Summer winds down, prep winds up.

After an insanely busy summer of working at a variety of events all over Ottawa and as far as Toronto, and a season of the usual training and racing, summer is certainly winding down and the feeling of an Ottawa Autumn in in the air. I love this time of year, I love being outside in the fall, enjoying the cooler weather and watching the season change before us.

This also means that we'll have more time to be home and put in some serious prep for next year's hike. We have a TON of food preparation to take care. Dehydrating fruits and veggies will be a massive undertaking, as will planning daily meals / snacks that will offer us the nutrition we are looking for with adequate calories to fuel the long days of hiking. I've really been looking forward to this time, to actually feel like we're making progress towards the ultimate goal.

I've also been looking for sponsorship in the way of product from a variety of brands that we are very fond of. I'm hoping to save on some costs so that we can really make this happen and maximize what we can do for the charities. As we really get into the planning and prep and we have some stuff prepared, I'll start recording some videos for YouTube.

PCT Training

Hiking the 4200km of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is undoubtedly an incredible test of body and mind. One that can't be taken lightly. With this in mind, we'll be training our bodies to withstand the rigors of hiking 30+ kilometers day in and day out, carrying up to 40 pounds or more in gear, water and food.

This will take significant physical fitness, specifically a combination of aerobic endurance, upper body and core strength and flexibility. All of these will help prevent injuries, especially early on, while we adjust to the trail. Many people start the trail with all the motivation in the world, though undertrained and injury prone. They put in too many miles too early and wind up getting injured, taking them off the trail for a few days or even for good.

We already keep pretty fit, but if we  can tailor our training to get us the best shape possible for the challenge we will face, we will be way ahead of the game and really enjoy the first few weeks.

Starting in November, I'll be doing a lot of cycling. Great for aerobic fitness, and great for leg strength and power. At the same time I'll be doing regular kettle bell workouts, which are incredible for core strength and overall conditioning. A few times per week, I'll be doing traditional weight training, which will help me gain upper body strength and build some muscle. I know that I will lose weight on the trail, so I might as well go in with a head start in terms of muscle mass. Finally, we will be consciously stretching (especially Brian) so as to decrease chance of overuse injuries.

On The Daily

We think and talk about the trail daily. We've committed to doing this thing, way over a year in advance and the just makes the whole waiting period that much more painfully long. Every day we're reminded in some way of what we'll be doing a year from now. This weekend, for example, we were staying in downtown Toronto for a couple of days for work. Despite having an incredible view from our hotel room in a classy hotel, I couldn't help but be reminded of how much I look forward to getting away from everything that a busy downtown of a big city is all about. The smell of thick humid air radiating off the concrete and ashphalt and the piles of garbage on sidewalks, and the smells of dumpsters on a hot summer day just make me wish for the the day we start our hike. Everyone in a busy city has their own agenda, their own jam packed schedule that doesn't leave room for common courtesy to a fellow citizen. More and more we become self absorbed in our own lives, living attached to technology, walking and surfing, driving and texting, that we miss out on so much of what the REST of hat life offers. The goal of technology, at the end of the day, is to make life more convenient, to get routine tasks done quicker, to work more efficiently, to communicate easier, to live life at a blistering pace so that we can be more efficient with our time. What's the point, though, if we never use the extra time we save to SLOW down, appreciate the simple things in life that bring joy? I'm rambling, I know that, but this may be the single most important driving force behind our daily motivation to make this hike happen.

Rant over.

The Goods

We recently went on a bit of a tear with buying up our gear. Got some great deals on a number of items, and from the generosity of Aaron Labarre of Popeye's Supplements, we were able to get ALMOST all of the gear we need for the expedition.

From Right to Left:
Top Row:
Red Ram Merino TShirt
MEC Merino Hoodie
Patagonia Down Sweter
MEC Lightweight Rain Jacket
Exoficcio Men's Airstrip Lite

Bottom Row:
Marmot Trail Wind Jacket
Under Armour Underwear
Patagonia Capilene 2
Chlorophylle Raid Pants
Brunton Solar Charger
Spot GPS Unit

From Right to Left:
Top Row:
Patagonia Capilene 2 Long Johns
Moving Comfort Charity Bra
Asics T7 Short
Mec Merino Lightweight Hoodie
Middle Row:
MEC Merino Lightweight 2 S/S Crew
North Face Horizon Spire L/S Shirt
Marmot Trail Wind Hoody
Marmot PreCip Jacket
Patagonia Down Sweater
Bottom Row:
Chlorophylle Impulsion Pants
Outdoor Research Sun Bucket
MEC Thundersnow Toque 
Smith Redline Max Sunglasses 

Reluctant Retreat

After hours on the road, we finally reached Rain Lake, our entry point to Algonquin Park for our big 4 day hike. We had been looking forward to this hike so much and had put a ton of time and some money into preparation, so the feeling of finally being able to get on the trail and just walk was awesome. We packed up our bags, fitted our gaitors on our shoes, greased up our feet, slapped on sunscreen and Deet and hit the trail! Amazing feeling to be maching along the trail towards a destination. Every footstep is progress. What we weren't ready for were horse flies. I'm not talking the odd one or two, I'm talking swarms. Relentless swarms of these buggers that wanted blood, our blood, and they were gonna get fed or die tryin'.

After an hour or so filled with frustration and every effort to outsmart these bastards, our efforts proved futile. We didn't like the prospect of continuing on into the woods, not knowing when or if these guys would disappear. After a little discussion, we decided that it simply wasn't worth it to continue on and risk a horrible 4 day experience. Instead we turned back, reluctantly and with some hesitation, headed back to the car. It was a difficult decision, but was the right one. We turned up at Julia's parents' place 4 days early surprising and confusing her family. The next morning Julia had 4 or 5 swollen bites, as always happens with her, and I had a few of my own. Imagine the shape we'd have been in had we spent 4 full days on that trail!

We will plan another trip for the fall sometime and have another crack. We're committed to this thing and will do what it takes to get our novice camping butts ready for the PCT!

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!!

Test trip #2

We just booked our second major test trip!

We'll be spending 4 days, 3 nights back in Algonquin Park, hiking the Western Uplands trail network of the backcountry. This trip we'll enter the trail from a different spot and hike 74.5k in total, covering a little of what we did last time as well. We're both pretty excited for this one as we took a lot away from our last hike and will be even better prepared for the terrain, weather and food needs!! Last time we felt we didn't pack enough food, mainly snacks. I think this time we'll pack 3 breakfasts and 3 dinners and TONS AND TONS of snacks to eat throughout the day. I'd be plenty satisfied with that.

This time around our packs will be significantly heavier due to increased food requirements and thus it's crucial that we take our time each day so that we don't kill ourselves just trying to get from A to B. That's more of a challenge for me than it is Julia. Sometimes I don't think of the fact that everything is so much more difficult for her because, despite the fact she's pretty darn fit, she's still a relatively tiny girl and so everything is just a little more taxing on the body. I'll try to carry the extra weight, but both of our packs will inevitably be heavier than last time.

Praying for good weather!!!

We'll be hiking July 22 - 25. Depending on how warm it is, I'm considering leaving my sleeping bag behind and maybe just bringing a light blanket of some sort.

We'll see!