Ten days till take off

Anticipation is rising and the clock is ticking. 

Since last August when I committed to this grand adventure I have had logistics and gear bouncing around the back of my mind. There are many ways to skin a cat, but there are even more ways to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Each person has to figure out the right set of gear to get them from the southern terminus on the California/Mexico border to the northern terminus on the Washington/Canada border. What will I wear while hiking? What sleep system will I use? What emergency repair or medical gear will I bring along? The trick is finding a balance between weight, price, and comfort. Where will I sacrifice? Am I willing to carry the extra weight for a luxury item like a pillow? Am I willing to pay the extra money for an expensive but ultralight sleeping bag? The biggest challenge is that I really can't know until I am on the trail. Even testing gear on a weekend trip doesn't replicate the experience of thru-hiking for five months. And the reality is that I have a plan but will invariably tweak and change things as I learn along the way.

Here is my new life. 

Shoes = Altra Lone Peak

Tent = Big Sky International 2p evolution

Sleeping bag = Zpacks 10˚ 

Sleeping pad = Gossamer Gear Nite Lite

Backpack = Zpacks Arc Blast 60L

Stove = Soto Wind Master

Pot = BOT Titanium .7L

Water Purification = Sawyer Squeeze

Gaiters = Dirty Girl Gaiters

Micro Spikes = Katoola

Ice Axe = Gribel

Sun Hat = Outdoor Research 

Sun Glasses = Native

Multitool = Snap-on mini

Bug Net = Sea to Summit

Power Bank = Anker PowerCore 10000 

Camera = Iphone 6s

Top Layers = t-shirt, long sleeve sun shirt, ghost whisperer down jacket, helium rain jacket

Bottom Layers = shorts, hiking pants, rain pants 

Socks = Darn Tough (3 pairs) 

Just like a turtle I'll carry my home on my back. Though in my personal opinion, a tent will be a little cozier than a turtle shell. 

The resupply process is another logistical challenge. While following the 2600 miles of twisting trail north we won't pass directly through many towns. So how to feed ourselves?  Every 5-10 days we will hike off trail, hitch hike into town, and find food. My hiking partner Hannah and I came up with a hybrid strategy with some store stops and some prepared boxes from home. Based on research and advice from past thru-hikers we picked the locations where access to reasonably priced trail food is difficult. At these sites we have addressed USPS flat rate boxes to the local post office or general store. They are filled to the gills with dried fruit, veggies, noodles, energy bars, candy etc.  We created a spread sheet indicating when and where each box should be sent and Hannah's wonderful mother is going to make the many trips to the post office for us. 

And that brings me to the present. I am about to start a road trip from Wenatchee to San Diego. It will be the beginning of my transient future. I look forward to transitioning away from a fast paced American lifestyle and instead embracing the slow paced simplicity of thru-hiking.  

How to send snail-mail

First of all, I am VERY excited to correspond with friends and family while on the trail. Writing letters is a favorite past time and I will happily become your pen pal. If you WOULD like to send snail mail or care packages while I am on the trail please follow instructions carefully.

1) contact me first by text or email to make sure I am still "on schedule." Letters should ideally arrive at the indicated post office 2-7 days before our ETA but with the high snow year there is great variability to our itinerary.

2) send all letters or packages USPS priority mail with some sort of bright identifier so I know what to look for

3) address them as follows
Hold for PCT Hiker : Chelan Pauly

ETA : (fill in our ETA at that particular post office)

Address : (fill in from the boxes below)

Place	ETA	Address
1 - Warner Springs, CA	May 11th	General Delivery Warner Springs, CA, 92086
2 - Wrightwood, CA	May 26th	℅ Mountain Hardware PO Box 398 Wrightwood CA, 92397
3 - Kennedy Meadows, CA Only send letters here - not packages!	June 15th	℅ Kennedy Meadows Store 96740 Beach Meadows Rd. Inyokern, CA 93527
4 - Tuolomne Meadows	July 5th	General Delivery, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, CA, 95389
5 - Kennedy Meadows North Only send letters here - not packages!	July 10th	UPS Only ℅ Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station, 57 miles east of Sonora on Highway 108, Sonora CA, 95370
6 - Sierra City	July 21st	℅ Sierra City Country Store, PO Box 196, Sierra City, CA, 96125
7 - Belden	July 24th	℅ The Braatens at Little Haven, PO Box 4, Belden, CA, 95915
8 - Burney Only send letters here - not packages!	July 28th	℅ Burney Park Camp Store, McArthur Burney Falls State Park, 24900, State Highway 89, Burney CA, 96013
9 - Crater Lake	August 12th	℅ Xanterra Mazama Village Camp Store, 569 Mazama Village Dr, Crater Lake, OR, 97604
10 - Personal Delivery Boxes… in Washington we will have friends and family deliver boxes	Any date until we reach the northern terminus… CANADA! This will likely happen between September 15th-30th.	Contact me directly and I will send you a good address

Who, What, When, Where, and Why!

