all the research and prepare for things before I step my foot out.  It's just how I am. 

My bebe Clyde and I on our first solo backpacking trip together, August 2014

The following summer, I set out on my very first solo (kind of) overnighter.  I was absolutely terrified of all the things: getting lost, seeing a bear, breaking a leg, falling off a cliff, dying.  But I can't tell you enough--if you never face your fears, those fears will always be the things that will hold you back from doing the things you really want to do.  There's this weird sense of confidence whenever you get back from a solo trip.  It's like "I planned my trip, brought the things I needed, could've changed a few things, but hey, I made it out alive and survived all on my own!"  It is literally just that simple and from there, I grew more confident in my place in the outdoors and went out almost every weekend I could for several months.  I truly found my passion.  A friend had asked me that summer, "Wang, out of all these things you do (cycling, running, backpacking), what do you think you love the most?"  That really got me thinking.  I had come to the conclusion that I finally settled on backpacking because  1. The mountains are always calling and I quite literally, must go  2. I love walking somewhere that a road cannot lead you to  3. Everything you basically need is all on your back  4. You have to work really hard to get to a really beautiful spot  5. I get to take photos

J, D, and I in Banff for Paul's workshop, the trip that forever changed our lives, photo by Jenny Linquist, August 2013

I can't forget to mention that in August 2013, Jenny, Dorothy and I took a night photography workshop in Banff, AB taught by the master himself, Paul Zizka.  I am pretty sure that trip completely changed my life with photography and pursuing the outdoors.  Paul loves teaching others his craft, and it's apparent how much passion he has for what he does.  He and his family are truly an inspiration to me.  I got pretty obsessed with night photos on every overnighter I took.  There was just something SO exciting about coming home after a night out shooting and loading them onto my computer.  It's like when you're out there in the cold shooting in the dark, you don't really know what you're getting until you're at the screen, and it's always a surprise.  Sometimes the photos will suck, and sometimes there'll be that one shot.  The excitement made me want to keep getting out, and every trip was a learning experience to figure out how I can improve the next time.  I loved working hard to get to a remote location where there were no cars and stay up all night shooting the stars.  I loved it, I loved it all.  

The very first time I was on the PCT on the Mount McCausland trail, October 2012

I had first heard about the Pacific Crest Trail when I accidentally stumbled upon it during a snowy hike in 2012.  It blew my mind to know that there was a trail that took you all the way to Canada; I couldn't quite believe it at first.  It didn't strike a chord until a few years later.  Yes, I did see Wild, I tried to read the book but never finished.  I think Cheryl told her story well, and things were a lot different back in 1995.  I feel bad for all the criticism she received, but oh well, that's what happens when you share your story to the public.  I pondered about what it'd be like as a female hiker walking from Mexico to Canada on foot, and the thought of carrying only what you need on your back for 5-6 months.  I loved it.  But I was also terrified.  Do you really have to start alone?  Well yeah, no one else is going to quit their job and commit half a year to walk across the country with you, and there's no way you'd stay with them the whole time since everyone has different hiking styles (you'll be lucky if you're still bffs with them in the end).  The only thing that was setting me back was starting alone, then I found out most folks have to start solo because of those same reasons. I discovered a huge community of thru-hikers on the interwebs, and from there, I was committed to researching on how a person becomes a thru-hiker. 

I spent 3 days alone in the HOH Rainforest and walked 37 miles in and out to Blue Glacier, August 2015

