Category: PCT 2023

Posted on

Weekly Update – Feb 10, 2023

Yeah, a little late again…

Fitness goals are not coming along as quickly as I’d hoped. I am trying to lose a bit of weight, but that isn’t really happening yet. I’m definitely gaining muscle mass in the legs, though.

I didn’t climb the stairs very much last week, at work, but I am doing so more this week. I really miss the stair-flights-equivalent count in the new Fitbit Charge 5, but I’ve been doing in the range of 75-100 flights per day (750-1000 feet of gain).

Went to the boat show on Friday the 3rd, and learned some good info. Also saw some lovely boats. I joined the Bluewater Cruising Association, though I have no immediate plans for cruising. But planning to sail to Hawaii in 2024, I’m hoping to learn some good info!

I have been busy this week with working on a computer project at home, which is taking away from both hiking and boat time, but hope to be done with that soon.

One thing I am working on at the boat is a new cover for my electrical board behind the dinette. Here is a view toward the electrical panel. You can see that the wiring is currently a mess – Along with the table, it will be tidied up soon! The red arrows point to the new electrical board. The green arrows point at the electronics panel that I made. The yellow box outlines the cabinet I fabricated and glassed in.

And below is the new panel I’m making. 1/4″ marine plywood which will be sealed, and get a coat of glass and gelcoat. Will be held by a slot on the bottom, and two pull latches on the top. Then the dinette cushions can lean back against it!

Anyway, this week’s numbers follow:

Stats for 29 January – 4 February, 2023

  • Steps: 104350 (avg 14907) down 8% from last week
  • Calories burned: 22078 (avg 3154) down 1% from last week
  • Average resting heart rate: 51.6 (down from 54.1 the week before)

Posted on

Weekly Update – Jan 31, 2023

Look, I’m early to the update party this week! I use numbers that are totaled every Sunday, covering the previous Sunday through Saturday. Recently I’ve not gotten around to it until mid-week or so. I’m going to try to update earlier in the week, so the numbers are fresher.

By the way, 87 days until I begin hiking the PCT…

I managed to up the steps a little bit over the past week, despite working a whole lot. The resting heartrate is down marginally as well.

What else to say? Boat-wise, I found out that I passed my Basic Coastal Navigation Course exam. The mark wasn’t as good as I’d hoped, but a pass is a pass. Boatwork is coming along well, and I’m hoping to get out for a sail on Thursday. Wind and weather look reasonable – low probability of rain, temps rising slightly to around 7°, and the wind should be out of the east to southeast at around 7-10 knots or so – at least in the morning. Should die down to around 5 knots mid-afternoon.

Also coming up this week – a trip to the Vancouver Boat Show on Friday. I’ll maybe post some pics on next week’s update – or sooner. Anyway, this weeks numbers:

Stats for 22 January – 28 January, 2023

  • Steps: 113289 (avg 16184) up 8% from last week
  • Calories burned: 22207 (avg 3172) up 1% from last week
  • Average resting heart rate: 54.1 (down from 55.9 the week before)
Posted on

Weekly Update – Jan 26, 2023

Another week has gone by, and planning for the PCT is proceeding. I have now booked my flight down to San Diego, as well as a night at a hostel in town, and a shuttle to (and night at) CLEEF. And what is that? CLEEF is the Camp Lockett Event and Equestrian Facility. It is a non-profit corporation that provides event and equestrian facilities on a 167 acre property just outside of Campo, California. The important thing to PCT hikers is that the property is located about a half mile from the start point of the trail.

CLEEF offers inexpensive camping prior to beginning one’s hike, as well as a twice-daily shuttle from San Diego to the campground – including stops along the way at the San Diego REI (outdoors equipment store) and a grocery store. It is not cheap, but it is incredibly convenient!

I have been working on figuring out my pack contents for at least the first quarter of the trail, from the Mexican border to Kennedy Meadows South – a point 700 miles along the trail that is considered the start of the Sierras. So this will take me through the southern desert sections, as well as up a couple of tall mountains along the way (Mount Baden-Powell and Mount San Jacinto).

As I get my gear more finalized (Buy a new quilt? Take a tarp instead of a tent for this section? Am I really going to cold soak??) I will post my plans. For now, I’m excited about my new Montbell Versalite jacket, and trying out some new Injinji socks instead of my old reliable Darn Toughs…

I just realized that my passport will expire in late August, at which point I plan to still be a couple of weeks away from home. I’ve just printed up an application for a new one, so hopefully they aren’t as backlogged on renewals as they were a few months ago…

One more thing – I went in for a consultation on having my eyes laserized. I’m planning on having a Lasik procedure two days after my final day at work, a month before I fly down to San Diego! I look forward to not having to carry multiple pairs of glasses and/or contact lenses along with me.

In the meantime, it’s time to update my Fitbit stats from last week. Not pretty, but at least I’m keeping the steps up!

Stats for 15 January – 21 January, 2023

  • Steps: 105201 (avg 15029) up 0.1% from last week
  • Calories burned: 21901 (avg 3172) up 1% from last week
  • Average resting heart rate: 55.9 (up from 54.6 the week before)
Posted on

Weekly Update – 99 days to PCT

Time to restart my weekly updates prior to hiking the PCT! I have 99 days until my permit date, so let’s start right now!!

I plan to update daily on Sunday (numbers run Sunday to Saturday), so I’ll update with those totals.

First off, I bought a new FitBit recently – the Charge 5. I love the unit, except for one major downgrade – it no longer has an altimeter in it, so it doesn’t measure floors (flights) any longer! Otherwise – great display, great ergonomics. But the downgrade in measuring fitness goals is a big disappointment.

Over the past 8 months, since Chester the dog got sick, my fitness goals have absolutely languished. I gained a lot of weight. My resting heartrate skyrocketed. My daily steps plummeted.

I am going to post some of the numbers (averages) from the last few months, just to try to track some changes over the last while…

Daily Averages in:StepsHeartrateCalories
June8976512929
July8900512897
August7473522747
September6186532644
October7597542745
November9612532876
December9867552849

So none of that is great. However, I’ve recently begun stepping it up a bit. Here’s this past week’s numbers:

Stats for 9 January – 15 January, 2023

  • Steps: 105134 (avg 15019) up 20% from last week
  • Calories burned: 22438 (avg 3205) up 6% from last week
  • Average resting heart rate: 54.6 (up from 53.7 the week before)