PCT Update #1

Days: 1-13

Miles: 0-179.4

Currently in: Idyllwild, CA

Hi everyone! My first PCT trail update is kind of an ode to my AT BFF, Slim Shady, because (A) he’s sadly not hiking this one with me and I want to shout him out because I miss him and (B) he had a bunch of questions I didn’t get to answer before starting this hike, so hopefully I can recount the first bit of the trail for everyone in the form of answering his questions:

1.  Are you going to introduce yourself by your trail name or your legal name? Does a trail name carry across multiple thru hikes?

Aside from the first day or two, I have been introducing myself as Snapchat but I’m open to new PCT trail names too. At first Snapchat felt weird because it’s like introducing yourself to new friends by your family’s childhood nickname for you; it felt like a betrayal of a time/place/experience/friend group from the AT or something. It also felt a little snooty to already have a trail name – I’ve met few people on the PCT who have thru hiked a trail already. As I’ve introduced myself to more and more people it has felt more natural to do so as Snapchat, but still not entirely.

So I guess I’m not sure yet if a trail name carries across multiple thru-hikes! It’s like asking if your personality carries across multiple moves, relationships, experiences, years, etc. It does and it doesn’t, as you evolve. I think I haven’t been out here long enough yet to know if I’m Snapchat through and through or if that name will end up feeling sacred to only the AT. (Side question back to you – do you still have me in your phone as Snap??)

2. Speaking of trail names, you got the trail name Snapchat because you were sometimes posting for The Trek on Snapchat and often times a few paces behind Wes and me in town, heads down on your phone. How is your approach to your phone and/or social media going to be different this time around?

I definitely want to be on my phone overall less this time around, but on social media a bit more consistently. As you know, on the AT I was in a relationship with someone who demanded a lot of attention to the point where I ended up feeling one foot on the trail and one foot at home the whole time, which made everything more exhausting and less fun. That’s not the case now, so so far I’ve able to be much more present in the experience and off my phone which has felt great! As noted below, we’ve had plenty of cell service but I’ve kept my phone on airplane mode most of the time and have barely talked to anyone off trail these first two weeks.

I say I want to be on social media more consistently because it’s such an efficient way to check in with everyone at once. I’ve been posting little Instagram story snippets whenever I can, which I didn’t do on the AT, and I’d like to continue with this for the same reasons as below re: having a Garmin – to send out updates, share the adventure and stay connected in a quick, easy way. But beyond stories and maybe a weekly IG/blog post, I’m really enjoying being off my phone and more in control of how connected I want to be to life off trail.

3. I noticed you’re going to have a GPS device this time around. Why the addition? (Am I so out of touch with the trail community now, and this is the norm?)

4. Your gear list indicates you’re taking more of an ultralight (UL) approach than you did on the AT. Why did you choose to do that? How have your thoughts and feelings on gear in general changed?

• I went with a Hyperlite Unbound pack because it’s waterproof (ish) for rain and river crossings, and I like the simple design.
• I went with the Durston X-Mid Pro tent because I really wanted to not have to carry tent poles, and it’s so much easier to set up than the other, more ubiquitous, option the  Zpacks Duplex.
• I really hated my quilt on the AT and was always cold. After we finished that trail I bought the fluffiest, loftiest, (relatively) heaviest Feathered Friends 10 degree UL mummy bag and now I am warm and happy.

5. What will you be reading and listening to while hiking and during Tent Time?

6. Now that you’re a few years ~older and wiser~ since your last thru hike, how has your approach to thru-hiking changed, other than what you’ve already answered?

•  Shoutout to Knight Campbell and my friends at Cairn Leadership Strategies for putting us up the night before starting and driving us to the trailhead in Campo! We started in the rain and enjoyed a cool first few days in the desert which made it easy to jump right in hiking 15+ mile days which seems to be the norm on this trail! No easing into it here like on the AT; but also the terrain has – for the most part – been much more forgiving.
• After the cool came a number of days of hot, dry stretches and learning the fun of water logistics: you plan your day around how to avoid and heat and how far you have to walk to the next water source, which so far has been anywhere from a 1-20ish miles.
• Now, we’ve walked up out of the desert and into the mountains west of Palm Springs where there still isn’t a lot of water but there is snow, which is fun, beautiful and scary. Everyone on trail seems a little on edge because this is the stretch where a young man unfortunately lost his life a few years ago after slipping on ice on the steep slopes we hiked yesterday; but we’ve picked up the necessary snow gear now and are flexible to do alternate routes off the PCT when necessary for safety.
• Currently I’m writing from our first zero day in Idyllwild, CA – an exquisitely adorable mountain town whose mayor is a dog named Max.
• The demographics on this trail are interesting! So many international hikers, older hikers, and women. I’ve hiked with people from Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, England, the Netherlands and across the US. It does feel like not as many people are on the trail this year, maybe because we’re behind the main bubble or maybe because people dropped out due to the snow? The people are great, and also I miss you Dan and wish we were doing this together!

And lastly, as always, lots of pics.

-snap