wandering chardonnay

WBC Reunion

I got me a patch! A wilderness basics patch! This past weekend was the WBC Reunion at Lake Moreno Campgrounds. I got there Saturday morning went to send a text and remembered there is zero signal. Really Verizon. So I wasn’t sure when the Liz or Betsy were gonna get there. Turns out Liz (and Mark ) were pretty much right behind me. They pulled up as I was whipping together my tent. (Betsy wasn’t feeling well so didn’t make it. Feel better girl!!!)

The first hour was kinda chaotic; we were trying to get our tents set up prior to the Land Navigation hike and for some reason our camp site was hot and treeless. Yes, exactly last week I was freezing my butt off a week later l’m roasting, cray, cray. We ran back and forth to the registration table, the ranger’s office, and then moved all our stuff to the shade only to move it back into the sun. Finally we gave up and went hiking.

Jim and Diane did a swell job with the Land Nav/Scavenger Hunt. Whenever we finally found a spot there was a cache box with candy, toys (even Hot Wheels), and a clue to the next spot. We sorta worked as a group, but Mark was like a bloodhound finding those things. It was a great hike, a little rock climbing, the lake is very very low. But not totally dry, one wrong step and you could sink pretty deep in the mud.

Me, Mark and Michelle! Thanks for the pic Liz!

Afterwards (ie after beer run) we realized that we had set up our tents basically where we were supposed to park the cars! Oh well. Later, there was a PCT presentation and a great potluck dinner. I was so full from dinner only had room for one smore at the campfire.

But before the smores there was a graduation certificate and PATCHES!!!

There was also a astronomy presentation complete with two super telescopes so we got an up close look at the moon! After chatting around the camp fire we turned in. I slept like a baby.

Sunday morning instead of hiking after breakfast we opted for sitting around camp soaking up the sunshine and chatting. Sometimes you just need to sit and connect. So glad we did. A friend told me to take the wilderness basics course you’ll meet some cool people that will end up being your long time hiking buddies …..he was right!

Sock it to me

Hiking

I love when thru hikers meet up or hike together and then their blogs intersect. It’s like when a character from one sitcom appears on a different sitcom. Worlds colliding.

I’ve never had designated hiking socks. Typically I just throw on some socks, my hiking boots and go. Well at the kickoff I was gifted some Keen hiking socks. WHAT! How come nobody told me about these things? They are all soft and comfy. I was cruising through my 3 mile hike the other day. I’m totally getting more of these. Oh then I just ordered some from Thorlos -women’s hiking socks. They was a special where you only have to pay shipping. Can’t wait to try those puppies out this weekend!

Weight this is too long

Hiking

My lack of posting comes from the fact that I feel every post needs like a certain length. So every time I sit down with an idea I either ditch it or it sits unpublished waiting for more. Where is the more? It’s that same weird feeling I’d get in high school when you had to have type (like on a typewriter, i’m that old) a paper double spaced with some arbitrary word count. So yea, i’m letting that go. Short posts rule!

I’ve been reading trail blogs and enjoying the Santa Ana Winds blowing through San Diego. Trail blogs make me hungry. There is a lot of talk about food, especially snacks. I’m constantly fighting the urge to grab some junk food. Sympathy weight is not cool. Found another cool blog of couple going stoveless, that’s my plan too! Check it out here.

ADZPCTKO 2014

Hiking, PCT

Had a great time at ADZPCTKO last weekend. ADZPCTKO 2014 is theAnnual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kickoff held at Lake Morena. A while back I big plans to hike from Campo (the southern terminus) and camp out. Whew glad those plans fell threw. First off I am not 20 mile ready yet and holy moly was it cold. Plus there was a pretty yucky storm Friday night. I went down for the day Saturday, it was still sprinkling, windy and cold.

Even with the chilly weather is was a great experience. There were presentations about trail/water conditions, a women’s group and a great talk about snow travel. I really want to learn more about self arrest and using a ice ax. There were a number of vendors, got some Keen hiking socks and made the decision I am totally going ultra lite ‘ish’.

I really, really, really want/need that ULA backpack, I am so not taking that one I have now, too heavy. My Amazon Wish List is getting longer. Sat through quite a few shakedowns, that is basically when you let someone (an informed someone) assess ALL your stuff. Learned, hiking the PCT is not a time to pack ‘ALL the THINGS’.

I have to say I was jealous when they took the class of 2014 group photo. Man I wish was taking off with them. It was really great though to meet people who’s blogs I’ve read (some how i missed meeting Carrot Quinn, sad face) and talk with prior thru hikers. Got some great tips and advice. Can’t wait to be part of the class of 2015.

Safe hiking class 2014! Remember HYOH!

Take this job and..

Hiking, PCT

A frequent question I get when I tell someone I’m doing the PCT is “What about your job?” I’m quitting. That’s it in a nutshell. First of all I have a job, not a career, and it’s certainly not my passion. When I get back, I’ll get another one that simple. My job is the least of my concerns and to be honest I will be glad to kiss it goodbye. Actually I have been considering a job change anyway. I am really over having a desk job, sitting ALL DAY LONG at a computer has gotten old. What I’m really looking for is a job where I actually move, my body. But then after moving my body for 2000 plus miles maybe a sitting job will sound good. Nah, probably not!

All I really know is that I am leaving my options open. I have a feeling I have a slightly different view of things when I return. I’m open to the possibilities!

In other news……mom was in town for a visit. She is not a fan of camping or hiking for that matter. However, she was not that opposed to my trip! I pretty sure she did not grasp the full concept of what I was explaining about the trip. Her biggest concern was …..me taking 5 months off of work and why I couldn’t take that much time off and come home! Agh geez.

