Author Archives: tomconnolly3

With just 1 week before my start, the PCT blues have set in

My Gossemier Mariposa 65 liter pack. Great outside storage. Weight 2 pounds. Big 3 weighs 7.8 pounds. Stove, 1st aid, electronics, extra clothes is 10 pounds. 3 days food and water is 13 pounds. Total 31 pounds

Over planning for this hike is very common. As Mike Tyson used to say, “everyone has a good plan until I hit them in the mouth”. Since the PCT will undoubtedly hit me in the mouth several times, I have decided to keep things low key and not aggressively planned out. As of today, theseContinue reading “General strategy and plans for the hike”

At this point my training and preparation started to ramp up. Rose found a great training hike in Guinda, Pierce Canyon Falls, and I tried that a few times over the next month. It’s an 8.4 mile up and back round trip road with about 900 feet of elevation gain and absolutely, positively, no waterfallContinue reading “The end (of my training for the PCT) Nov 2020 to March 22, 2021”

I joined Meetup and the Sacramento Backpackers group and took a series of great overnight backpacking trips in the Red Bluff and Cache Creek areas. “Just Mike”, Craig, and others provided valuable input and suggestions on the PCT and other hiking adventures and this assistance helped greatly in my preparations. I also did a 3Continue reading “The Middle (April 2020 to Nov 2020)”

Having little Backpacking experience, my training started with a local nature group, Tuleyome, which was hosting a beginning backpacking trip into the Cache Creek Wilderness area in February 2020 (thanks Sarah!). I registered, and began the arduous task of securing gear and training for the trip. Having no gear, I started shopping at Big 5Continue reading “The Beginning (February 2020)”