PCT: Day 28: thinking about resupply

Rocky trail

Miles today: 16.7

Trail miles: 256.2

Elevation: 7595

Spinning on the turntable: Kid Rock: Born Free

Today we needed big miles to make it to the next water source. On the map below we stayed at the arrow on the lower left and we needed to make it to the water symbol at the upper center of the map (just above the word California).

Guthook SoCal
Guthook SoCal

We trimmed our morning break to fifteen minutes and our lunch to thirty minutes. We were tired when we rolled into camp but happy to see fellow hikers.

It was our longest stretch so far without a water supply, about 15 miles. We loaded up with an extra liter of water and did our best to make good time.

The more water we carry equates to higher feelings of security. However, the more water we carry also equates to more pack weight, since one liter of water weighs 2.2 lbs. It’s an endless cycle as the more water we carry the slower we hike, and the slower we hike the more water we need.

We made it to camp with an extra liter of water, so I carried an extra 2.2lbs of dead weight all day for no reason. Not a big deal for a day, but we’ll need to dial this in before the desert section where we’ll be carrying 6 to 8 liters each. We each currently carry two to three liters.

Our lunch today was pepperoni, cheese and crunchy peanut putter. It’s not a bad combination really…

Pepperoni, cheese and peanut butter
Pepperoni, cheese and peanut butter

7 Comments

  1. Chainsaw Manlove

    Sounds like you’re about as good at calibrating your water needs as you are an LS and RS 😉

    Reply
    • mcgarveysan

      LS and RS….these terms seem so distant and hazy. Best I can recollect is that the LS is similar to a horse in a burning barn in relation to correlation and the RS is elegance in design for correlation.
      Or something like that…..as long as we don’t run out of water or carry too much each day I’m happy. Lots of variation though; heat, slope, elevation, diet.

      Reply
  2. Heidi Halverson

    A pint’s a pound the world around.
    More water is more security. There’s no feelings about it.
    R U aware of the rules of 3s for survival: 3 min without oxygen, 3 hours without heat (eg in cold water you will die in roughly 3 hours), 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. Water is much much more important for survival than food.

    Reply
  3. rosiewalking

    I am having a big surgery tomorrow morning so I will be off the grid for a week or so . I will catch up with the two of you some time. Walk on and be sure to enjoy all of the comings and goings even if it leads to an extra quart of water at the end of the day………………rejoice!

    Reply
  4. Scott

    Incredible! You guys are doing so good!

    Reply
    • mcgarveysan

      Why thank you, thank you very much!

      Reply

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