Bye

Off to the boarder!

Less than twelve hours...

My sister and I made it from Bakersfield to Santee (a suburb of San Diego) today. The trip from north of Sacramento to Bakersfield went with little issues.  Once in Bakersfield, we got some In AND Out. 

 

Animal Style.  

We switched and I had the luxury of driving over the grapevine and through LA.  

It was the worst and I never want to experience driving there ever again.  

Before making it to San Diego, we made a few wrong turns.  I got to see some expensive houses and then back into traffic.  My sister called ahead for the hotel and now here we are. 

Now here I am decompressing with some of the best Mexican food I've ever had.  It's strange, Mexican food is almost always exclusively made by Mexicans.  This goes for all types of food, too!  But forwhatever reason, the closer to the boarder you get, the better it gets.  I had the same experience in Texas! 

Anyhow, I better get to bed soon as I want to begin my hike before the sun comes up!  Wish me luck!  

Halfway to Campo

My sister and I almost made it all the way to Sacramento today.  We left at 4am this morning and made it to Medford around 8:45.  There we had breakfast with some family.  

The original plan was to get south of Sacramento at five.  After pulling into a McDonalds for the free wi-fi and unsuccessful attempts to find a hotel, we just settled for where we're at.  So, we're in some Motel 6 about an hour or so north of Sacramento. 

I felt too tired to continue driving and I think my sister felt the same way.  I can't imagine driving for another hour.  I could barely park the car.  

Anyway, tomorrow we'll be further South.  I'm still anxious but can't wait to start.

Tomorrow I roll...

Just about everything is ready for my big hike.  Today, I'll be picking up a rental car with my sister.  Then I'll make the last minute checks to make sure I have everything.  Then, sometime in the early morning hours, we'll leave for Campo.

We have family to visit in Southern Oregon and hopefully we can make it a bit south of Sacremento by tomorrow afternoon.  The following day, all the we down, squeezed up besides Mexico.  And on Thursday, I begin.

I have my only scheduled mail drop ready to mail.  It's for Kennedy Meadows.  I guess the rest, I'll wing it.  I've usually ended out fine doing things that way.  

I'll see if I can get another post out sometime tomorrow.  See y'all soon!

Blog updated

In the side bar you will find a few more gadgets.  I have links to my sponsors pages (Backwoods and Steven) as well as a subscription by email box.  If you would like to follow my progress but are unsure of whenever I'll post, please put your email in the little box.  It will notify you whenever I post a new blog.  I might add some more gadgets later.  That is all for now.

Sponsored

Well it looks like I've picked up a couple of sponsors!  

First, Steven Bogos.  I became great friends with him while I was living in Japan. He is an Australian and likes video games.  He also likes to write about video games.  So if you have a game journalist job, contact him on Twitter: @StevenBogos

I'll be carrying this flag in his honor.  

Next, Backwoods Brewing.  This company is located in Carson, WA.  In the county I grew up and which the PCT cuts through, Skamania County.  I graduated high school with the brewmaster, Kevin Waters.  I didn't know years later he was going to make delicious beer.  He was also kind enough to sponsor me on my journey!

Be sure to check out the links in the side bar!  Thanks to both of my sponsors!

A Quick pre-PCT Update

Warming Up!

Next week I start my big adventure.  I'll be hitting the PCT!  Between now and then, I have a lot of preparation to take care of.  I've also had plenty of restless nights. 

Yesterday, I managed to summit Larch Mountain with close to my full pack weight. That's somewhere around forty pounds counting food, water, and gear. My base weight is around seventeen pounds.  I'll talk about the headache that is base weight, another time. 

This was my first time attempting Larch Mountain.  It's a short drive outside of Portland, OR.  The trailhead is at Multnomah Falls.  Round trip, it's around twelve miles with the summit at 4,000 or so feet.  The hike up is spectacular!

The trail is also a loop.  Since I didn't have a map, I just stuck with out and back.  Next time, I'll bring a map.

The weather was "almost perfect" for a day like today.  I was able to see all of the mountains in the region (St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood, and Jefferson) despite it being a bit hazy.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to get another hike in by my start date.  But after today, I'm feeling much more confident then I was last month.  I guess the small amount of training I did in Japan paid off.