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Wait! You can’t leave just yet….

My permit start date is less than three weeks away – and within five weeks it will be too hot and waterless to be safe starting the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Southern California. Earlier this week, I cancelled my flight to San Diego, which was leaving April 17, because there isn’t a chance it will be safe to travel in just two weeks. Lots of friends have asked what is happening to my PCT plans this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic growing by the day, here is the short answer: I don’t know.

However unlikely I will start the trail before mid-May, there is no reason for me to make any other plans at the moment. I already have my gear, food box resupplies, and money saved. I’m able to stay hiker fit (at least for the moment) by hiking and walking in our neighborhood and at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Since I didn’t quit a job or sell a house – like many others who planned to hike this year – I don’t have to worry about where to live or a paycheck. In other words, I’m in a really good place to just wait and see what unfolds this spring. Excited as I am to hike the PCT, it certainly doesn’t have to be right now.

I’ll say this much: there are lots and lots of trails out there and a total of eleven National Scenic Trails. My back-up plan is to hike a couple thousand miles… somewhere else! Ever since I found out about the Mountains-to-Sea Trail a.k.a. Pacific Northwest Trail (PNT), I’ve wanted to hike it. It’s kind of short, only 1200 miles, and not well marked, so I would need to learn how to use my map and compass better. It runs along the northern wilderness of Montana, Idaho and Washington states. It’s so far north, the Canadian border is closer than roads much of the time. Most people wait until July to start. That’s three months from now, and I pray the pandemic is well behind us then.

The Ice Age Trail is another trail that looks good to me, and it’s also 1200 miles. It wanders all through Wisconsin, staying in relatively accessible areas, and would be a good place to hike while waiting for summer to arrive. It’s possible my PCT window will close before the pandemic ends, and yet there will still be much snow on the PNT. In that case, I can begin hiking the Ice Age Trail as soon as travel is safe. I’ll be very excited to hike either of these other trails, or both, if a PCT hike is not in the cards this year.

In the meantime, I’m lucky to stay at home and away from the virus while watching the wildflowers bloom, and I have plenty of home and garden projects to keep me busy. So don’t be disappointed if I cannot start the PCT this spring after all. I promise to take you on another exciting adventure soon enough!

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Drop Me at the Mexican Border

Soon I will touch the wall between California and Mexico, turn around and take a photo, then begin hiking across the desert toward the first reliable water source at Lake Moreno twenty miles to the north. April 22 is my start date. I cannot wait.

The new monument marking the start of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) faces north, so most people post a photo of themselves next to it with the trail heading north in the background. What you rarely see is the wall between the USA and Mexico in the background, but it’s there and I intend to place my hand on it before taking my first steps. After all, I am planning to hike from Mexico to Canada – and do not want to short myself the first 100 yards or so of such a monumental hike.

It took two tries to secure a thru-hiking permit for the PCT and I was ecstatic when my application was approved. There appear to be thousands more applying for a permit than receiving one and only two permit lottery days. I could have found a way to hike it without a permit, but it would have been much harder logistically and may have meant I couldn’t hike the entire trail.

The first 700 miles are desert. I will hike for long distances through dry creek beds as this year has been a very low snow year. Even if some late snows come along, it’s likely to be far below average. Right now, most of California is measuring less than fifty percent average snow/rainfall.

Water is one of the major differences between the PCT and Appalachian Trail (AT) which I hiked in 2018. I expect to carry a lot of water as there are few sources and lots of desert sun to hike, while completely exposed to sun and wind. Because far fewer roads cross the trail, I need to be more self-reliant, too. There will be many places where I need to hike multiple days before I come to a road and can rethink my strategy, gear, or food and water.

Another big difference is elevation gain. Even though I will eventually hike to a few mountains which are twice the elevation of the highest point on the AT, the overall elevation gain is far less. This doesn’t seem to make sense until you realize elevation gain is measured from every low to every high, and the AT has lots and lots and LOTS of up and downs. The PCT, by contrast, goes up and down fairly slowly over very long distances. There will be plenty of steep places too, just not so many in relation to the entire trail. My uncle and I hiked to Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous states, a few years ago. It’s a side trail from the PCT. This time, I plan to bypass the high altitude extra hike and just keep plodding along north.

Up in the Sierra Mountains, I will have many steep and dangerous places to hike. Lots of places to be careful of footing and fast streams to cross. The low snowfall lowers my risk of flooding rivers, so I will benefit later from the low snow year. I’m hoping it makes up for being so thirsty the first seven hundred miles.

In Northern California and Southern Oregon, I may have to reroute for fires. It’s generally expected hikers will be rerouted sometime on the PCT as fires have become such an issue the last several years. If this is the drought year predicted, it will be dicey in July and August. Once well into Oregon though, I only have to keep up a good pace and make it through Washington before the snow flies. In 2019, major storms came early – in mid-September. I hope to be done by the end of September, but we will see.

