Thru Hike Journal – CDT2023 – PCT2019 – Thomas "Whitney" Vincent

Kategori: Preparation (Förberedelser)

  • Day Zero – San Diego

    Day Zero – San Diego

    Andra dagen hos Scout&Frodo. Vaknade strax efter kl 04 då flera alarm gick bland dom som hade 2:a maj som startdatum. Upp och åt frukost vid kl 5:30. 25 st personer ropades upp av Scout för att kl 6:00 sätta sig i bilarna för att bli skjutsade till Campo vid gränsen till Mexico.

    Frukost hos Scout & Frodo

    Vi var 9 st som stannade kvar för 1 natt till. 16 nya personer skulle dyka upp under dagen. Jag tog det lugnt. Gick sedan och handlade mat.

    På väg hem från Vons supermarket

    På eftermiddagen gick jag med 2 andra ett kvarter bort för att tvätta apelsiner som ska ut som ”trail magic” imorgon

    Trail magic apelsiner

    Imorgon börjar äventyret. Frukost vid 5:30. Då ska ryggsäckar vara packade och ute framför huset innan

  • San Diego

    San Diego

    Lämnade idag San Francisco. Tog BART från Civic Center till SFO. Därefter ca 1 timmes flyg till SAN. (Det måste varit medvind då den var utsatt till att ta 1,5 timmar). Blev sedan hämtad på flygplatsen av volontären Rich som bor i Seattle och som kommer ned till San Diego för att hjälpa hikers i ett par veckor. Jag anlände till Scout & Frodos, legendariska ”trail angels” i San Diego, som tar emot 25-30 hikers i sitt eget hus dagligen i mars-maj. Jag blev välkomnad av Scout och fick en 12 minuters rundtur i huset. Skrev upp mig för att åka med till Adventure16 outdoor-butik kl 13 och sedan att kl 15:40 åka till AT&T butiken för ett USA SIM-kort. Middag sedan med lite info från Scout. Därefter samtal och umgänge med de andra som ska starta PCT. Träffade två svenskar som startar imorgon

  • Pre PCT hike visit to San Francisco Bay Area

    Pre PCT hike visit to San Francisco Bay Area

    On April 26 I started my travel from Sweden to California. I have now soon spent 5 amazing days with the Hoover family’s. Staying in Los Gatos and in downtown SF. Enjoying spending time together, mountain biking, disc golf in Golden Gate park and talking about all great memories from 1978-79, the year I spent as an exchange student in Livermore with the Hoovers. An extraordinary and amazing year with an amazing family. Early tomorrow morning I will go to the SFO airport to fly to San Diego. I will get picked up by Scout&Frodo. From then on I will be in the hiker community 🙂

  • Sierras 1978-79

    Sierras 1978-79

    In 1978-79 I was an exchange student staying with the Hoovers in Livermore for 1 year. During this year I summited more than 30 peaks with the Hoovers in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Arriving to SFO on August 24 1978 I summited my first mountain on August 27. During the year we went for many trips, also skiing and snow camping. During the summer of 1979 we went on several backpacking trips and at least I thing two where for 10 days. The PCT and the John Muir Trail shares the same trail through parts of the Sierra. I will pass many of the peaks I climbed 78-79, on the PCT if I make it as far

  • Tjänsledighet beviljad! / Leave of absence approved!

    Tjänsledighet beviljad! / Leave of absence approved!

    Direkt efter nyår, andra veckan på jobbet så tog jag mod till mig och pratade med chefen om mina planer. Jag var nervös inför reaktionen. Jag hade även förberett en liten text på et A4 papper om hur jag tänkt mig semester/tjänstledighet. Min chef hade en väldigt positiv inställning och tog emot det hela mycket bättre än jag hade väntat mig. I mitt värsta scenario så var det att dra fram kortet om uppsägning, vilket inte behövdes. Efter mötet med min närmsta chef så fyllde jag i den formella tjänstledighetsansökan och skrev på och lämnade in den 17 januari. Den 24 januari fick jag tillbaka den beviljad och påskriven av VD samt personalchef. Det gick ju otroligt smidigt :). Nu har jag ledighet beviljad fram till den 7/10. Vilket är 5 månader och ger att jag har 157 dagar på mig. Den genomsnittliga thru hikern tar 149 dagar på sig. Så det är görbart på denna tid. Jag kommer dock ha delmål. Första målet blir att klara första veckan i öknen. Kommer jag igenom öknen och Sierras så kommer jag vara mer än nöjd. Vilket kanske då är någon gång i juli. Resten skulle vara en bonus. Men det blir till att stämma av en månad i taget

  • PCT Permit application!

