Shopping and phones

Lets get the bad news out of the way first, as they say plans rarely survive contact with reality. Before getting here I had planned and promised regular (if not daily) blog updates from the trail, unfortunately this wont be happening now.
Don't worry I can hear you shouting why, well lets say I had my first taste of US mobile phone carries and I have to say I'm that I am surprised how bad the plans that are on offer are.
My requirements are
1. A SIM card (I already have a phone)
2. No contract (pay as you go, I'm only here for a few months)
3. Be able to make and receive calls
4. Be able to use internet/email
5. Reasonable coverage along the trail.

For anybody coming from Europe the first four items probably sound easy and if you browse some of the US sites like I did you might think it would be easy.

Well lets review the issues I had.

Firstly the question of coverage narrowed the realistic choices down to either Verizon or AT&T, no problem at least I have a choice :)

So Verizon seemed to have slightly better coverage from looking at the coverage reports on WWW.pctmaps.net

Unfortunalty Verizon do not offer any options to purchase a SIM only package, or at least not one that will allow voice calls, they do have SIMs but they are aimed at data only e.g. ipads and such, since I already have a very nice smart phone with me this is not much of an option for me.

So still not a big deal, I'm sure AT&T will want to take my money.

When I first start talking to the nice agent in the shop things are looking good, they have a nice package for $60 a month that seems to do everything I want, unlimited calls and unlimited internet including calls to Ireland, looks good doesn't it.....
That is what I was thinking as well until the bomb was dropped as they they say, the agent then mentioned that the unlimited internet part of the plan did not apply to smart phones,  that option is only available with a contract or on older non smart phones.

So instead of one of them getting at least 300 dollars off me over the next six months they will only get maybe 50 as I took the cheapest plan that simply lets me make calls and texts and pay for them as I go.

One item in the plan compares favourable to plans at home and that is 10c/minute national calls and 49c/minute calls to Ireland, this is well below the rate you pay at home on a basic pay as you go plan, but it's not all good, compared to home, you pay both to make and receive calls and texts here, so even if I only have incoming calls my credit is getting eaten up :(

So what does all this mean for the blog, well basically it means that I will only be posting updates when I can either get wifi coverage or get some other means of getting internet access. So please do not be surprised if it ends up being weeks between actual posts, to make up for this I have gotten a SPOT which I will use to provide basic updates, I'll post more about this in a day or so.

So other than my time battling phone companies, yesterday was a day filled with shopping and arranging some other final items.

I have to say that so far I am really enjoying San Diego, it feels very different to most other American cities I have been in (mostly east coast) it has an excellent public transport system so it is very easy to get around to the shops I need, so far I have only had to resort to taxis once or twice and that was more for convience than necessity.

At this point I probably have all the equipemnt I need to actually hit the trail (other than food, that's for today)
I will make a seperate post in the next few days with equipment details.

On the aggenda for today is food.shopping and looking at some of the gear that I got yesterday to make sure nothing is missing and to familiarize myself with some of it, as well as arranging to send my bounce box on ahead with unneeded items.

My current plans involve getting started on the trail on Monday (I have added and extra day in San Diego to see some more of the sights)

Well I think that will do for now, more posts to follow.

Good bye and thank you for all the fish

Okay so this post started out as my last posting from Ireland but I ran out of time in Dublin airport so it will just have to double as my first posting from America as well.

So arrived save and sound in America after an 11 hour flight and cleared customs and immigration sucessfully, I don't know if it is a good thing or not but I really don't mind long flights these days, well not as long as I have a decent book or two.

So what are the plans for the next couple of days?
Today and Friday should involve finalising some equipment and food so a visit to REI (large outdoors shop)  is in order as well as a large supermarket to see what food I want to try (remember coming from Ireland I know what types of food I want but not specific brands or anything, so the first week on the trail may involve different brands of the same thing just to see which I prefer for the rest of the trip)
Also I need to collect some equipment that was sent on ahead.
Today will be the first time I get to see some of my key equipment including tent, stove, backback and some others.

After (and probably during)  all that I also want to have a bit of time to see.San Diego as it is my first time here and I want to get some walking in to allow myself to acclimatize to the weather, while it will be different when I hit the hills it should ease me in a bit.

March 19th Update

Just a quick update since I posed in a while.

The count down is really on now 8 days till I leave Ireland (28th March) and 12 days till I hope to make my first steps on the PCT.

Its really hard to describe how I feeling at the moment about the trip, my emotions towards the hike are a real mixed bag, excited, nervous, excited, scared, excited, overwhelmed, you get the idea.

Before finishing up in work I had such good plans about getting in a lot of training hikes, unfortunately real life has intervened a bit, most of my time has been taken up with finishing up jobs around the house and getting it ready for my house sitters to move in next weekend.

One of the advantages of flying in from Ireland and planning on resupplying on the trial is that I don't have all the extra work of preparing shipping boxes of supplies.