It seems like I’ve only talked about the hard stuff in this post. Oops! There is much beauty and good stuff, too. I’ll share it as I go along. I don’t know what possesses me to want to hike 2,650 plus miles, but the backpacking bug bit me and held. Maybe my posts from trail will give you a better idea of the appeal and not just the misery.

I finish at the Canadian border, and have a walk-thru permit from Canada to enter. There isn’t a formal border crossing, as it’s just a trail through trees marked by the northern terminus monument. No wall, barbed wire, big river or armed guards to navigate. Nevertheless, an entry permit is needed to legally enter.

Thank goodness I received one, as it’s only seven miles to E.C. Manning Provincial Park in Canada, but at least thirty-five miles back to a road in the USA. Plus, some of my Canadian friends may be waiting there to celebrate with me as I finish. Walking from Mexico to Canada along the PCT is another dream of mine. In just six weeks it will be time to move from dream to life!

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Motion Pictures on the PCT

Six more months and I’ll be starting the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). I don’t have a permit yet, but I have faith in my ability to work things out. I’m looking forward to taking you along vicariously as  I meet friends, face fears, and discover new adventures on the west coast.

This time I’m going to make it more fun for you to be part of the journey. I plan to update this blog more frequently, post photos of incredible scenery regularly, and create videos showing typical life on the trail. It takes extra time and battery power to film, so I need to learn quickly and become more efficient before spring arrives.

Learning to film is fun. Plus, shooting video makes training hikes more interesting. I like editing and creating the story too, but it takes A LOT of time to create a very short video. Maybe I’ll find someone – who is not hiking – to help me. That’s the long term plan. In the meantime, I’m having a blast creating them. I think I’m becoming better at it, too.

Goodwater Loop with Melynn

My strategy is to create a new video every week. I’ll film and take photos of the PCT even if it’s too challenging to create finished videos while hiking. I can always create videos after I return. The photos can be posted on Instagram (lorriegirltx) each time I reach a town.

If you subscribe to my channel, new videos will pop up in your subscriber feed when you log-in to YouTube. Choose the channel with my backpacker picture on the profile. (I have two channels under my name.) You do not need to subscribe to see the videos. They are set for public viewing.

Why am I going to the trouble of making videos? I found people are captivated by backpacking tales and inspired to go on their own adventures. I love being part of someone’s decision to go after their dreams. I also found many people build their confidence by watching someone else take on a big audacious goal like hiking 2,650 miles. I hope to both entertain and inspire you by pulling you deeper into my journey. See you on trail!

Goodwater Loop October 2019
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In Between Goals

It’s pretty plain I like goals. I have lots of them: regular goals, big goals and even those I call a BAG (big audacious goal). I like helping people reach their goals too, whatever the size and challenge. This year I’ve discovered a new class of goal, the in-between goal. I really like them, because they are a good way to keep me grounded and present while waiting for my next adventure.

That’s why I call them an in-between goal. They are in-between now and a bigger, more important goal. They keep me excited and focused on something positive.

Some of my bigger goals are very challenging to reach, like my plan to earn a living through motivational speaking. As others have said, “Becoming a professional speaker is easy. Earning a living at it is hard.”

Other goals are seasonally related, like hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which doesn’t start until next spring. So, the in-between goals focus my energy and help keep me from feeling I’m wasting my time when other goals are elusive or far away. Often my in-between goals are a physical activity that keeps me strong and fit, too. Added bonus!

My current in-between goal is to run five miles without collapsing. Specifically, it’s to finish the Kraut Run 8K (5 miles) in under fifty-five minutes. Kraut Run is on October 5th, so I have eleven days left. Today was the first day I came near my goal. I finished at 55:16. That’s really close. I feel good, in fact I’m pretty excited because this goal has been harder than I expected. The last time I actively worked on running was years ago and I was a stronger, faster runner. Then, I ran faster minutes per mile and nearly three times as far. Now my goal is for a slower pace and shorter race. That doesn’t mean it’s coming easily.

My best time in the last three months was 57:29, and for two weeks in September, I didn’t run a full five miles during any training run. I consoled myself knowing I was still out there trying, running in very hot weather and sticking with it even though it seemed to be going poorly. I remembered my lesson from hiking the Appalachian Trail: It doesn’t matter what you expect. It only matters you deal with what is.

Today, when my work out app announced mile three had taken me significantly longer than the first two miles, I reminded myself to just keep pushing my pace. I really didn’t think I would improve, but I wanted to keep from slowing down any further. Then, when mile four came in at a faster time, I realized I had a chance to finish close to my goal of fifty-five minutes. It was very hard to run the fifth mile as strongly as the fourth, but I kept saying to myself, “You got this” or “You can do it” and “You’re almost finished“. One time I even said it out loud and was thankful no one was nearby.

I have twelve more days to trim those last few seconds from my time. My goal isn’t to run as fast or as far as I once did, but my effort and hope are the same as always. I’m working diligently to reach this in-between goal and I sure hope I make it by Oct. 5th.

It’s worth striving for; it’s kept me running through the entire summer and put me in much better shape for my next in-between goal: backpacking eighteen miles days to prepare for the PCT!