Who: Hannah Kiser and Chelan Pauly – both 25 years old Wenatchee High School alumni with a love for science, the outdoors, and Type II fun.

What: A 2,660 mile thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Where: From the Mexican border to the Canadian border. We’ll hike through the Southern California mountains and Mojave Desert. Up into the Sierra Nevadas to the top of the Mt. Whitney (highest peak in the lower 48 states), through the volcanic landscapes of Northern California and Oregon. Then, into our own stomping grounds of the Northern Cascades.

When: Starting May 4 and hopefully finishing by the middle of September (that’s averaging 20 miles a day).

Why: To celebrate a quarter-century of life, do something a little crazy, and more importantly to raise money for an organization called Inspiring Girls Expeditions. For every mile we hike, we plan to raise at least $1 to help send a high school girl on a wilderness-science education expedition. This means each step is not only part of a personal adventure but also part of a broader purpose. Please go to https://www.crowdrise.com/pct-fundraiser-raising-1-for-every-mile-we-hike-to-help-future-young-adventurers/fundraiser/chelanpauly to learn more. How did you decide to hike the PCT? Hannah: Chelan and I mentioned doing it in passing throughout the years and I always told her she had to wait until I was done running competitively, or she’d have to do it twice. Last spring I decided to take a break from competitive running, started backpacking a lot, and thru hiking the PCT came to mind. Being millennials, this journey of 2,660 miles started with a text: “Hey Chelan, want to hike the PCT?!” and I think her response was, “Yes! You’re serious, right?”. We decided that if we put it off more than a year the probability of us being in a better situation to do it wouldn’t be guaranteed, so we made the leap and committed last August.

How do you know each other? Hannah: We met back in 7th grade as dorky cross-country runners with pigtails, braces and bodies that didn’t fit us yet. They say if you’re friends for seven years it’s likely you’ll stay friends for life. It’s been 14 so I think we’re good. We ran, took classes, joined clubs together throughout high school, and have stayed in close contact despite going different directions in life.

What have you done since leaving Wenatchee?
 Chelan: I spent the year after high school as a Rotary exchange student living in Lima, Peru and then attended Whitman College. I continued running cross-country at Whitman, was heavily involved in the outdoor program and graduated in 2015 with a Biology and Geology degree. I spent the next two summers working for the Entiat Hotshots as a wildland firefighter and most recently spent the winter working at a Nordic ski lodge in Idaho.
 Hannah: After high school I attended University of Idaho and ran cross-country and track while getting my degree in biochemistry. Since then, I’ve been working as a lab technician in a reproductive biology lab at Washington State University.

What are your goals for the hike?
  Chelan: Having fought fire in many of the national forests on the West Coast, I want to explore and appreciate them from a recreationalists perspective. Personally I look forward to writing, drawing, and reflecting on the natural world and my role within it.
 Hannah: My goal is to get back to that childhood-like feeling where you lose track of time, don’t look in a mirror for days and eat mac and cheese everyday. I would also like to make new friends in two minutes and sleep so hard not even a curious bear could wake me.

What are you most excited about?
 Chelan: I am very excited about the trail community and the people I will meet.
 Hannah: For me hiking the PCT is about celebrating my life. In college I didn’t take much time to reflect on races or seasons, or celebrate my and my team’s successes. As post-season competitions would be bigger, more competitive and more demanding of my focus and fitness. I don’t regret the sacrifices I made, it is so rare to have the opportunity to give your life to your passion but now that it’s over, the PCT is all the vacations and celebrations I never got to have.

What is one of your biggest fears?
  Hannah: My big picture fear is that I will love thru-hiking so much I will have to become a bum and continue hiking until I have hiked all the long trails. Once I find something I enjoy, I am really good at making it into my life. A more life-threatening fear is the incredible snow pack in the Sierras this year.
 Chelan: I am terrified of river crossings and running out of chocolate.