Humble beginnings

Hi! We're Casey and Jessica and we're pretty excited to share in our adventure with you. We are attempting to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail this spring, and are getting ready to take off on April 16! With our impending departure teasing us, we've been doing equal parts preparing and procrastination, peppered with a healthy dose of panicking.

Casey and I grew up together in the cornfields of Indiana, generally getting into mischief and occasionally we were caught running together. College took Casey and I in different directions, me to Arizona and she to play soccer at Marian. But our distance didn't diminish our friendship. Our first real adventure together came when Casey drove with me from Indiana to Arizona our junior year. 

Road trips with friends!

We found Jesus in Texas!

Sedona is the prettiest.

From there it was Casey visiting me when I lived in Portland, Oregon. In Oregon we hiked the lava tunnels of Mount Saint Helens, explored the coastal paths near Cannon Beach, and this is when the seed was initially ever planted to maybe do a thru-hike before 30. Being so close to the PCT, and sharing in a love for the outdoors, we knew it would be something we simply had to do some day.

Beach walks.

Coastal views.

The Oregon coast is simply the best.

Mount Saint Helens adventuring.

After our Oregon adventure came our Spanish adventure. While I was in grad school I had pitched the ludicrous idea to Casey that she should come run a marathon with me, and she shockingly said yes. Not shocking that she'd be up for the trip, but shocking that I convinced someone to fly that far to hang! So Casey and I did the most physically challenging thing either of us have done to date, running for a straight 26 miles. We then galavanted around northern Spain for a few weeks, and soaked in the Spanish vibes.

Oh I forgot to mention we have matching buddy tats!

La Rambla <3

Sangria makes people happy :)

Hikes to the top of Montserrat.

High fives for having made it to the top.

Parc Guell in Barcelona

Barcelona harbor views.

More ocean views with this one.

After Spain our most recent exploring has been in the swamp lands of Florida. Casey has been living down in Fort Lauderdale for the last year and a half, and I made it down there this past fall for a great weekend of exploring a different landscape!

Shared love of pups!

Sometimes we dress up! 

Alligators!

And now here we are, in 2016, nearly 29 years old, and over a decade into our friendship, and we are about to take on the most mentally and physically challenging adventure of our lives. What leads one to take on this type of experience is a loaded question, and one we naturally get asked a fair bit. We don't have a straight answer for you other then a: why not and b: if not now, when. We also both have had some emotionally trying things transpire over the past few years (but then again who hasn't) and it's always great to unplug and reconnect with yourself. And let's be honest, hiking is cheaper than therapy, and obviously infinitely more fun! 

We vow to blog as much as we can, baring in mind that we will likely be exhausted most days, and without phone service for long stints. We'll share pictures and stories both for our own memory as well as letting you all know we still haven't been killed by any bears. We aim to to take 5 months to complete our journey, averaging about 20 miles a day. So if you don't hear from us around September 15 saying that we've succeeded you can start to worry.

We'll leave you with a few more photos of us over the years. We love you all so much for your unwavering support and well wishes as we embark on this truly crazy journey. We know it's hard to maybe understand at times, or even appreciate, but the fact that you all are sending us off with your blessing is something we will be forever grateful for. And we promise not to die of dehydration, starvation, or bear attacks in return for your love!

Oh and at the bottom you'll find all the post offices where you can send us tangible forms of love :-)

Birthdays with friends.

We went to see Fergie in Plainfield!

Thumbs up for street art?

All Hallow's Eve

Silly strong explosions.

You can judge the timeline of the photos by the color of our hair!

DIY pancakes in Portland.

Friends that grow up together, and travel together, and explore together stay together. Follow us as we begin our Pacific Crest Trail Thru-Hike this spring/summer. We are excited to share in our journey with you, and excited to see what things we discover along the way. We warmly welcome any and all forms of trail mail too! 

We have already been asked by several kind and thoughtful friends/family what they can send us or how they can help. Obviously, we welcome letters! Things that would also be helpful are any and all kinds of food i.e. Kind and Lara bars, Snickers, Pay Days and other candies. Most appreciated would be backpacking foods. We have created an REI Wish List here, but keep in mind that you can find plenty of these backpacking foods on other websites for maybe even a bit cheaper, this is just to give you some suggestions :-) That said, I (Jessica) am unfortunately both gluten free and vegetarian (hence why the wish list is all gf/veggie friendly), but Casey eats any and all foods! You can find all of the post offices that you can send us things to at below, but please be sure to note somewhere on the package: "Please hold for PCT Hiker" to ensure they don't throw out our stuff!

1. ETA: April 26 - mile marker 178.6
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Idyllwild, CA 92549
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

2. ETA: May 13 - mile marker 486.3
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Lake Hughes, CA 93532
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

3. ETA: June 7 - mile marker 941.6
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Yosemite National Park
Tuolumne Meadows, CA 95389
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

4. ETA: July 1 - mile marker 1377.7
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Old Station, CA 96071
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

5. ETA: July 17 - mile marker 1662.1
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Seiad Valley, CA 96086
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

6. ETA: August 11 - mile marker 2102.4
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Government Camp, OR 97028
Please hold for PCT Hiker.

7. ETA: August 31 - mile marker 2474.7
Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Skykomish, WA 98288
Please hold for PCT Hiker.