My husband and I have been planning this “hike” (2650 miles and then some…) for going on 5 years now.  (Thank you PBS for the inspiration) Things are lined up and we are preparing to launch ourselves onto the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) sometime in late March or very early April 2014.   Most of our gear is purchased…and tested for the most part . Once it’s all confirmed we’ll post our list for those who may be interested.  The food “thing” or rather our resupply strategy is evolving and starting come together (more on that in a later post).  We are probably fitter than we’ve been in nearly 10 years…lighter too. I’m gonna chalk that up to retirement and the jettisoning of stupid work related stress, as well as a significant change in eating habits.  As special shout out to OC Spine and Physical Medicine (Dr. Ryan) and especially Dr. Karen Bloch and Erika Figge (soon to be Dr. Figge) at Complete Koncepts for putting our battered and well used/abused bodies/spines back together again.  Playing outside full throttle all these years has not been without consequence, yet totally worth every memory and experience…maybe not so much the injuries though.

We are expecting this trek to take 5 months or so and are looking forward to the challenge and adventure.  Many of our family and friends believe us to be crazy, but then that is nothing new.  What a blessing to:

1. Be healthy enough to embark on such an adventure.

2. Have the means  with which to finance it

3. Have the time to thru-hike the PCT

4. Have the support of our family and friends…even if some think us crazy.

Our expectation is to hike the PCT in its entirety via a continuous thru-hike…Mexico to Canada.  We have no illusions that this will be easy, or even that we will enjoy all parts of the journey, but then nothing worth having or doing, ever is.  On our thru-hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail (165 miles seemingly uphill ALL ways) this last summer, we coined the term “2 more miles…” or “2 miles…” as the answer and strategies for all questions and challenges.  For example;  When should take a break?  How much further to the next water source.  How far back did we miss the turn? When should we stop and set up camp?  When did that blister happen?  How long have I been walking with a gapping hole in the front of my pants?  We should be able to talk to each other again in… The answer to every and all inquiries seemed always to be or involve “2 miles”.  Hence the name of our blog, “2 more miles”.  When things get tough we will always have 2 miles…and you can do anything for 2 miles.