Sati:
Well, it’s official, Melody and I applied for our PCT and Whitney summit permits today and ordered data and guide books for the PCT in California. I can’t believe it, we are really doing it and now the preparations have officially begun. Guess it’s time to start looking at GEAR! 😀

Melody:
It is official. Barring any major roadblocks, we’re going to walk the length of the sierra nevada! 😯

As always, I have my worries:
What if I can’t do it and Sati can?
What if my feet start falling apart?

And as always, I am very excited for the opportunity to do something so big. And like any big personal challenge, it becomes less scary for me with each small accomplishment. We found a great tent, the cloudburst (thanks mom and egils), we’ve both read a wealth of solid information and pct hikers’ journals, we’ve dedicated ourselves to going light and started with titanium sporks, and we’ve been working out regularly. A tight-knit knowledgeable and experienced community surrounds the pct and discovering this has made this long section hike feel possible. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll be thru-hikers!

The next few months are going to require a lot of hard work and dedication. Mostly, I have to get my butt in shape. I’m starting to feel muscles develop, but I need to shed some weight. With all the preparation for the trip, I think my mind will be in a good place. We’ll need to get our gear sorted, plan our route in detail, plan our supply shipments, find partners for the Lassen start and the Whitney end, and find people to bring us pizza on the trail – heh heh. We’re considering skinning up and snowboarding down Lassen. Me on my new board. That’s a treat I hadn’t expected.

Sati:
I just got Melody and my thru-hike permit for our trip. This one permit will allow us legal access to the 3 national parks and many wilderness areas we are going to be passing through on our way down the sierra. The permit was arrange for us through the Pacific Create Trail Association (PCTA). They can issue anyone a thru-hike permit if you are traveling more then 500 miles on the PCT. They even were able to give us a Mt. Whitney zone permit for our Whitney climb which is awesome because those can be very difficult to get. It is a great service because arranging all the permits you would need to hike the sierra individually would be a big pain.

Now that we have our permit in hand we can legally make the hike. Yet another thing to get excited about as we prepare for our adventure!

Check out the permit:

Sati

Sati:
I just got back from a amazing snowboard touring trip in Rock Creek Canyon in the High Sierra. The High Sierra is so damn breathtakingly beautiful It is really going to be amazing to hike the whole thing this summer and see all these place that I have seen before and how they connect to the place I haven’t seen and each other.

This trip was also great training for the PCT. We hike at least 40 mile over a week. all in deep snow almost all while breaking trail. The first day we were out I had some difficulty with the altitude but as the week went on a began to feel strong and was able to hike well.

This trip is going to be the first featured trip on the Range of Light site. I should have it up in shortly so be sure to check it out!

Sati

Melody:
We’ve begun gearing up for the trip. Our one pound backpacks and two ounce hiking poles are here! Even our ultra light toothbrushes are here. I tell you, every ounce is starting to count. We also ordered custom made sleeping bags from [url=http://www.nunatakusa.com/]Nunatak[/url] which will arrive in six weeks. They make every order custom and have the lightest down bags we’ve found anywhere.

There is a lot of worry right now on the pct-l list about snow. El Nino is throwing a lot of snow at the thru-hikers. I’m glad Sati had the foresight to plan a southbound trip for our section hike. We’ll have the best shot at hiking through the least amount of snow this way. My biggest worry now is all the stream crossings. They are going to be raging with snowmelt. Brrrrr.

Sati:
Funny thing is I love snow. I love snowboarding and mountaineering and ski touring. A big winter in the Sierra should be a welcome event and it is but….

It also means some interesting challenges for our hike this summer. It is possible that we might see a significant amount of snow on the PCT. This is especially true in the High Sierra but we could also have snow and snow related issues like dangerous fords earlier on. I have started comparing snow survey data from 1998 (the last big El Nino year) to when we are going to be at various locations on our route. So far it looks marginally promising. Going SoBo was definitely a good idea and will help us avoid the tough situation that the NoBo thru hikers might have with the High Sierra. But even still it looks like we are going to see snow over the passes.

So for now melody and I have all but decided that we will wear trail running shoes for the northern Sierra and switch to a more rigid, crampon compatible hiking boot for the High Sierra.

My eyes are glued on the weather, what happen with more accumulation and with the thaw (when it finally arrives) will really tell us how much or if snow in the high country is going to slow us down.

