Whats the plan Stan?

I had a family friend ask me some great questions today on Facebook and I have a feeling that many others will be asking these burning questions as well and so in order to answer all these excellent questions I decided to go ahead and make a new blog post...

How far between supply points?

I will be using a website www.craigspctplanner.com which allows me to choose where along the trail that I would like to send myself a resupply box. This planner also allows me to enter my start date and to adjust how many miles I plan to hike each day. It also allows me to enter where along the trail I would like to take a day off and not hike any miles. A day where a hiker does not hike any miles is referred to in the thru-hiking world as a Zero. Also there are days where you may only hike a few miles and that is referred to as a Nero. I've enjoyed learning the hiker lingo a lot!
Here is a link to my plan so far... I have not finished totally tweaking it so it may change. http://www.pctplanner.com/v.php?g=pP7mvF2jZtNt

If your sleeping outside do you have others around u?

There will be nights where I will be with other hikers and there will be nights when I am on my own. I look forward to both experiences. I think about how being that alone I will really be able to hear from God in a unique way that I don't think I have ever been able to before. Also, I am excited about all the new awesome people I am going to meet and all the new friends I am going to make. The number of people who attempt to thru-hike the PCT each year has increased so much that it has doubled in the last couple of years. I found this chart on the Pacific Crest Trail Associations website www.pcta.org I will be a Northbound thru-hiker and am getting Northbound thru-hike permits.

Will you be eating dehydrated foods? Water is heavy to carry...

Yes I will mostly be eating dehydrated food... My food plan:

Breakfast: I plan on eating powdered eggs with dehydrated bell peppers or mushrooms or both with a pinch of freeze dried cheese. I may from time to time add a pinch of bacon bits as well. I also will have lots of instant oatmeal with me as well as instant coffee. I found instant coffee packets that already have a bit of creamer and sugar in them. Sometimes where I don't want to cook I will probably eat Granola for breakfast as I plan on taking a lot of that with me as well.

Morning and afternoon snack options: Clif Bars, granola, trail mix, dried fruit, etc.... snaky things.

Lunch: I don't want to cook for lunch to I will take foil packs of tuna, chicken and salmon. I can eat this with crackers or in a tortilla. Also sometimes I may make up some cold dehydrated refried beans with a little bit of freeze dried cheese for lunch. I am also planning on carrying powdered peanut butter which can be eaten with crackers or in a tortilla. Anything that will be quick and easy that I don't have to cook will be a good lunch option. I also found some cabbage salad recipe that can be made with dehydrated veggies. Gotta get my veg!

Dinners: I have a bunch of recipes that I am going to be putting together and I do plan on cooking my dinner. I have a recipe for dehydrated stews, noodle dishes, rice dishes, quinoa dishes, etc, etc, etc.

Desserts: I will be taking instant pudding and dried milk, maybe some candy or Little Debbies or cookies. Also I hope to drink Hot Chocolate most nights as well as it will be cold at night.

I hope to eat about 3000 calories a day as they say that hikers burn about 4000+ a day so I know I will still lose weight. I also do not want to eat a bunch of garbage as I know many hikers just eat candy bars and garbage all day which I don't want to do.
When I am in a town I will give myself a little break and get a treat like a cheeseburger, pizza, pancakes, whatever.

How far do you plan to walk each day?

At first I am planning on hiking about 10 to 15 miles per day and hope to increase that every time I can. I know that I need to also get rest and don't want to have overuse injuries so it will be important to pace myself and make sure that I am listening to my body. I really want to finish the entire trail and it would brake my heart to have to leave due to an overuse injury. Eventually I hope to be doing 20 to 30 mile days as I only have about 5 months to get to Canada before the snow starts falling in Washington.

Do you get a hotel at night or sleep under the stars?
 
I will have a tent with me and most nights I am sure I will be staying in my tent to avoid rain, snow, and critters. When I am in town I plan on avoiding staying in Hotels as much as possible as I do not want to spend the money. I am sure a soft bed and a hot shower will be calling my name so if I can find friends to split the cost of a hotel with me I will take the opportunity I am sure! I will have opportunities from time to time to sleep under the stars which is referred to as Cowboy camping and I know that would be an awesome experience so when I can I will try that too!


What about bears and bob cats?

They are out there... I have read lot of info about how to deal with an animal encounters and I will be carrying bear spray with me. Beyond that I will be praying a lot for Gods protection and believing that He wants me to do this and in the process He will protect me!

Thank you to my friend Pat for all the awesome questions and if you have more please let me know. I will be posting an official resupply plan once that is complete and I will be posting my gear list once I have finished typing that up as well.