The Home Stretch: Ready for My PCT Adventure Starting This Sunday!

A lot happened since I left my winter destination in B.C. 10 days ago. But most importantly, I´m in the final prepping days until I start my PCT hike THIS SUNDAY. Unbelievable that finally, day 0 is coming closer. Still unreal, but one after another. I´m definitely on the home stretch.

After leaving Blue River with a laughing and a crying eye I left by train. And after a one-night stopover in Vancouver I caught the plane to San Francisco. Of course, I was a little nervous as news about scratchy encounters at immigration could have ruined everything. But I was prepared. Prints of my PCT Permit, my bank account, and outbound flight back to Germany ready to go, I was really surprised how everything turned out.

In Vancouver, there is a pre-clearance right after security check-in at a terminal exclusively dedicated to travels into the USA. So I met the immigration officer right after the security check-in, and after the usual questions about what am I going to do in the US and why I was taking the extended B2 Visa, I comfortably could answer, that I wanted to hike the PCT and need longer than 3 months for it. She wished me a lot of fun and safe travels and let me pass. Funny enough, I arrived in SFC at the domestic terminal and could walk out of the airport right after the luggage belts. So no stress at all.

I went to my cousin Andys and his wife Beth´s place, my PCT base camp. I started to unpack my hiking stuff right away and felt like a little boy at Christmas, as ordered most of my new gear straight to them. So I was busy opening boxes and putting my stuff together. The next day after lunch we wanted to opt out for a long weekend and go hiking and camping with some of their friends. They decided to hike the Lost Coast Trail – one of the most remote areas of the Californian coast.

The Lost Coast Trail

The Lost Coast Trail is a 30-mile (48km) point-to-point trail alongside a very remote part of the Californian coast. A 5-hour drive from San Francisco to Black Sands Trailhead in Shelter Cove, plus a 2h 4×4 Shuttle drive gets you to the starting point – quite an effort to get there.

Along the route you walk most of the time directly on the beach. On beautiful black sand and stunning coastlines, definitely one of the most scenic coastal trails I´ve ever hiked. Due to impassible sections at high tide, our hiking days are distributed as follows: 8-12-9 miles. Perfect distances to get back in a hiking mood (strenuous enough on sand) and test a lot of new gear.

I was able to spend three wonderful days with amazing humans in a very impressive and beautiful part of the world. Not only the company and the landscape was stunning, but Andy (trail name: Trail Chef) made a lot of effort to provide us with awesome, trail-typical food. On day one he made us a fresh Shabu Shabu (Japanese Hotpot) and Pizza on the second night with fresh dough. Don´t ask about the weight we carried, it was so worth it <3.

Best of all, I got back into a hiking mood, approved my Durston backpack, and had the first cozy nights in my tent this year. One important learning: if you are sleeping in a pyramid tent: if your spot is not level, don´t put your tentpole below you. You´ll slip down with your pad, collapsing yourself into the tent (3-times in one night) 😊

Besides that, I´m a little unsure about my sleeping quilt right now. I´m a warm sleeper and at around 50°F (10°C) the night, I was sweating a lot. Hoping for cold nights in the Desert and Sierras now 😉.

After the hike, we enjoyed the company, and some beers and made our way back to civilization. From that moment on my head switched into prep mode, as my countdown switched to the below one-week mark. Since then, I´ve been busy with last-moment shopping, zip-locking tons of food, and everything I think I need at my resupply points. Tomorrow, I´ll ship my first boxes.

For so many years I´ve watched hikers on YouTube how they were packing their resupply boxes. Being at this point myself feels amazing, but still unreal. As excited as I am to finally be so close before starting, I´m a little sick of the planning and overthinking, I´m just ready to start.

I put enough thought into it and have (for my taste) a good combination of things I can control (like the resupply boxes) and letting myself fall into whatever awaits me after starting. Honestly, I thought this feeling would be better. But the moment I´ve finished all preps by Friday afternoon, I guess I´ll catch the feeling 😊

So, it is time to see what this hike offers me, and if my body can adapt to the biggest physical and mental challenge of my life. Of course, I´m nervous, excited, thrilled and so curious at the same time.

My journey to day 0

In Short: I´ll leave San Francisco on Saturday afternoon, and after a short overnight stay in San Diego. I´ll take the Southern Terminus Shuttle on Sunday at 09:30.

I don´t know how frequently I´ll be able to publish posts here. Or even update my Instagram, maybe start Vlogging on YouTube? This is all TBD. But in any case, follow me on my Instagram. I´ve got a link in my bio with all relevant channels. Even a mapping of my SPOT where you can follow my real-time progress 😉.

Thanks for reading,

Simon

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