Sati

Sati:
I have been busy over the past week and a half or so starting to map out our route. I am using Nat. Geo TOPO! software to trace the pct and the wilderness press PCT guidebooks. It is really neat to see (well through the map anyway) the place we will travel through and camp at on each day. It is kind of like a preview of the trip. A mental walkthrough of what Melody and I are going to experience in the a couple sort months.

I also add a page to the PCT part of the site that allow ez access to CDEC data on snowpack at various location along our route. This will be useful for monitoring how the snow situation plays out over the next two months. I was reassuring to see that the northern parts of our route actually have less snow then last year. The southern parts certainly have much more. But I looks like our SoBo direction might just work our well for not having this trip be an over snow adventure.

Sati

Melody:
Amid a flurry of snowpack-related emails on the PCT-L (email list), I’ve realized how lucky Sati and I are to feel comfortable with traveling over snow. I am going to try to stay open to the idea that we may just not be able to cover the distance we’re hoping for if much of the trail is buried. Post-holing is not quick.

Several people have said that they’d like to meet up with us along our route. Sati’s parents will probably meet us in Tahoe and my parents might even make the trip all the way out here from Massachusetts just to gather our tired carcasses at the end and get us back up to the Bay Area. I’d like to help them plan a little adventure of their own if they do come out here. Linda, Mike and EricD might meet us in Sequoia too. And I KNOW they’d have treats galore. heh heh.

We walked 8.6 miles yesterday without weight and it felt like a walk in the park. It actually was a walk in the park around Lake Chabot. It felt good though and we kept up a pace of about 3.5 miles / hour. I think we’re going to hike in Tahoe soon to carry some weight up a mountain and over snow.

I’m feeling fine and lucky to get the chance to go on an adventure like this.

Sati:
This Weekend Melody and I when for a hike around Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. It was a nice 10 mile-ish hike. We took a wine and cheese lunch and I broke out the fishing pole (even though I know that there are no fish in that lake). We were able to make the 10 miles at a good pace, about 3.75 miles/hr, which was reassuring. We now have 2 months left to train. My plan is to run at the gym 2-3 times a week, climb twice a week and hike outside twice a week. Hopefully in may Mel and I will be able to do some hikes with our full pack weight.

Speaking of…. We also have about 2 months to finish preparing for the trip. I am deep in the middle of mapping out our route, finding good campsites and water sources along our way and transferring all of this info onto a series of 4×6″ maps that we will use while we hike. They are coming out nice. Each has GPS coords and an elevation profile for a days worth of hiking.

So we need to start thinking about food planning. I think once I get done with the routing work. This will be an interesting an I think involved part of the pre-trip prep.

Mel and I also bought the pairs of shoes we are going to wear during the first half of the hike. Both of us got Vasque trail running shoes one the overwhelming recommendations of folks on the PCT-L. We used them on our hike this weekend to start breaking them it. I am very pleased with mine so far. Comfortable and supportive…. We’ll see what I think after another couple hikes in them. We are still up in the air about the pairs we will use for the second (High Sierra) part of our hike. We both are coming to terms with needing some kind of crampon compatible light hiking boot. We are both still holding out until we can tell a little better how much snow hiking we are really going to have to do so that we can determine just how light of a hiking boot we will be able to get away with.

Ahh, today I feel like time is passing faster then I am preparing….

Sati

PS: I am setting up an RSS feed for these journals so people who like to get this kinda stuff that way can. Anywho, more on that next time.

Sati:
I’m catching up on a couple of entries that I have been meaning to write but haven’t found the time until now….

Mel and I have started doing some “training” hikes. A couple weekends ago we hiked around Lake Cabot in Castro Valley. It made for a fun afternoon. Mel and I rolled out of bed at the crack of noon, went over to the deli and picked up wine, cheese, bread and salami and hit the trail. I bought my 2005 fishy license from the nice people at the EBRPS concession desk. Oh ya, I forgot to mention I brought out my fishy pole too. Of course I didn’t catch anything, but that’s OK, I don’t believe there are any fish in that lake anyway!

The hike as great we covered just about 7 miles in about 2 hours. Not to bad. It is really green in the hills right now. We even had a like hop across ford! 😆

Part of the “training” on this hike was to start breaking in our new Vasque trail running shoes that we are going to where on the northern half of our hike this summer. This was the first day I had worn might and they were comfortable right out of the box. I think they will be perfect for the hike.

