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Well...As of now, I plan on thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I say "as of now" because I go through phases where I question the whole thing. I will discuss this later. But right now I am about 90% sure I want to do it.

I wanted to create this blog so people could follow my progress in my preparation and eventually follow my progress along the trail. I plan on discussing my gear, itinerary, and all other preparations I will be making for this trek.

I have started this blog a little early, the normal start date for thru-hiking the PCT is around the end of April through the middle of May. So I have PLENTY of time to prepare.

Many people who decide to hike the PCT have little to no experience hiking in the wilderness. They decide to hike the PCT to get away on an adventure of a lifetime. They must spend months researching information on techniques and proper gear for long distance hiking.

Luckily, I am no beginner. I have been backpacking for over 12 years and have accumulated hundreds of miles on the trail. I've been on countless short weekend trips and my longest being a 3 week thru-hike of the John Muir Trail.

The John Muir trail is a 211 mile trail that starts in Yosemite Valley and ends at the top of Mt. Whitney. About 85% of the JMT actually follows the same trail as the PCT. I hiked the John Muir Trail last summer (2010) and since then, I knew that some day I needed to hike the PCT.

While we were hiking south on the JMT, we ran into many PCT hikers heading north on the same trail. We camped a few nights with different PCT'ers and talked with many others along the trail. They were some of the most relaxed and easy going people I have ever met. They all seemed to love being on the trail and living a simple life of waking up, hiking all day, finding camp for the night, sleeping, and getting up the next day to do it all over again.

I got a glimpse of this life while hiking the JMT. Within minutes of finishing the JMT, I immediately wanted to turn around and hike for another 3 weeks back to the start. I didn't want it to end. I wanted to keep hiking. Maybe I was addicted to the thru-hiker lifestyle. Or maybe I just didn't want to return to civilization and all of the stress that comes along with it. Either way, I knew I wanted to embark on another long distance hike in the near future, and that will be the PCT.