Month: February 2020

Pulling the Plug

Ian

Man, this is a tough post to make, but I am going to put this entire venture on hold.

I spent two nights at Colorado Bend State Park on a solo trip this past weekend and I had a lot of time to think out there.

The trip was great and I really got some gear and routines starting to dial in, but the time has come to step back and take myself out of the running for a thru hike this year.

A lot of factors went into this decision.

One of my main reasons for hiking the PCT was to better appreciate my off-trail life. I realized that the last year or so of my life that I’ve been planning for the thru hike has also been one of the best years of my marriage, career, and just life overall. I don’t see any reason to disrupt it right now.

Also, when I got back from Colorado Bend, I found out that my company was going through a massive transition and was laying off a sizeable portion of our employees. I am safe for now, but my work situation went from a great time to leave and hike to suddenly a horrible time to leave. I wasn’t going to have a leave of absence, so I would have had to quit and then come back and hope to get re-hired. Suddenly that seems like a much slimmer possibility.

There were other factors in play as well, but the bottom line is that now is just not the right time to attempt this.

I may decide to attempt a thru in the future or I may just section hike and take bites out of the trail over the years. There are tons of people who section hike the long trails over time and that also allows you to cherry pick sections during specific weather windows and times of year, which allows you to appreciate those parts of the trail at their best.

I’m still coming to grips with all of this, but for now, I’m staying put and continuing to visit national parks and hike as much as possible.

Thanks to anyone and everyone that supported me through the preparation for this crazy dream and I’m sorry that you won’t be able to follow along with the adventure. When and if I make further decisions, I’ll post it here.

Thanks again for believing in me.

Ian

Solo Overnight – Lake Georgetown 2/1/20

Ian

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Went out for my first solo overnight on Saturday and it started off well, but didn’t end in spectacular fashion. I hiked in 4.5 miles from the Cedar Breaks Trail Head, as I have multiple times before. The guy at the gate said I was the only overnighter to have checked in so far when I got there around 3pm, so I was hoping to have my pick of campsites.

Twas not to be. When I arrived 1.5 hours later, there were about a dozen people already setting up camp. I inquired as to where they came from and it turns out they had entered the trail from a non-official trail head a couple of miles back. Not a huge deal, as I still scored a decent site by the lake, but I’m somewhat of a stickler for rules at times. To be fair, this site doesn’t require reservations.

I set up camp quickly and the sun started to go down around 6. My tent was fantastic. Easy to set up and very cozy. I didn’t feel too closed in (I’m used to at least a 2 person tent) and I discovered a few new interior pockets to store gear in.

Pack explosion
Camp shoes

I didn’t end up using my stove for dinner, as I ate a large late lunch right before I headed out, so I wasn’t super hungry and just downed a protein bar instead.

I will say, I was bored. I brought a book (which I will not be doing on trail) and also had good cell signal, so I basically read a bit and tooled around on the internet for 3 hours after the sun went down before going to bed at 9pm (also known as hiker midnight).

I learned overnight that I am a cold sleeper. The temps only got down to the low 40s, but my feet were numb. I am used to sleeping with Courtney and the two dogs when we camp, so being solo, I didn’t have the advantage of those warm bodies and I guess I need a bit more warmth than I thought.

Clearly I don’t have my quilt and sleeping pad system fully dialed in. I’m going to practice this at home over the next couple of weeks. Also, I bought some down socks to wear at night and I’m also going to put my sit pad under my feet for some extra insulation, as well as stuffing my extra clothes sack down by my feet when I sleep. Hoping this will do me well.

I tried sleeping on my side, but I woke up every hour or so with sore shoulders, so on the advice of my PCT buddy Mac, I’m going to practice sleeping on my back only. He said I’ll get used to it. I tend to sleep on my back sometimes anyway, so I don’t think this will be a huge adjustment.

By 6am I was praying for the sun to come up. I was cold and on very little not great sleep. I kept my pack under the vestibule of the tent, so it stayed dry, but my rainfly was soaked and my camp shoes as well. Not a big deal, but I think if I had been further back from the lake, maybe I could have avoided some condensation.

Sunrise out my front door

It’s all a learning process. Even after 7 years of hiking and camping, there is still a ton to learn, especially when it comes to back country camping. I’m looking forward to learning more when I get out on the trail!