The summer of 2015 is when I attempted to see what long distance hiking actually felt like.  I wanted to see if my body could even do it before I attempted something like that.  I spent every weekend out till I reached 20 miles/day.  The first time I did a 20...man did my feet HURT.  Your body isn't exactly tired, but you have this excruciating pain throbbing in your feet.  You can barely walk and your toes are red and swollen.  But...I did a 20!  And I was still alive and felt like I could do another 20 the next day, that's all that really mattered.  I went on quite a handful of solo trips that year, really testing my fears: the bugs, the animals, the weather, the navigation.  I survived.  I got to see SO much of Washington, the coast, the North Cascades, and I even went back to Banff and frolicked around BC.  My body was finally getting used to hiking in the teens every weekend, and I just couldn't get enough of it.  One thing that I started to realize near the end of the summer was how vulnerable I was when I went out on my own.  Sometimes my brain just NEEDS to get out on a solo trip.  Most people think I'm this super extroverted social person, which I can be, but I really love doing things on my own.  It's probably because I'm selfish and want to be in control.  Fortunately, I really enjoy meeting people on the trail.  It's so easy to relate because they're already doing the same thing as you, and they are always friendly because hikers are just happy.  I feel like everyone is much more comfortable around each other since we are all vulnerable in the wilderness together and can talk about anything and everything.  A lot of times when I'm out many miles away from the trailhead, I use that time to pray.  I pray for my friends, my family, my fears, my blessings, my desires--the Lord's desires.  I love walking and talking out loud to God.  People probably think I'm a crazy person talking to myself, but oh well.  The voice helps scare off unwanted bears (I hope).  The wilderness had become my church every weekend.  Sometimes I reflect on what my life is like in the moment, how I get to live in such a beautiful place in the great northwest, and I don't deserve any of it.  I could be stuck in hot, brown, flat, ugly Texas right now, but I'm not.  I was brought to WA for a reason.  Whenever I get back from a long solo trip, my mind is completely refreshed, and I remind myself on how I want to image Christ in my real life.  It's exactly what I need when I get sick of the city life/people.  The outdoors has been my little retreat.

Met some amazing WTA volunteers, Rick was one of them, September 2015

One of the biggest parts of my summer was getting involved with Washington Trails Association.  I learned about trail maintenance and worked on trails with some of the most genuine and inspiring people I have ever met.  I think to work with your own two hands on what really goes into building a trail was so eye opening; it's definitely NOT a walk in the park.  The craziest thing is that most of the volunteers who do this kind of work are all retirees.  To think, I'm this young, healthy person who is selfish with my time, but use the trails to get my outdoors fix.  And then there's these 65 year olds who don't work anymore but are spending their leisure time working a full day (often a whole week) with physical intense labor, building trails--for free.  Mind blown.  I feel like the young people need to have that switch click in their heads to realize that we are literally the generation that will be taking care of our precious trails when all the older people are dead.  These trails have been around for SO many years, and they weren't made by the magical trail fairies.  People had to physically cut logs, collect rocks, build some steps, dig out roots, widen a path, and cut some branches with their own bare hands.  It's hard work ya'll, and I can't emphasize it enough that people should join a work party to see what really goes into building just even a small part of a trail.  And remember, some trails go on for DAYS, how long do you think it took the trail people to build these back in the day?  FOREVER.  Let's take care of our trails, ya'll.

This is what I look like now, all ready to go in my Zpacks bag, photo by Jenny Linquist, June 2015

If you've read up until this point, then wow, you must be one of my best friends, or are just really curious, so thank you.  I think I may have overshared and written a short story about my whole life/autobiography, but I wanted to share everything that has led up to this moment, and this is my story.  So what's the main reason I'm hiking the PCT?  Probably because I love walking so much, being outside, surrounding myself with mountains, meeting trail people, and it's the perfect time for me while I'm still young and healthy.  I mean, I plan on doing this until I'm old, but it's a great opportunity for me to do it right before I turn 30!  I feel like I'm so obsessed with all this stuff now as an adult only because I didn't grow up privileged doing this as a kid, so I'm just trying to catch up on all those years I missed out on.  ;)  It's kind of weird to think that I would ever be doing something like this or who I've become.  Everything in my life has shaped who I am today, and I would never change a thing.  By no means is this going to be an easy trip.  I don't even know if I'll finish, but I'm pretty motivated when it comes to long term goals.  Unless I get injured or if there's bad weather, I don't really see myself quitting.  I want to keep one of my favorite verses in my head whenever I'm faced with a really tough day, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance," - James 1:2-3.  My desire is to share my faith and story with the hiking community; Christ is the reason I am doing the things that I am today.  I hope and pray that God will lead me well in this next season because Lord knows I can't do this alone.  In the end, it's all mental, and it's not going to be myself that gets me through it.

