The First Church of the Wrath of Baby Jesus and Open Bar™

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The plan is to start training with weekly hikes and gradually go longer and at higher elevations, then start adding pack weight and overnights, then week-long hikes, while gradually refining our plan and squirrelling money away for it. It takes about 3 months, so we will embark from the Canadian border mid-June 2020 and hope to reach Mexico mid-September. I should already have a job lined up for my return. My hiking buddy, Breezy, is thinking about getting her degree in Home and Consumer Economics so that she can be the rock star that brings Home Ec back to Portland Public Schools, and if that works out we'll both have the summer off and it will be awesome.

Mid-September is good.

Yeah, we were figuring heading south as we move into cooler weather would work out nicely. It's a long way off but I have a feeling it will sneak up on us! One of the training hikes we want to do is this one: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19327-summer_guide_2012_baby_it%E2%80%99s_a_wild_wood.html

Nice.  8 miles is a good training route.

PPE for the South end of the big hike is pretty important.  I can give you a list if you need one (though you probably don't).

Wildwood Trail is 30.2 miles. 8 miles isn't "training" so much as a "morning stroll".

We're planning based on the info at http://www.pcta.org/ and some of the books that are out about hiking the trail; they are pretty comprehensive.

That's interesting.  I must have read the link wrong.   

The park is 8 miles long, but the trail is 30.2 miles long because you can't just walk straight through. It's all hills and ravines and creeks and stuff. It looks like this:

[The Good Reverend Roger]

The plan is to start training with weekly hikes and gradually go longer and at higher elevations, then start adding pack weight and overnights, then week-long hikes, while gradually refining our plan and squirrelling money away for it. It takes about 3 months, so we will embark from the Canadian border mid-June 2020 and hope to reach Mexico mid-September. I should already have a job lined up for my return. My hiking buddy, Breezy, is thinking about getting her degree in Home and Consumer Economics so that she can be the rock star that brings Home Ec back to Portland Public Schools, and if that works out we'll both have the summer off and it will be awesome.

Mid-September is good.

Yeah, we were figuring heading south as we move into cooler weather would work out nicely. It's a long way off but I have a feeling it will sneak up on us! One of the training hikes we want to do is this one: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19327-summer_guide_2012_baby_it%E2%80%99s_a_wild_wood.html

Nice.  8 miles is a good training route.

PPE for the South end of the big hike is pretty important.  I can give you a list if you need one (though you probably don't).

Wildwood Trail is 30.2 miles. 8 miles isn't "training" so much as a "morning stroll".

We're planning based on the info at http://www.pcta.org/ and some of the books that are out about hiking the trail; they are pretty comprehensive.

That's interesting.  I must have read the link wrong.   

The park is 8 miles long, but the trail is 30.2 miles long because you can't just walk straight through. It's all hills and ravines and creeks and stuff. It looks like this:

I can now see the entire article.  I had page compatibility problems on account of our latest "upgrade".

Sorry about that.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And if 8 miles in half-kit is a morning stroll, the infantry needs to start hiring tiny angry women.



Our qualification marches were 12 miles in half-kit.  Our field training marches ranged from 4 miles to 30 miles in full kit, and the longer (20 miles plus) forced marches would put us on the ropes for days.

What an average hiker would carry for an overnight trek is roughly the same as half-kit.

We're just wearing day packs at this point, but we do about 6-8 miles Sunday mornings, and then I come home and do homework. But, I also walk 4 miles a day with my books, which are about 20 lbs. It's going to take a bit to get up to 30 miles with a full pack,  though, but we need to be ready to do about 30 miles a day.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So, I was hanging out with Knuckles this weekend.  He hasn't changed, not a bit. 

I think I can see my days of boredom ending quite shortly.

Oooh storytimes are coming!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The plan is to start training with weekly hikes and gradually go longer and at higher elevations, then start adding pack weight and overnights, then week-long hikes, while gradually refining our plan and squirrelling money away for it. It takes about 3 months, so we will embark from the Canadian border mid-June 2020 and hope to reach Mexico mid-September. I should already have a job lined up for my return. My hiking buddy, Breezy, is thinking about getting her degree in Home and Consumer Economics so that she can be the rock star that brings Home Ec back to Portland Public Schools, and if that works out we'll both have the summer off and it will be awesome.

Mid-September is good.

Yeah, we were figuring heading south as we move into cooler weather would work out nicely. It's a long way off but I have a feeling it will sneak up on us! One of the training hikes we want to do is this one: http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19327-summer_guide_2012_baby_it%E2%80%99s_a_wild_wood.html

Nice.  8 miles is a good training route.

PPE for the South end of the big hike is pretty important.  I can give you a list if you need one (though you probably don't).

Wildwood Trail is 30.2 miles. 8 miles isn't "training" so much as a "morning stroll".

We're planning based on the info at http://www.pcta.org/ and some of the books that are out about hiking the trail; they are pretty comprehensive.

That's interesting.  I must have read the link wrong.   

The park is 8 miles long, but the trail is 30.2 miles long because you can't just walk straight through. It's all hills and ravines and creeks and stuff. It looks like this:

I can now see the entire article.  I had page compatibility problems on account of our latest "upgrade".

Sorry about that.

No worries! I was confused at first but then I realized where the 8 miles was coming from and figured you'd just missed the trail length.

