Last week as a productive member of society!

So it's finally my last Monday of work. As I walked into work today, still tired and not entirely observant of my surroundings, I realized that this will be one of the last times I have to dodge bicycles flying past me on the Burke-Gilman trail. Over the course of my two year residence in Seattle, I've only had two major incidents on the Burke. I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

At work today I spent the morning perusing the usual weather forecast pages, trip reports, some of my favorite PCT blogs, and the Virgin River flow rates. I'm getting consumed by the idea that we'll be leaving soon. I can't seem to focus on much of anything except packing and preparing. Even when hanging out with my friends for some of the last times, my mind still wanders to logistics of the impending trip.

There is not much left to do to prepare for the thru hike. We've made our own tarp tent, dehydrated all of our food, planned our hiking schedule, calculated how many resupply packages we will need (eight, in case you're curious), secured our permits, and finished our gear lists. Despite being so prepared, I feel incredibly nervous for this life changing adventure.


You may not have realized that we're taking a mini-road trip prior to starting the hike on the PCT. We'll be climbing up some volcanoes in Washington and California, canyoneering in some favorite Utah spots, whitewater rafting in Westwater canyon, and heading back home to Cincinnati for a wedding. We'll start hiking the PCT in mid-June near Lake Isabella in central California.

I'm hoping to keep this blog updated once or twice a week until we're finished with our adventures in early October. I've downloaded the app for Blogger so I'll be able to update it on my phone. Stay posted!

On the agenda for this week:

• Pack all of belongings into car
• Say goodbye to everyone
• Move out of apartment
• Wrap up things at work
• Go to Molly Moons one last time