Other things that have been going on in the last few weeks is some finalising of equipment, any mail order equipment that I needed is sitting in Boston (Thank you Dave) and should be getting sent to San Diego in the next day or so, this saved a lot of money on shipping but it means that the first time I will see some of my key equipment is when I get to San Diego and the first chance I will have to test some of it will be my first night on the trail (now you can see why the some of the nervous feelings are sneaking in)
It also means that my few days in San Diego are likely to be a bit hectic between equipment and food shopping, hopefully I'll still have some time to see a bit of San Diego as it is my first time there.

All required permits are now in.

• PCT permit, which covers access to the different wilderness areas and parks along the trail (otherwise you would need to get individual permits where required)
• California Fire permit, this is required to have any open flames in wilderness areas of California, which I will need for my alcohol stove.
• US visa, this is required because I will be in the US for longer than the normal 90 days that is normally available to Irish people, this was available from the Irish embassy in Dublin.
• Canadian entry permit, this is an additional permit that basically gives you permission to enter Canada via the PCT even though it is not a normal boarder crossing location, very simple to get, basically download a form on line, fill out and send off, I had it back in Ireland in less than 3 weeks and this included probably a week each way for postage.

So nothing really left except final get togethers with friends and family and getting on the plane.

I will try to get a few posts made form San Diego to update everybody on my progress and then regular updates from the trail.

Say what now

Okay in this post I want to try provide a glossary of terms I may use later in my posts.
Most of the information in there is from other sites including http://scottbryce.com/pct/glossary.html and  http://www.zaneritt.com/glossary/



Through Hiker - To me any hiker that is attempting to complete a complete trail or a significant portion of it.





Bear Can - A bear proof canister for holding food, required for certain areas, think giant child proof container.

Bounce box - a resupply box that you mail ahead to yourself for example to mail equipment that you don't currently need but will need at a later point, or for items that may be hard to get, I intend to use this for a number of items.



Cowboy camping- Basically camping outside without using a tent, I may cowboy camp a few times but currently plan on using the tent since I will be carrying it anyway.

Food Drop - A method of resupplying food by mailing it ahead to yourself using the US postal service, some people use this method for the majority of there supplies but it is less practical for me as it usually relies on families to periodically send the packages and make any changes that you need.  I will likely use it for one or two areas where resupplying is less convenient but will do the packages myself from earlier points on the trail.

The Herd (The Pack)- The main pack of hikers usually centered around the kick off weekend, this tends to be large in the early months but thins out as the trail continues. This occurs due to the limited weather window for completing a thru hike, I hope to be at the start of the pack at the start but due to low planned mileage at the start I'm sure I will end up in the middle of it.



Kick Off - An annual weekend event organized by former through hikers on the last weekend of April (27th - 29th April this year) at lake Morena which is about 20 miles from the start of the trail. I plan on attending mainly to meet the other participants but also as a good opportunity to replace any equipment I may not be happy with as a lot of different equipment is displayed there which I may not have an opportunity to get in Ireland.
To give it is official title Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off Party, ADZPCKKO or just ADZ

Hiker midnight - Usually sometime around 9pm or the time when most through hikers are usually asleep.

Zero (Zero Day) - A day where you cover Zero trail miles, usually in a town where you are resupplying or simply resting.

Nearo - A near zero or a day where you only cover a small amount of mileage, often just before coming to a town or just leaving.


Register - Logbooks that are maintained at different points along the trail which hikers sign to state where they have been and when, can also be used in emergencies for search and rescue purposes. some are maintained along the trail itself, others are hosted by businesses or trail angles along the way.

Trail Angel (Angel) - Anybody who goes out of their way to help a hiker, this could be as simple as providing a lift or spare food to somewhere to sleep for a night, right up to epic help like hosting and feeding hundreds of through hikers every year as some angels do.

Trail Magic - any nice and often unexpected event that befalls a hiker, this may be as simple as spare food being given to a through hiker by a weekend camper, up to coolers of food and drinks maintained along the trail, usually providing trail magic is enough to be classified as a trial angel.


Trail name - A nickname that is used by a hiker while on the trial or in discussions with other hikers, usually used to stop confusion because how many Johns will be on a trail at the one time or a description.
This is normally derived from some aspect of the hiker be it unusual funny or significant or some memorable event .Traditionally a hiker name can only be given by other hikers so currently I don't have one, it may also change due to significant events but usually sticks after a while.  Some people will try to pick their own name but may be renamed.

Yogi (Yogiing) - The art of convincing somebody to give you something for free, usually referring to a non hiker or a day tripper, it may be as simple as asking some leading questions such as how far is the town from here, do you know if there is a bus or such and letting the person decide if maybe they want to offer you help.
Also the trail name of a well know through hiker that publishes a handbook of useful trail information

Water cache - Caches of water maintained by trail angels especially helpful in sections that are normally waterless especially int he desert, very useful but can not always be counted on so should not be relied on to complete a section, this can be as simple as a few liters of water to caches such as this picture.
These are maintained by trail angels at their own expense and from reading other blogs they are often a very welcome sight in the desert.

