On Second Thought..

On second thought, we realized we never even shared a link to the trail with y'all, nor did we really think through those suggested post offices. Blogging isn't exactly my (our) forte, so thanks for cutting us some slack as we figure it out. 

The trail, well it's long. It's 2,650 miles of madness. You can read more about it on the U.S. Forest Service website here. Or, if you're looking for a map of the whole shebang, it looks like so...

It's just a little trek from Mexico to Canada, no big deal. We'll pass through 3 states (California, Oregon, and Washington), 57 major mountain passes, we'll dip into 19 major canyons, pass by more than 1,000 lakes and tarns, go through four national monuments, five state park units, 48 federal wilderness areas, 25 national forests, and six national parks (Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Lassen - the half way point - Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, and North Cascades National Parks). The amount of natural wonders we'll see is hard to even fathom, we simply can't wait!

So we're finally all packed and ready to go! This was no small feat, lots of research was done, packages came and went, knives were sharpened, many blogs were read, lots of advice was sought, and a food plan was made. And now here we are, on the eve of our hike, ready to go. We meticulously laid out what we're bringing for those interested in such minute details: 

We also snapped a picture of what that all looks like:

Jessica's pack

Casey's pack

Also, we have 6 days worth of food below, Jessica's on the bottom of the photo and Casey's on the top. And below that is a photo of the food we will be sending ourselves to Yosemite National Park to get us through some of the Sierras. Meal prep has been an interesting task, as the average recommended amount of calories for a female per day is 4,000 (way more than we normally eat), and so trying to cram as many calories per ounce into your body becomes a job more than anything else. You'll also notice my chicken scratch notes of how to attempt to eat 4,000 calories in one day.

First 6 days of food...

Food for the Sierras

Jessica's attempt at 4,000 caloreis

Finally, we have also had more of a think about where people can send us mail. We realize the initial list was WAY too huge and really indecipherable to you all, so sorry about that. You can find the new list below, with the projected dates we'll reach those stops. Also, if you can write in the corner of any package the line: "Please hold for PCT Hiker." that'd be super helpful to ensure our mail doesn't get chucked out. Thank you again for anything you may send our way, as we'll be unbelievably grateful! And as a reminder, please feel free to send us letters, but if you're looking to send anything extra (which is far too kind) then 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, but 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, or you can look at this Amazon Wish List here but 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!

1. ETA: April 26 - miles 178.6

Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Idyllwild, CA 92549
Please hold for PCT Hiker. 

2. ETA: May 13 - mile 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 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 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 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 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 2474.7

Jessica Latus – PCT Thru Hiker

c/o General Delivery
Skykomish, WA 98288
Please hold for PCT Hiker. 

We'll leave you with a few photos from the killer going away party our lovely friend Katherine threw us before departing Indiana..

Katherine actually got us a yard sign, so cool!!!!!

We'll try, we promise!

Best friends forever.

We're about to spend 5 months together, and she's already annoyed with me...

We're again so grateful for everyone's love and support! We promise to take care, and we will update as frequently as we can. Au revoir for now!

Cheers,
Jla & Case