Adri and Me at the Fence!

Today is the day! Adriana Boylan and I are headed down to the border to El Campo, CA to the southern terminus of the PCT. Adriana thoughtfully described today like Christmas.
We spent all yesterday completing errands like  grabbing that last chunk of extra sharp cheddar cheese at Trader Joe's, purchasing a small backpack sized ukulele, stealing plastic utensils from the McDonald's in Mentone, CA, and raiding REI to find items like a watch and a silly sunhat with a fantastic flap in the back for sun protection despite the weather forecast predicting rain and thunder showers!!
Since I am up at High Trails (the outdoor school where I worked last year), where we show our appreciation for people by giving them "kudos", I thought I would mention a few people who have helped me out. Kudos Caroline and the Square House for hosting me! It has been so nice to see everyone again! Thank-you to Emilie, Callie and Anna for a wonderful reunion in Colorado and thanks to Ryan for taking his free time to drive us ladies to the start of the PCT. Finally, I just want to mention how fantastic it is to be planning this trip with another individual. As many of you know, Adriana is such a wonderfully positive and caring individual and I am so excited to start this adventure together. Adriana is also keeping an awesome blog about her experience www.whileshemoves.blogspot.com.
Finally, thank-you to people like Henry, Kristina, Evan, and Chris who are supporting our efforts to raise money for SheJumps.
I sign off for now and leave you with a poem by Robert Frost.

Desert Places by Robert Frost

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast
In a field I looked into going past,
And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,
But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it—it is theirs.
All animals are smothered in their lairs.
I am too absent-spirited to count;
The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is, that loneliness
Will be more lonely ere it will be less—
A blanker whiteness of benighted snow
With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars—on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.

Dresses to Dust

Last night I thought about dust. Considering the first 500 miles of the PCT skirts the deserts of Southern California, it is a fitting visual. On the 26^th of April, Adriana (my hiking partner and inspiring educator and climber) and I will be starting our hike! (Image of the beginning of the trail below).

 For months I have slept with my window open and made an effort to spend as much time outside as possible. Now, with the trail only a few days away, I am experiencing a sudden drive to stay indoors and as clean as possible. Additionally, my ability to vegetate on whatever sofa is available to me has dramatically increased. This has given me ample opportunity to catch up on movies that I apparently missed out on as a child. The cheer-leading saga “Bring It On” is just one example. While movies like these can stimulate certain areas of the brain, for me, the outdoors seems to offer something more.

As a friend stated “Backpacking can be empowering because there is simplicity in this sport that does not exist elsewhere. I find it important to remind people that despite it [backpacking] seeming like a huge feat, it is actually quite simple. It helps me to reflect on how insignificant material possessions can be”.

Aside from the somewhat complicated logistics of planning a backpacking trip, once on the trail it suddenly becomes so simple. Sleep. Hike. Eat. Hike. Let’s hope that my experience this time around offers a similar simplicity.

I am currently in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, spending a few days my dear friends from Macalester College. On Monday, I’ll head to Southern California where Adri will pick me up and we’ll spend two days visiting with friends from my past job at High Trails Outdoor Science School, sorting gear and purchasing a few other last minute items like fuel for cooking and a wide brimmed hat for sun protection.

I hope to send a short update before I head out on the trail! Until then, I’ll leave you with a fitting quote I included in a recent email by John Muir as well as a quote offered by blog follower Abby! Cheers, The Honey Bear

“I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”  John Muir (1838 - 1914)

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Six days ‘til trail time!

I'll take it.

Today I spent an ungodly amount of time, arranging the gear I am bringing and I am excited to show you what items are lucky enough to be joining for me for 2663 miles.
First, however, if you are planning on following my journey, I would encourage you to subscribe to my blog!! This is easy. Simply enter your email in the slot that indicates "Follow by email" located directly below the information about me on the right-hand side of my blog.  Also, as I have mentioned before, I am hoping to raise funds for SheJumps, a non-profit that provides women with community and support to spend time in the outdoors! Make a donation now by clicking here!
For those of you who have decided to donate! I am so grateful. Your efforts are encouraging other women (like me) to experience the outdoors.

I have divided my gear into three photos. The first image is the gear that I plan to carry on my body (outside my pack). The second image are additional clothes and my sleeping bag, and are all the other important (and totally unnecessary items I will bring with me). Despite taking an embarrassing amount of time to figure put these packing tables and images together, I had fun doing it and am excited to show you.
Best,
The Honey Bear

Items worn on Body (See Image 1)	Weight (grams)	Specifics
Bra	92	NikeFit Dry (Size 4-6)
Socks	27	Smartwool HP Cycling Ankle Sock
Skirt	128	Patagonia Lithia Skirt
Shirt	87	Li-Ning Drifit
Gaters	27	Dirty girl gaters: shagadellic blue
Shoes	480	New Balance Running 490GB1
Underwear	26	Patagonia Bearly Hispter
Sunhat	83	Sports Authority Blue with Tree Design
Trekking Poles	439	REI Titanal LightWeight Aluminum
Total Weight	1389	Weight in Pounds 3.061 lbs.

Packable Items (Image 2)	Weight (grams)	Specifics
Sleeping bag	880	REI W’s Subkilo 750 Fill Down
Rain jacket	107	Homemade Tyvek Jacket
Warm Jacket	360	Montbell W’s Alpine Light 800 Fill Down
Pants	102	Cheap fleece pants purchased in Chile
Baselayer	118	Smartwool Microlight Long Sleeve Crewtop
Extra Hiking Socks	27	Smartwool HP Cycling Ankle Sock
Hat	29	Craft %100 Polyester
Warm Socks	41	Smartwool Jovian Striped Socks

Packable Items Continued (Image 3)	Weight (grams	Specifics
Backpack	1237	The Northface Terra 40
Tent	763	Henry Shires Contrail Tarptent
Sleeping Pad	263	Thermarest Z-Rest
Water Filtration System	176	Steripen
Cooking Pot	99	Evernew Titanium .9L
GPS System	117	SPOT
Cell Phone and Charger	194	Sprint LG Smartphone
iPod	21	Apple iPod Nano Graphite 8G
Stove	86	MSR Pocket Rocket
Utensil	9	Guyot designs spork
Journal, Map, Pens	180	Data book, Decomposition Book, mechanical lead pencil and black pen
Holding containers	23	Sea to Summit Ultralight Mesh bags x 2 (Size XS, L)

This list still needs some revising. If you feel moved to provide some idea for how I could improve this list, I am always open to suggestions!
In Eugene it is Spring. So today I leave you with one of two poems titled Spring written by Mary Oliver. Thank-you Callie Thuma for sending this in my direction. Blessings.

Spring

By Mary Oliver

Faith 

is the instructor.

We need no other.

Guess what I am, 

he says in his 

incomparably lovely

young-man voice.

Because I love the world

I think of grass,

I think of leaves 

and the bold sun

I think of the rushes

in the black marshes

just coming back

from under the pure white

and now finally melting

stubs of snow.

Whatever we know or don't know

leads us to say:

Teacher, what do you mean?

But faith is still there, and silent.

Then he who owns

the incomparable voice

suddenly flows upward

and out of the room

and I follow,

obedient and happy.

Of course I am thinking

the Lord was once young

and will never in fact be old.

And who else could this be, who goes off

down the green path, 

carrying his sandals, and singing?