The countdown begins: Campo bound

As someone coming from abroad I feel that a large part of the PCT adventure starts when arriving in USA. There are some preparations you simply can not do at home such as resupply and signing the hiker log book at REI.

This three day summary describes our days spent in the run-up to our start date; the difficult reality of goodbyes, and the excitement of starting undercut by a feeling of disbelief.

Day minus 2

We are here on our 11.5 hour flight to San Diego. A restlessness has overcome me, unable to watch films or read I feel the need to reflect on the weeks preceding our departure.

Despite careful planning and early preparation we still ended up running around like headless chickens in the weeks building up to our departure to San Diego. An impending sense of doom overcame me looking at the list of things still left outstanding and the reality of emotional goodbyes. Though there’s nothing like a pressing deadline to halt procrastination.

Saying goodbye to the UK was hard, especially this time of year where the nation is awakening from its winter depression and is full of baby lambs and budding flowers. Honestly, you’ll never meet a nicer Brit than one who has seen uninterrupted sun for the first time in months.

Yesterday was emotional too. Six months is not a long period of time in the general scheme of things, but knowing we’re missing key life events of loved ones causes emotional conflict. In sum, saying farewell is never easy, and yesterday was no exception.

However, as the plane begins its sprint down the runway it’s wheels parting with British ground, knowing that all tasks have been completed, and goodbyes have been endured, we can finally breath and allow ourselves the excitement we have long been anticipating. It’s finally happening we’re on our way to hike the PCT.

Day minus 1

So today was not the start to our PCT adventure we had expected. A series of things went wrong before they began getting better.

The first thing was the smoke detector began beeping in our motel room shortly after settling into bed, informing us it was running out of battery. Unable to fix it we had to change rooms. This perhaps wouldn’t have been such a problem if it wasn’t for the fact that I had spread out all my bag contents on the motel floor.

Secondly, on our way to REI and Walmart I realised I had forgotten the re-supply plan that I had printed off, leaving it back at the motel. It had taken me an age to prepare. We therefore blindly made up a plan as we filled our shopping trolley, ultimately ending up with too much food and unsure how many boxes to buy.

San Diego REI: we were like kids in a candy store

We bought enough food for over two weeks yet had only brought one 40L backpack to carry it all. We then had to slog our way with the heavy pack to REI. On the way I stepped on a spiky stick which penetrated the rubber sole of my shoes, hitting my foot. Luckily my foot is fine, but after pulling the stick out I now have a hole at the bottom of my runners as a reminder of the incident. Just what you need before you start a hike right?

But the cherry on top of the cake was feeling something warm and wet splat on my head and arm. Yep, that’s right, some bird did not feel the need to dig a cat hole to relieve themselves and now I have bird poo tangled up in my hair.

People say birds taking a dump on your head is a sign of good luck, but I’m a firm believer that people only say this because really, what else can you say to someone who just been pooped on? I certainly did not feel lucky walking into REI, hot sweaty and self-conscious about the fact I now smelt of bird poo.

However, our venture to REI did prove to be the turning point of our luck. Seeing the ‘welcome class of 2025 PCT hikers’ sign brought home how real this dream was becoming. And then, for the first time we met our fellow hikers: a couple from Boston, people we would be sharing the trail with. They were a tonic to our bad luck that morning, and soon my excitement felt reestablished. This was real.

Once back at the motel we sorted through food, packing it in box’s and sending it out; one to Julien and the other to Paradise Valley Cafe. We weren’t going to see this food again until we had at least completed 77 miles.

Two weeks worth of food ready to go!

Day 0

3am and wide awake: jet lags still present. Better enjoy the warmth and softness of the bed while we can, not sure when we’ll be sleeping in one again.

Now we have our food and yesterdays purchases from REI we can finally pack our bags. We instantly question whether we bought too much food and have underestimated our 40L capacity. But with a little brute force and several crushed snacks latter our bags are packed.

After three trams and one very crowded bus later we arrived at CLEEF campground. This is a fantastic set up predominantly used by PCT hikers the night before their start dates as it’s less than a mile from the PCT official start.

We’re along way from London now

We arrived just in time for the pre-trail talk, but first we had to set up our tent, an intimidating feat in front of thirty or so hikers sitting in the communal shelter. After the talk we went to bed, tired from our day of travel and a little too over stimulated to socialise.

Obligatory Class of 2025 wall photo

Sleep came and went with the excitement and anticipation of tomorrow, the reality of which still did not feel as though it had fully materialised. But here we were in the thick of it, surrounded by other hikers also barely able to believe it.