[Suu]

Out of curiosity, what is the average elevation of the trail?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

And if 8 miles in half-kit is a morning stroll, the infantry needs to start hiring tiny angry women.



Our qualification marches were 12 miles in half-kit.  Our field training marches ranged from 4 miles to 30 miles in full kit, and the longer (20 miles plus) forced marches would put us on the ropes for days.

What an average hiker would carry for an overnight trek is roughly the same as half-kit.

We're just wearing day packs at this point, but we do about 6-8 miles Sunday mornings, and then I come home and do homework. But, I also walk 4 miles a day with my books, which are about 20 lbs. It's going to take a bit to get up to 30 miles with a full pack,  though, but we need to be ready to do about 30 miles a day.

30 miles a day - sustained, mind you - is a ragged bitch for professional foot soldiers, on even terrain.

In mountains?  No way, not sustained.  On a clearly marked trail, 20 if you are only afraid of kryptonite, and 15 for lowly mortals.

One thing worth mentioning is that the payoff for forced marches in kit is permanent ankle, knee, and back injuries.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So, I was hanging out with Knuckles this weekend.  He hasn't changed, not a bit. 

I think I can see my days of boredom ending quite shortly.

Oooh storytimes are coming!

That's the plan.  I have been entirely too sedentary these days.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

I'm trying to make Ray into sauerkraut without slicing my fingers off. This is a whole lot of cabbage to chop.

I am now training for the Pacific Crest Trail.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Crest_Trail

I've wished a million times that I had one of those deli slicers.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

And if 8 miles in half-kit is a morning stroll, the infantry needs to start hiring tiny angry women.



Our qualification marches were 12 miles in half-kit.  Our field training marches ranged from 4 miles to 30 miles in full kit, and the longer (20 miles plus) forced marches would put us on the ropes for days.

What an average hiker would carry for an overnight trek is roughly the same as half-kit.

We're just wearing day packs at this point, but we do about 6-8 miles Sunday mornings, and then I come home and do homework. But, I also walk 4 miles a day with my books, which are about 20 lbs. It's going to take a bit to get up to 30 miles with a full pack,  though, but we need to be ready to do about 30 miles a day.

30 miles a day - sustained, mind you - is a ragged bitch for professional foot soldiers, on even terrain.

In mountains?  No way, not sustained.  On a clearly marked trail, 20 if you are only afraid of kryptonite, and 15 for lowly mortals.

One thing worth mentioning is that the payoff for forced marches in kit is permanent ankle, knee, and back injuries.

Feet.

I used to walk tons. 20 miles wasn't unusual, and it was the feet that got totaled.

Pavement probably had a lot to do with it, though.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Out of curiosity, what is the average elevation of the trail?

The Pacific Crest, or Forest Park?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And if 8 miles in half-kit is a morning stroll, the infantry needs to start hiring tiny angry women.



Our qualification marches were 12 miles in half-kit.  Our field training marches ranged from 4 miles to 30 miles in full kit, and the longer (20 miles plus) forced marches would put us on the ropes for days.

What an average hiker would carry for an overnight trek is roughly the same as half-kit.

We're just wearing day packs at this point, but we do about 6-8 miles Sunday mornings, and then I come home and do homework. But, I also walk 4 miles a day with my books, which are about 20 lbs. It's going to take a bit to get up to 30 miles with a full pack,  though, but we need to be ready to do about 30 miles a day.

30 miles a day - sustained, mind you - is a ragged bitch for professional foot soldiers, on even terrain.

In mountains?  No way, not sustained.  On a clearly marked trail, 20 if you are only afraid of kryptonite, and 15 for lowly mortals.

One thing worth mentioning is that the payoff for forced marches in kit is permanent ankle, knee, and back injuries.

Based on accounts from people who have completed the trail, and from what I've seen of the portions I've been on, a seasoned hiker should be able to average 30 miles a day. A newbie hiker could expect to cover about 20 miles a day. Giving ourselves 7 years to prepare, we should be fairly seasoned by the time we actually do it, especially since the trail itself is highly accessible from here so we can long hike stretches of it as we train. You might be envisioning something much more rustic than the trail actually is... it's not rough terrain by any means. More like this in most places:



It's a horse-passable trail.

The weight of the packs we'll be carrying will vary depending on distance between towns, but we can anticipate the lightest to be about 12 lbs and the heaviest, for the longest stretch, should be about 30 lbs. Thousands of people have done this, there are tons of resources about it. 90 days might be pushing it, but it's not unreasonable.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I was envisioning something a little rougher, and more weight in the pack. 

Half-kit is 52 pounds, everything included.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I was envisioning something a little rougher, and more weight in the pack. 

Half-kit is 52 pounds, everything included.

Oh, fuck no! It's ultralight all the way, with food and supplies replenished as we pass through towns. There's actually a whole support system in place for this hike, with mail stations and food boxes and everything. The worst part I'm anticipating is Forester Pass:



and mostly I'm only worried about that because of the elevation, because I was born and raised at about 300 feet and it's at 13,000+ feet. But by the time we get there I should be plenty acclimated. The trail itself is like butter, Eagle Creek is way rougher.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

By comparison, Eagle Creek, which I traipse up and down all summer long:









That's leaving out all the more vertical parts, I think people don't want to get their cameras out while they're on those.