Sole for Soul

First blog post to get this up and running!

Hello readers! It's Lindsay, Ryan, Janis, and Kristi! This blog will follow our adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail as we attempt to traverse the western U.S. from south to north through deserts, mountains, and forests on nothing but the soles of our feet. Everything we need to survive for five months - food, water, clothing, shelter - we will carry on our backs, only stopping in trail towns to resupply approximately every three to seven days. For all of the information you could ask for on the PCT, we have posted links to the right of the page that will direct you to The Pacific Crest Trail Association, up-to-date trail conditions and closures, water reports, PCT news, topography maps, and the Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off (ADZPCTKO) event. Following is some background on the PCT.

The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U.S. Pacific coast. The trail's southern terminus is on the U.S. border with Mexico, and its northern terminus on the U.S./Canada Border on the edge of Manning Park in British Columbia, Canada. The trail runs continuously through California, Oregon, and Washington. The PCT is approximately 2,650 miles long and ranges in elevation from just above sea level at the Oregon-Washington border to 13,153 feet at Forester Pass in the Sierra Nevada. The route passes through 25 national forests and 7 national parks. The route is mostly through national forests and protected wilderness. The trail avoids civilization, and covers scenic and pristine mountainous terrain with few roads. It passes through the Laguna, San Jacinto, San Bernardino, San Gabriel, Liebre, Tehachapi, Sierra Nevada, and Klamath ranges in California, and the Cascade Range in California, Oregon, and Washington.

We begin our trek early morning of the 25th of April, 2013 in Campo, California at the California/Mexico border. Kristi's family is generously picking us up from the San Diego airport, hosting us overnight, then providing transportation to the border. We plan to start off strong on the first day of our journey, hiking 20 miles to Lake Morena Campground, the host of Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off (ADZPCTKO). This event offers seminars, up-to-date information on trail conditions, last-minute equipment checks, an opportunity to get to know your fellow hikers, and plenty of inspiration and guidance from those who've gone before. Here we will meet many of the approximately 300 (on average) thru-hikers that we will be attempting this expedition with. Although this hike is unguided, we will be backpacking with this mob of people during the first few weeks after kick off until we split at different paces. We plan to use the experience, expertise, and guidance of those out in front and those hiking with us. After all, it is said that the PCT community becomes your PCT family.

Keep checking back for updates on our trip! Happy trails!  - Lindsay, Ryan, Janis, and Kristi