Alright, the 2016 PCT season is about to begin. I spent time last night and this morning getting maps together and making rough estimates for daily hikes. Here's the rough plan (not so rough for June, but definitely rougher later in the summer):
- Eleven days in June, starting on Sunday the 12th. We'll pick Tricia up in Sacramento (she's arriving there from Washington D.C. that day; she'll have just spent six days at our Capitol with part of her eighth grade class). I know that we'll do the 31 miles from our last end point to Interstate 5 (at Castle Crags) in two days. The trail then continues west into the Marble Mountain and Trinity Alps wildernesses as it slowly curves north and then east heading for the Oregon border (240 miles from this year's start point). I estimate that we'll hike 110 to 140 miles on this first trip.
- Eleven days in July. On this trip I suspect we'll cross into Oregon (!!) or come very close to it.
- About two weeks in August, ending a few days before Tricia's first day of high school (yes, you read that right: high school).
These are long trips on purpose; the drive's getting to be pretty long again and long trips make the most of the "Interstate 5 boredom and suffering" that we'll be going through. Looking at this schedule, I realize just how lucky I am have such an incredibly understanding boss
We've had one disappointment already this season in that Katie can't join us at all. She's just finishing her third year at U.C.S.B. and is leaving for a solo trip to southeast Asia starting from two days after the end of finals until the day before she starts her summer class. Not only will her trip prevent her from joining us; it's also fuel for Vicki and I to worry a little (a gorgeous 20 year old girl traveling alone in southeast Asia: what's to worry about?). On the other hand, she's been dreaming and planning for this trip for literally years, and we've been very impressed by her thoughtful and careful savings and preparations.
I am hoping to put together a fourth trip that will include Katie, sometime around Labor Day. She'll be free then, but travel will be tough and we'll need to take Tricia out of school for a day or two to pull it off. I'll leave that one as a thought for now and see what we can get together.
Other friends will be joining us too this season; Sharon in June and maybe others. Young Alex Dawson, who's appeared in these trip reports will join us for a week in August without his parents. Actually, he's become a story in his own right. After last year's trips with us he announced to his parents (at age 10) that he wanted to do the whole PCT in pieces, starting from Mexico. They listened and waited a month, expecting that he'd forget all about the trail. Uh, no. Alex has now dragged his parents on two trips, hiking (now at age 11) up to 24.0 miles in one day! His parents (some of our best friends) naturally accused me of "corrupting" their son. If getting a kid to hike with that level of commitment is "corruption," I'll gladly and proudly accept the label