    PCT Permit application!

    PCT Permit waiting in line…

    November 14 – Permit application day!

    The big day finally arrived and it was time to apply for the PCT permit so I could get my start date. The application Website were to open at 10:30 AM Pacific time. This ment 7:30 PM Swedish time 

    New for this year was the introduction of a waiting room. I entered the waiting room about an hour before. I was feeling more nervous and exited as the time was running down to the opening of the application. When the clock hit  10:30/7:30 I was a bit disappointed as I got the number 2731 in line. I had previously been thinking about starting more computers and browsers, but when it actually was time for my application, I did not do this. Probably when now looking back this was a mistake. I could read on the PCT class of 2019 Facebook page that people where doing exactly this. Opening more browsers etc to get a better chance to get a lower number in line, when entering from the waiting room. I think I was to stressed and I had also read that this might make you get thrown out of the line if you would have more then one browser open.

    Finally in! – Enter the Application

    I was closely following the PCT class of 2019 Facebook page and I could understand hat it would be though to get a start date in mid/early April as I wanted to. After about waiting 1:40 minutes I was finally in!. I went to April and cold see there was only one slot still free (34 and yellow). I selected it but when I pressed continue, I got the message that it was not available. April was now full!

    April is full 😦

    May 3 -My start date!

    After realizing that April was full i switched to March and selected a late March date, but the same thing happened now when I pressed continue. That the date was no longer available. I started to get a panic feeling. Available dates were disappearing fast every second. Was I not going to get a good start date. I then switched to May and could see that the first May date available was May 3. I selected it and hit continue fast. I was very happy when I was let through to the next page and I had May 3 in my hand. I filled out all details and I was happy. Although. I had to start rethinking. Was this even possible to do a thru hike in less time and starting in the desert when it is hotter? There is also a possibility to change the date. 15 more slots per day will be released on January 15 and cancellations will occur so that if I want to change I should go into the PCT Permit site regularly.  But the more I now think of it I think that May 3 is a good start date for me. Chances are good that I will keep it. Now I need to start looking into the gear I need 🙂

  • Hiking shoes – Salomon X Ultra 3

    Hiking shoes – Salomon X Ultra 3

    I will try this shoe now here in Sweden and see how it feels. I ordered them yesterday from addnature.se and they arrived today. I will give them a try immediately

    The Salomon X Ultra 3 has only received good reviews of those I could find, see below

    https://www.switchbacktravel.com/best-lightweight-hiking-shoes

    https://trailtopeak.com/2018/03/19/top-14-trail-shoes-for-the-john-muir-trail-and-pacific-crest-trail-2018/

    http://www.cleverhiker.com/footwear/

  • Inspiration from a 2018 PCT thru hiker

    Inspiration from a 2018 PCT thru hiker

    Last week I was invited to Jonas who now is back to Sweden, to listen to him present some stories and photos from his recent PCT through hike. He also showed and talked about his gear used. For me my plan to actually hike the PCT in 2019 became more real as I stepped into the room with 10-15 people as audience.
    Jonas presented me as ”This is Thomas and he is going to hike the PCT in 2019” . Felt good to hear but made me also a little nervous – Will I actually make this?

    Jonas went through his whole hike starting from Campo at the border to Mexico and ending at Manning Park in Canada. He showed pictures and I could get a glimpse of the life on the trail. Hiking the PCT is not only an experience of nature and the wild it is also a social event as it it is getting more popular (50 person/day starts every day in april) When hiking the PCT you will meet many people of different origin, backgrounds and ages. It is going to be fun. I enjoyed all Jonas pictures and description of many odd characters that he met.

