Time flies
23 Days till my start date... Correction 22 days! I moved my start date forward a day.
The original plan was to spend 2 days in San Diego before heading down to Campo. Campo is the town little over a hour south by the border of Mexico, Which is where we north bound (nobo) hikers all start from. I was going to stay in a hotel for a couple days and bum around town and check out some restaurants and pick up any last minute items.
Instead I decided it would be a better idea to meet some more people in the PCT hiker community. I found a really nice couple named Scout and Frodo (those are trail names, they hike pct in 07) who have agreed to pick me up from the airport, let me stay at their place and take me to the Trailhead in Campo the next day. They have even mentioned giving me food while I was there! I won't be alone. They do this for a lot of hikers. Last year Scout and Frodo helped out abut 250 PCT hikers. They ask nothing in return, they help us hikers cause they just want to. We call these amazing people "Trail Angels". I am so excited to meet them and everyone else that's going to be there and starting the same day as me. So thats the latest news. Now to catch up on stuff.
I Finally got my new Gregory Z65 pack a couple weeks ago. Loaded it with 30lbs of gear and water. I'm almost embarrassed to say this... (Well almost) This is the first time I have hiked with a pack larger than a small hydration/camel back haha. Got to start somewhere I guess.
Hiking with a large pack for the first time... I was actually surprised multiple times during my little 5.5 mile hike. I felt good right out of the gate, as one would expect. The 1st 5ish minutes where great. However I was surprised first by how uncomfortable I started to become. Hip belt was pinching, shoulders hurting and even my collar bone was hurting. I thought wow this is going to be hard to get used to. I kept adjusting the straps as I went along Thinking I just need to toughen up. 2nd Thing, I was surprised that my legs didn't even notice the extra weight. My pace was the same as with my day pack. Training has paid off!!!! Of course 5 miles is nothing to the 20+ I'm going to have to do everyday on the PCT. So about the pack being so uncomfortable. I didn't need to be tougher, just smarter. I finally adjusted it "correctly" and It felt great again. I started focusing on my Gait and pace instead of my pack and I forgot about it completely for the most part. I pulled out the hiking poles and carried on. The 3rd thing I was surprised about was how fast I could walk with poles... Once again another first. I've never really hiked with poles before. Hiking with poles is awesome I could use them to propel me up hills and slow down and take pressure off the knees on the down hill. The last mile I did took only 13 minutes which is 4.6 mph that is 1.6 faster then I normally hike with my day pack (w/out poles). It was fun to say the least. 
Next post, more new gear, 18.5 mile training hike, and final preparations...
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