At Home Trail Angels

Trail angels are the nickname given to people who, while they aren't thru or section hiking a trail, provide support and assistance for those who are. They come in many different varieties, from someone who picks you up while you are hitching to those who assist in the orchestration of thousands of hikers getting to trail heads. They bring water out to the desert, feed us, sponsor us, let us wash up ourselves and our gear. The list goes on.

I have yet to experience any of the on trail magic that trail angels provide, but I have already experienced it as I have been getting ready for the trail. These trail angels are the ones who are making this trip possible. Without them, I would be so much further behind or not even in the right place to think about everything going on. I am forever grateful for their part in our hike. And now presenting the first round of my pre-trail trail angels!

So What is There to Eat?

When you say, "Oh, I want to hike the PCT," you never really realize how much food you are going to need. I mean, you can sit here and go, "Sure, I will be out for about 150 days," but that really equates to something in the ballpark of 900 meals. I know not all of those meals are going to be made on a camp stove, but still. It's a big number. Then you have to add in the dog food for the trip, which is a pound a day, plus water. Yep, there is a lot of food going on.

The way we have decided to break it down (and please remember, this is all up in the air since we haven't even left yet) is that we will probably do about a third of our food through dehydrated meals I have made, about a third of our food through commercial freeze-dried meals, and about a third of our food through purchasing at stores along the way.

Resigning

Tonight, I attended my last meeting as a board member of the Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue Board of Trusties. And it was really hard. Made up of about 25ish people from a wide range of backgrounds, we come together to help maintain our organization. None of us got into search and rescue to sit in meetings and debate the best way to invest donations or which insurance option is the most fiscally sound for our organization. But yet we do this.

Lucky Dog: Health and Awesome Vets

One of the big things that I am focusing on leading up to this trip is making sure that he is in good health to start. Most of the time I have had him, I have done mobile vet services in the area. I know that these aren't the highest quality care I could have received, but I got what I paid for. They worked well for the situation. Going into this trail, though, I wanted to make sure I was giving Lucky the best care I could.

Mental Illness and the Trail: Part 1 - The Before

When I was talking about Lucky, I mentioned that he was an emotional service animal for me. What this means is that, in addition to providing comfort, he alerts when I am experiencing extreme emotions, most notably depression/anxiety. He will try to distract me from that emotion, as well as annoy the crap out of anyone around in an attempt to get them to "fix" my emotions.

Lucky Dog: Food

In as much as we have to get ourselves put together and have everything prepped for us to leave on the trail, I also have to do the same for Lucky. In some cases, it is even more important that I have everything prepped for him, as he is dependent upon us.

So when are you going to get married?

This is a question I feel like we have answered quite a bit from family and friends over the past who knows how long. I guess it just is something where we don't feel like it must be done now, nor are we both really ready for us to make that commitment.

Probably should back up.