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

NEW YEAR | NEW BLOG

It's finally the new year, and things are starting to get more real.  I just set up this PCT specific blog on my website.  I think I'll start writing about my planning process, and we'll see how much energy/time I will have in actually blogging throughout the hike.  My plan is definitely to have photos, most likely all iPhone, but the content will range from my final gear list, resupply strategy, what I'll be doing with all my belongings, leaving Seattle, and the start of my thru-hike.   I've heard it's pretty hard to blog while on trail, and the best way to update people on your whereabouts is probably through Instagram, so I'm not setting any expectations for this blog.  Merely for my own memory, or if any of this information is useful to others.

As of Jan. 9th, 2016, this is my what my apartment is looking like; living authentic.  There is gear exploded everywhere tonight as I scramble to mail out my last remaining calendars while I am packing for a snow camping trip tomorrow.  I pretty much just keep all of my gear in the corner underneath my cloud until I need it. So far, it's been working well for a little storage place.  I have more stuff right now because I was collecting a bunch of snow gear, but my house should hopefully go back to normal in a few weeks.

I officially told my nanny families that I was going on a long hike this spring, and that was probably the biggest weight lifted off my shoulder.  Everyone was SO supportive and excited for me.  I think if you're debating on when to tell your employers (which is what I was doing and so anxious about it), it's best to tell them WAY sooner than later if you have a good relationship with them.  I felt like once I told them, I was able to get the ball rolling on my final preparation for this thing.  And now that it's finally 2016....it's starting to sink in more.

Next month is permit applications.  For right now, I'm not really sure what I'm doing nor do I have a plan yet, but I did generate a schedule via Craig's PCT Planner.  I just wanted a small idea of what it was going to look like, but honestly, all this shit makes my head hurt to look at.  So I'm just taking baby steps and not freaking out last minute.  I also ordered Yogi's PCT Handbook.  I've heard mixed reviews on whether or not it's helpful; I think it should be good.  All of the small detail things can get really overwhelming at times, so it'll be nice to have some type of guide to tell me what to do.

Gear wise, I'm just nailing down my last things.  A few small things here and there and figuring out consumables/hygiene stuff is what's really left.  

Food wise, I've decided to on mailing myself boxes only to the more remote towns without good groceries and smaller boxes of hard to find items.  I've also decided I want to eat as healthy as possible while actually ON the trail.  So this means, whole ingredients as much as I can.  We'll see what really happens though.  I also want to start making a google docs of how many calories are in certain things because I have no clue right now.  I'm also starting to pick out which foods have more calories/oz and those are the things I should be buying.  Generally, you want to choose foods that are at LEAST 100 calories/oz and ideal is around 120 if you're lucky.

Training wise, I'm starting to get back in the game on an exercise schedule.  Not exactly my ideal routine, but just getting consistent again.  Then when I start really training, I plan on hiking 20's every weekend, running/cycling, core strengthening, and lifting throughout the week and incorporating intervals in all the areas.  Last summer, I also trained on the stairs with a weighted pack, so that was kind of intense but maybe I'll try that again.  The weather's been SO cold lately though.  It's been really hard for me to run outside.  I normally love running in the cold, but I've been wanting to be warm and cozy all the time now...not sure what's happening to me.

I think that is all for what I've been trying to do lately to prep.  Nothing too crazy yet.  I'll update next time I do something more interesting, it'll probably be my finalized gear list or something.  I'm getting close!

P.S.  I'm reading Carrot Quinn's book, Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart.  I love how Carrot writes so honestly, and it's very entertaining thus far.  She's been giving me great ideas about food too!  If you haven't heard of her yet, go take a look at her blog, I think you'll enjoy it.