Four Day Hike Prep

After our last trip in May, we realized that we really shorted ourselves on the food side of things. We were somewhat lucky that we decided to bail a little early and cut the trip shorter than we intended, because we would have definitely ran out of food. This time around we've gone BANANAS! We've dehydrated a bunch of apples, bananas and even made a fruit leather. We've also got 6 detour bars at 460 cals each, and 10 Elev8Me bars at about 240 cals each. Both bars will not melt in the heat and both have some good protein content. We've also got 3 hearty breakfasts of oats, almonds and dates, with cinnamon and 3 dinners, 2 of which will be rice noodles and one of lentils. We've got some trail mix type stuff as well and some "cashew clusters" that we picked up at Costco. I'm thinking we'll be good this time around!!

Another thing that we learned last time was that our hydration strategy was less than optimal. We each had 2 x 1L bottles that we refilled and treated as we went. Problem was, they were never really convenient to drink from as we needed to take off our packs to get them from the side pockets or stop and help each other take them out. A few weeks ago, we picked up a couple 3L Osprey Hydraform bladders. Hopefully with this thing, we can fill it up each morning with clean water and have it last a good while and then add more mid day from the 1L bottles that we will use to treat the water with the AquaMira. Drinking will be MUCH more efficient and thus we will drink more often, which I think will be crucial as the forecast for this trip is HOT HOT HOT!. I'm also bringing some electrolyte caps to pop throughout the heat of the day, as I prefer to drink water but need those electrolytes to stay appropriately hydrated.

We both have some new shoe / clothing items to test out this time around. I picked up a pair of Brooks Cascadias, which have great reviews for long distance hikes and the ones I'll probably go with for the PCT. Julia found a pair of North Face trail runners that she really likes and will be trying them out with a pair of Superfeet in them.

For this trip, we'll be leaving our wicked awesome, super lightweight, super expensive sleeping bags at home. I really don't think it's going to cool off much at night, probably lows of like 20 - 22C. We're simply going to bring a bed sheet, and maybe a pair of light tights, just in case.

Anyways, that's it for now! We are PUMPED!!