Skipping - refers to skipping sections of the trail for different reasons, usually to skip particularly difficult sections, maybe due to snow, fires etc, People will often come back and hike skipped sections or maybe tackle the section from the other direction. 

Calorie loading - exactly as it sounds, loading up on calories especially during a town stop

Slack pack - Doing a section with little or no equipment, usually only food or water, usually where your equipment has been brought on ahead by car or some other means.

Camel up - drinking large volumes of water to save you carrying as much.

Flip Flop - Usually refers to skipping a section and then walking the missed section in the wrong direction, e.g. walking from the Mexican border to the Sierras then skipping up to the Canadian border and walking south bound to complete the missing sections.

Yo Yo - Something done by crazy people, which involves completing the whole trail first in one direction and then back again in the same year



Sun Cups - Refers to the uneven surface that is left when snow melts resembling a giant egg carton, these may be up to a couple of feet high

Post hole(ing) - Refers to breaking through a covering of snow, often into a cavity below, these may for around buried boulders or where water is flowing under the snow.

Hiker Trash - A general description of through hikers, may be due to the fact that through hikers are often confused for a homeless person especially away from common trail towns which may be less used to through hikers.


Base Weight - The weight of your pack and equipment excluding food and water and some other consumables.

Glissade - Sliding down a snow covered slope, more fun than walking, may require an ice ax to control your speed.

Heel stepping - A method of hiking down a snow covered slope that involves digging in your heels.


HYOH - Hike your own hike, basically hike your own way, just cos somebody else says you have to cover 30 miles a day but you only do 15 HYOH!

NOBO - Northbound starting at Mexican border and hiking north to Canadian border

SOBO - Southbound Starting at Canadian end and hiking south to Mexican border

What where when why how

Well it is the middle of a global recession (or whatever you want to call it), I have a nice secure well paying job with excellent benefits that I enjoy.





So I of course I do what anybody would do and hand in my notice.




I can probably hear lots of people at this point asking why, well I have a dream.., or maybe it is a plan (well it will be a plan with some more planning)

I intend to go for a little walk (well 2663 miles or as much as I can manage). The walk will be following the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) which starts in California at the Mexican border and winds it way up to the Canadian border.
Over the length of the trail it passes through 25 nation forests and 7 national parks.
The trail roughly parallels the pacific cost by about 100 to 150 miles, heights range from 140ft to 12,153ft.

For more information and some great pictures check out this Wikipedia article

I will be starting the trail in early April, flying from Dublin to San Diego on the 28th of March and starting hiking a few days later.

If I last the whole 6 or 7 months that I hope to be on the trail then I am planning on spending an additional 6 months traveling mostly around south east Asia and such, no specific plans for this portion of the trip exist yet but I hope to visit the following countries, New Zealand, Australia, India, China, Japan, Bali etc etc etc (South America?)


 What on earth would make me do something like this, well it all started with a little headache one evening in August 2010 when I was sitting at home.  Well to be honest the worst headache I have ever experienced along with almost passing out (anybody who has experienced migraines can probably understand)

Well this was a brain aneurysm bursting in my head, with in a week I had undergone brain surgery to correct this, followed by 5 months off work and an additional month or two of getting my energy back.

Well a near death experience like this can change your perspective on things (how near depends on the numbers you look at)

Two things that were always on my retirement bucket list were hiking the PCT and traveling around the world a bit more.
So I decided instead of waiting for retirement I might as well do it now while I had my health (or what passes for it), I had originally been thinking of 2013 or later but as anybody that knows me if I procrastinate about something or put it on the long finger it is unlikely to happen.  So taking the bull by the horns I started to plan for 2012.


My first plan had been to take a sabbatical from work for the year but this was not to be, so first obstacle in my way, I think it took all of 5 seconds to decide I was going anyway.  So my notice was handed in within 5 minutes of the news a sabbatical was not possible (Sorry for the shock guys)

I think that very roughly covers the What and some of the Why.

So I guess some more information about me for anybody that does not know me.
I'm in my early thirties from Dublin in Ireland, I have been involved with the outdoors for years firstly as a Scout then a Scout leader (taking a break from this for now due to the health reasons above, but as I see it once a scout always a scout)

My other main hobby is diving which probably does not have any bearing on the hike but will probably be important for the latter half of the trip.

Well that probably sounds too like a lonely singles advertisement but so be it.


Probably the only item left from the title is How, I will hopefully give some more information on this in later postings but at the moment the plan is one foot in front of the other.

Don't expect too many interesting updates between now and April, they will mostly be information around my plans and maybe equipment and such.
I hope to start daily posts once I start on the trail (probably posted in batches as I manager to get Internet access)

My next post will likely be a combined FAQ and explanation of some of the terms I might be using in the blogs.