Melody took a bunch of nice macro-photos, maybe she will post some to the her journal so we can all check them out. (Hint, hint)

More “training” fun in part 2 real soon….

Sati

Sati:
Still behind but catching up….

Last weekend (April 9) Mel and I when for a 12.2mi hike at Point Reyes National Sea Shore. Man that place is glorious. We packed up a picnic lunch of wine cheese bread and our favorite, salami and drove out to the point arriving at the bear valley trail head at about 2:30pm. A nice early alpine start!

We had picked out a hike up Mt. Worthington (?) and then down through Woodward Valley to the coast. The hike continued south along the coast to Arch Rock and then turned east back to Bear Valley. The whole hike was spectacular. The initial climb was steep but doable and full of lush forest with meows pack with irises and other wild flowers. The trail was surprisingly dry in this section considering it had rain hard not two days before. When we reach the highest point of our hike the wind was howling but it was a welcome relief to the heat. The Pacific Ocean spread out beneath us and was breathtaking.

The decent down Woodward valley was REALLY steep and Mel and I were glad to be going down and not up. We actually ran into a pair of hikes going up that asked us for directions. I bet they were not expecting the hills they were now climbing. Views of the coast and ocean abound as we drop down, down to the seashore.

Finally we reached the coast trail that runs the bluffs just above the ocean. As we hike south we watched wave crash on rock below us. Here we dodge mud puddles and waded through trail sections so overgrown with cow parsnip that you could not see your legs.

At Arch rock we stopped for “lunch”. It was about 6pm. We at and drank above crashing waves and with a seagull couple we came to call “the French guy” and the “Scottish guy”.

Finally under seriously waning ling we made the last 4 miles home. By the time we reach the car the stars were out and so was our headlamp.

Our longest hike of the year so far at 12.2mi and melody and I felt good. We were tired but our bodies held up well. I think we will come back next weekend and try a 14-15mi hike out to the esteros.

Sati

Melody:
After eight miles down to the water at Point Reyes, Sati and I stopped for lunch on a little land bridge between the estuaries. Birds were flying overhead, fishing along the banks, and strutting their stuff in the bushes. As our picnic unfolded, the birds got closer. And closer. And Closer.

In full spring regalia, the males squeaked, honked and bleated to the chicks. Their calls we so funny and heartfelt, that Sati was compelled to reply. His little feathered buddies called back! He talked to the birds for the rest of lunch and I captured it on video. Oh man, that was great.

I think we covered 13 miles that day. We were both pretty tired and somewhat stiff after that, but we had held up a decent pace and got some good vertical in as well. Next hike, I think I’ll add a bit of weight.

I developed a small but deep blister on my toe. It was my first day in my Merrill hiking shoe-like boots. My feet didn’t hurt during the hike. Hopefully, they’ll just toughen up in the next 2 months. I just received a book on preventative foot care for hikers and runners. Hopefully it’ll give me some good ideas.

We have eight weeks now til’ we leave! I think we’re doing pretty well. I’m a bit apprehensive about adding weight, but I gotta get used to it.

m

Sati:
I’ve finished at SFSU of the semester, the MHS graduation is tomorrow, two resupply packages are sent along with our bounce box and this Sat. Melody and I hit the road. The weather forecast is calling for chance rain this weekend. That would be an interesting and fitting way the start the trip considering this the way this winter has panned out. Melody and I decided long ago to take the trail on its terms and it looks like its going to hold us to it.

The lesson of the week is that the USPS does not know its own regulations. Melody and I both had to, on two different occasions, educate the post office on the fact that denatured alcohol IS mailable and how a package containing should be labeled. At least now the piedmont and El Cerrito post offices know how to deal.

A huge thank you in advance Mega Rocker and Tony for putting our journals and photos up while we are on the trail. Hopefully lots of people will be able to make it to our little send off party on Thurs.

The excited and a little nervous
Sati

Melody:
We’re officially vagabonds, having left our apartment to the subletters. The trip
starts in 2 weeks after a jaunt to Massachusetts for me and 13 more days trying to
get teenagers to care about their last days in high school.

whoa. it’s almost heeeerrrreee.

melody

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