We've only just begun (having our fun)...

We're about six weeks into our journey of training for our summer hike, so I figured an update was in order. With the exception of this last week, we have managed to stick to hiking at least once a week (sometimes twice), camped overnight in the pouring rain, and most importantly, we've learned a lot more about ourselves to become more prepared for the trip.

As you could guess, one of the greatest things we've discovered is just how much we need to learn before July. For one, I need to get way better at my sense of direction. Each and every trip we've taken thus far, has resulted in me getting us, at the very least, off track. The problem stems from A) the lack of proper planning beforehand (looking at a map once would be ideal), and B) my morbid curiosity with seeing where a different path will take us, and C) I tend to just follow my dogs whichever pathway they take. Fortunately, we're in good shape, so we've been able to run the trails to make up for lost time. 

On our most recent adventure, once we realized we were pretty lost -- lost is a loose word, as we knew where we were, but also knew it was nowhere near where we wanted to be to get back to our car -- I came up with the idea to text our friend Carl to come pick us up at the lip of the trail that we were on. Why Carl? Well, first of all, I knew he was off work that day and available to come get us. Secondly, I know he's been lost on those same trails before, so he wouldn't give us too much crap. Though, this really wasn't the greatest advertisement for getting him to join us on the PCT this summer. The problem was, I didn't know his phone number by heart, and I had left my cell phone in the car. This is when it dawned on us that we need to start learning phone numbers for real -- add that to the list. I came up with the plan to text a different friend, whose number I thought I remembered by heart due to seeing it time and time again in his signature line at the bottom of all of our email conversations back and forth. I knew he had Carl's number and could text it to us. I used Kaity's phone to shoot him a text referring to the code name I gave him a couple years ago so he would know it was me texting him from a random number. I didn't want to use our names in the text just in case it wasn't him. Looking back, I should have also added in a "The fish flies at midnight," just to be extra mysterious and code-like, but decided to refrain until I got a response back. But alas, no answer. At this point I realize that I most likely got the number wrong, and have now officially instigated a conversation with a complete stranger, who thinks I know someone named Louise Ramone. By the way, if you don't already, you should code-name all your friends. It just makes life more fun. 

About an hour later, we managed to find a trail that led back to where we wanted to be. Fortunately the PCT is a through trail that doesn't require us to end back where we started, since that seems to be the most difficult part of our hiking. So thus far, we have been successful in practicing some of the things on our brown paper bag, like making in the woods, and then of course, hiking our asses off. We've researched more information about the trail, and have started a collective list (more formal than the brown paper bag) of items we still need to purchase before summer. 

Turns out, the phone number I texted was wrong, but only off by one digit. A few mental notes we made after this trip besides the phone number deal were that a half of a turkey sandwich beforehand does not equal enough food for a two-hour hike, a dead blackberry patch is not the appropriate place to take a dump, dogs will lead you astray if you roll all your dice on them, and sometimes the view from the top of your hike isn't worth the hike in itself. 

"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir.