My PCT Journey Begins in San Diego

I flew out to San Diego yesterday, got scooped up by my cousin Sarah at the airport, and then we went to Ocean Beach for dinner.  We had a great view of the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, and the meal that I ordered turned out to be exactly the meal that I needed: a burger on veggie fried rice, covered in fried eggs and gravy – so nourishing and delicious after being on planes all day and missing regular meal times.  Then it was very early to bed, to account for both the time difference and the fact that I’ve not been sleeping very well lately and needed to catch up.

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Our dinner view

Today we ran errands, explored the beach and pier some more, and had another delicious dinner in Ocean Beach, paid for by a fellow diner who left before we even found out and could thank him.  (Thanks, Michael!)

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I go for the hiker chic look, while Sarah goes for beach chic

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When the tide is out, there is good exploring to be had

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Can you spot the tiny crab waving hello?

Tomorrow morning Sarah will drop me off at the southern terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail and I will start walking to Canada!

If you want to check out the gear I’m bringing, it is now up on the Gear page.  My base weight is a little higher than I wanted it to be at 14.5 pounds, but it’s comfortable to carry and I still have what some people would consider luxury items.  Base weight means gear only, with no water, food, or fuel.  There will be some long water carries in the desert, especially with the drought happening, so I will sometimes need to carry 6+ liters of water (at two pounds per liter!).  Food weight should be around two pounds per day, carrying anywhere from two to six days at a time.  Fuel will be a little heavier than normal since I’m choosing to use a canister stove instead of my trusty cat food can alcohol stove.  I made the decision because of the drought.  There are not currently any fire restrictions in place, but they are likely to show up soon with how dry it is.  Alcohol stoves are more likely to have accidents and cause forest fires since they don’t have an off switch, so they get banned quickly.  Canister fuel is annoying because it comes in a heavy can, you can’t tell how much fuel is left in it, it’s harder to find, and way pricier than alcohol, but I feel like it’s the responsible thing to do.

A few people have asked about mailing me things on the trail so I have information pertaining to that on the Mail Drops page.  I will update it with more addresses further along the trail once I see how fast I’m going.

Keep reading along for my next adventure!  You can subscribe to my blog via email in the sidebar, and follow me on facebook, twitter, and/or instagram.

7 Comments

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  1. Can’t wait to follow your next adventure. 🙂

  2. Good luck Kristin! Be safe!

  3. Loretta Lisowski April 16, 2015 — 6:57 am

    You’re amazing Kristin! Good luck and happy trails!

  4. I was in a panic because I could not open your page on my email. I finally resorted to Wayfarer on the desktop and out it came. Best wishes for a safe journey. Will be looking forward to your
    postings. Godspeed!

  5. Have fun Kristin – happy trails!

  6. Yay Kristin! So exciting. Have a great time.

  7. Have an amazing time! 🙂

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