    Gear – 343

    Jonas also talked about gear and the 343  concept developed by Jörgen Johansson. Meaning that the following gear should not add up to more than 3 kg

    1. Shelter (tent, tarp – divide by number of inhabitants!)
    2. Sleeping (sleeping bag/quilt + sleeping pad)
    3. Carrying (backpack)

    My notes during the evening

    I took some notes. So I could check some things out later

    Jonas said that American style of hiking is not as rigid as the swedes do it. It is more kind of  rock n roll. It will suit me fine 🙂

    The PCT is divided into section A till L

    The Guthooks app is used for map. Works well with a phone in flight mode and a big power bank.

    Places of interests

    Some places along the trail that Jonas mentioned are as follows:

    • Mount Laguna
    • Mikes place
    • Hiker heaven
    • Muir pass (One of the hardest sections on the trail)
    • Evolution valley
    • Tuolumne Meadows
    • Etna (A very nice town)
    • Steve Potts (A MTB legend)
    • 3 days off in Bend and Portland (Was too nice and comfortable)
    • Timberland lodge
    • Bridge of gods
    • Trout lake

    Gear

    Some gear stuff to check out

    • Gossamer Gear tent (used by Jonas)
    • Gortex socks (Very nice to have when wet)
    • Recommendations for noobs is to hike in light weight boots
    • Recommends a Soto stove
    • Recommendation can be to check out the Merell or Keen boots

    Jonas offered me to be his personal Coach. I am very happy for that

    Hiking shoes

    First thing for me is to sort out what shoes I will go with. I think this will be very important. I want to buy and try some shoes soon. I have always hiked in heavy boots before and I have not have had any problems. But the longest hike so far is maybe 10 days. When reading and watching YouTube, I understand that a majority recommends and hikes the PCT in Trail runners.

     

  • Permit Application date is November 14

    Permit Application date is November 14

    The PCTA.org now just communicated that the date when the 2019 permit application is opened. On November 14 2018, at 10:30 am US Pacific time. This will be at 1:30 am Swedish time, so it’s going to be a late night between Tuesday and Wednesday,, with little sleep, between November 13-14 here in Sweden

    The website is opened for application. 35 permits per start day will be available an 15 more on January 15. As there has been an increase of permit applications every year as the PCT hike gets more and more popular, they now this year are introducing a waiting room at the website.

    I will aim for a permit mid April. Very exited and hoping to get one.

    Link to PCT permit page

  • B1/B2 Visa application approved today!

    B1/B2 Visa application approved today!

    I have decided to start writing the blog in English. I have included the google translate below so it should be easy to read fairly well in any language 🙂

    Today was a very sunny and nice morning in Stockholm. The city showed its best side, water and sunshine. I went to the US embassy by foot I had an interview appointment at 9:30 PM. When I arrived at the embassy entrance it was about 30 people inline. A US embassy guard asked if anybody had a laptop. I said yes and he told me I couldn’t bring it in and the option I had was to leave it at the church across the street. I left the que to leave my laptop at the church. They wanted 30kr to store it. So good business for the church by the embassy!

    Went back to the line and it took more than 30 minutes to get inside. On the inside there was a 45 minute wait until I was called in for interview. The first person to interview me was a Swedish man who asked me why I was applying. I told him about the PCT and he wanted to know more. I told him about the PCT permit and that the hike is getting more popular each year. He had understood that on the increase in Visa applications. We made some jokes on my passport photo, as I look like a serial killer on it 🙂

    I then had to sit and wait again for about 20 minutes to get the message if the Visa is approved or not. My name was called again. I now had to do the 10 finger fingerprint and a woman asked me questions, if it was ok with my job to go (answer that I haven’t told them yet) if it is ok with my wife ( answer yes).

    I then got the message that my Visa application is approved!!

    This is another step towards the PCT adventure dream! We will see if all the pieces will fall in place so it will become true.

    The next step is to get the PCT permit on November 1 and do a lot of research on gear, food etc to learn more on