I’ll be starting my adventure in just 7 days. It’s actually starting to feel quite real now. It’s honestly kind of unsettling to think about it now that I’m this close. What felt like a dream for so long is now an alarming reality. Don’t get me wrong – I am excited, truly. This is everything I could have wished for. I’ve been dreaming of this hike for ages now and I can’t wait to get out on trail and start living. I’m so grateful that things have worked out and that I’ll be able to embark on this journey after all.

All that being said, I can’t just pretend like I’m not completely stressed out or nervous. There are a lot of moving parts that are involved in making this hike work -namely my feet, my ankles, and my knees. Moving parts that I’ve struggled plenty with the past few years. I’ve been putting in the work with training and stretching. I’ve made adjustments in footwear, I’ve introduced orthotics for the first time since I broke my foot in 2021, and I’ve been babying every little injury/complication to ensure my body is as ready as it can be to hike 2,650 miles. I can only hope that all of this pays off in the end. I’m ready to be done with the worry and jump back into the stoke! This is going to be one incredible adventure!

This week, I went on my final shakedown hike of the year. I wanted to see how my body and my gear would react to some harsh punishment in the form of snow, unmaintained trail, and aggressive vert. Although I didn’t leave the mountains 100% pain-free, I was in surprisingly much better shape than I anticipated. Sizing my shoes up another half-size and experimenting with elastic, no-tie laces proved to be a great decision, as I had almost zero foot pain throughout the two days I spent on trail. When I did start to notice discomfort, I found it easy to stop and quickly adjust the elastics on my shoes. Introducing orthotics (SuperFeet insoles) also seems to have been a good decision, as I experienced far less pronation as I walked than I normally do. (I have external tibial torsion – my tibias are rotated externally, causing my feet to point outwards as I walk. It’s something I just have to deal with..) With the insoles, my feet felt more stable and supported, even on very rocky terrain, and the little bit of extra cushion was nothing to complain about either!

The hike itself was great. I managed to get about 33 miles and 7600ft of vert in with 14 total hours of hiking between 2 days. My pack weight at the start of the hike was 18.8lbs, with 3 liters of water and 2 days of food. (My daily pack weight on the PCT will be pretty similar to this outside of longer water carries or resupply days.) Conditions on the trail were not perfect, but that’s not what I was hoping for anyway. Roughly 5 miles of the trail was still snow-covered (although not very deep anymore) and I hiked another 3.5 miles of trail that was unmaintained/unofficial (bushwhacking, loose scree, steep drainage, etc.) Nighttime temps got to around 30-35 degrees as well, so I was able to get a good feel for my current sleep system – I was pretty warm and cozy.

All thing considered, I’d say it was pretty successful shakedown and I’m feeling very confident about my gear and my fitness for the PCT. 33 miles is obviously nothing compared to 2,650, but I’ve been getting a lot of miles in over the past few years and have spent probably close to 50 or 60 nights in this particular tent. Sleeping outside is pretty much a non-issue for me and honestly, endurance is not something I struggle with as much as injury prevention. Sometimes I push myself way too hard and don’t adjust quickly enough when early signs of injury appear. As I mentioned above, this is is something I’m trying to get better at. Hopefully with the right shoes, a little patience, and more listening to my body, I can knock out 2,650 miles with both feet still intact and functional..

In other news, I took my senior cat, Captain, on a little road trip to Santa Fe earlier this week! Captain is going to be staying with a dear friend of mine in Salt Lake City while I’m on trail the next 5 months, so I wanted to get him used to being in the car for an extended period before hauling him up to SLC this week. We took the scenic route up the Turquoise Trail (NM-14) to Santa Fe, stopped briefly in Madrid for some silly pics and then spent the afternoon exploring the plaza and eating tacos at a park! We had a blast. Hopefully my little guy (he’s 18 btw!!!) is feeling more prepared for our 10hr drive up to SLC.

I’ll probably be posting one final time before hopping on the trail next Sunday. This is going to be a busy week getting my cat situated in Utah and finalizing all my pre-hike preparations. I’m really excited to share the rest of the journey with all of y’all who are reading along though! Thank you so much for your support and for all the kind words and donations that I’ve received. I feel very loved and supported right now and I just know that’s going to give me the strength and energy to push through this unbelievable journey!

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