A Change Will Do You Good

Life

You never have a friend all figured out. Just when you think you know what makes them tick, they tock. ~Robert Brault,

It’s funny how you never really know people and kinda unnerving. You may think you know someone, but you probably don’t. Some of it, I think, has to do with change. Things change and with time so do people. Even if the change is good for the person, if you are used to the person they used to be it can be hard to except. The other part, I think, is that most people never really put all their cards on the table. Even the most open share everything type people tend to keep a few cards up their sleeves.

People always say change is good. Well sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s hard to get used to so therefore, annoying. I routinely shake up the snow globe that is my life. Sometimes the pieces land nicely, sometimes they are all jumbled up. It usually works itself out.

Right now there is a lot of change going on around me, some good and some, well I’m just gonna have to breathe through it. It will all work out, the way it should, it always does.

Addicted

PCT

Hello, my name is Chardonnay and I’m addicted to reading Trail Journals. It all started with Carrot Quinn’s 2013 journal, if you want some good trail stories start there. Once I stumbled onto the PCT Journalist I just spiraled out of control. Reading at work, reading home, it’s kinda ridiculous, but I can’t stop.

It’s even worse now that people thru hiking this year have already started leaving. Blogs are getting updated you can feel the excitement. People are packing up , arriving in San Diego, heading out to Campo. It’s all so exciting, oh how I wish I were heading out too.

But alas, I am not, well not until this time next year! So until then I will have to live vicariously. Guess it’s a lesson in staying present. My time will come, when it should. While my excitement will bubble under the surface for the next 11 months, I have to remember not to gloss over all the exciting things I HAVE GOING ON right now!

So many great things :

Preparation for the Burn (maybe I shouldn’t wait to the last minute as usual)

BRC Ranger Training

PCT Training (so many trails to hike and places to discover)

Summer (summer in San Diego is well awesomeness and I have a paddle board groupon just calling my name!)

Yea…..life is good!

Gear, oh the choices

PCT, Travel

Recently I had a lady ask me if I was scared to camp alone. Not really. That is probably the least of my fears. This isn’t my first rodeo, just my first time in this arena. Once I did a solo self-contained bike ride from Des Moines to St. Louis. There was a lot of heat, hills, solitude and stealth camping by myself.

Actually the biking that I used to do and backpacking are sorta kinda similar. When I first started biking RAGBRAI I had my road bike with on little bag on it; my overnight things were carried on a bus. Then I became a bagger added a basket/bags to my bike and started hauling my overnight stuff. So much easier to haul 40 pounds on your bike than on your back!

So I have been researching ultra light gear. There are SO many choices, SO many reviews. My wish list is below(subject to change once I read another review). Only thing I’ve settled on is a Thermarest Z-Lite pad and Black Diamond poles. Usually
I camp without a pad, I know, gasp! Just how I roll, however for a 5 months I better go with a pad. I’ve been using my ski poles to hike with up to now to see if I really liked using poles. Answer: yes. I hope to narrow down my choice of a sleeping bag and tent by July, then onto the pack! Once I have my pack it’s on!!!

In the meantime, my mother is coming for a visit. Not sure if I should even mention this whole PCT deal. She was not at all happy about my solo bike trip. Maybe I should keep it on the down low for now.

Wish List (short list)
Shoes -Brooks Cascadias
Sleeping Bag -Kelty Cosmic Down 20F
Backpack -ULA Circuit
Tent – Tarptent Double Rainbow
Headlamp – Mammut S Lite
Sierra Designs DriDown Cloud Puffy
Gaiters – Dirty Girl
*Trekking Poles Black Diamond
*Sleeping Pad -Thermarest Z Lite

Wilderness Basics

Hiking

Guess who completed a Wilderness Basics Course?! This girl!! I had a number of people who had taken it recommend it and I put off taking it for a whole year. So glad I finally got around to doing it. It was in preparation for this course that I learned about the PCT. The course is 10 weeks of learning so much about camping, hiking, gear, even land navigation. Best of all I met some awesomely fun people that I will surely be hiking/camping with again! My girls Betsy and Liz, you guys rock, thanks for the rides, homemade granola, laughs/chats, tent sharing and so much more! Oh yea there was also these great trips! I squeezed through the slot canyons of Canyon Sin Nombre, scrambled over boulders at Hellhole Canyon and navigated Borrego Mountain’s West Butte.

The last trip was snow camp at Mammoth Mountain.This was a really great experience. With full packs we snowshoed out to our camp site, not before getting a warning from ski patrol that a storm was coming. After setting up tents we built epic snow kitchen and privy. Right after dinner it started to snow and it snowed pretty much all night. (Thanks Sonie for that 10 degree sleeping bag/pad, I was nice and toasty) We woke to avalanche cannons and about 9 inches of snow! What fun, and my Chardonnay stayed chill the entire trip! Check some pics here.

So I passed the course test and the class is over. But my backpacking adventures are only just beginning.

Liz, Betsy and Me!! Great Snow Camp Blizzard of 2014

the longest journey begins with a single step

Hiking, PCT

So I have officially put my intention out there starting in April 2015, I will nouthbound (NOBO) thru hiking the 2,660 mile Pacific Crest Trail.What’s the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) you ask, well it this really long trail that begins/ends at the Mexican and Canadian borders in Campo, CA and Monument 78, WA, respectively. It goes through 9 mountain ranges, 26 national forests, 7 national parks, 5 state parks, and 3 national monuments, as well as 6 of the 7 North American eco-zones (no tundra). Give or take about 300 people set out every spring to hike the trail in one season (“thru hikers”) and about 40% finish. Yep, i’m going there, and I’m so excited.

Why would I want to do the PCT you ask? In the words of Amelia Earhart, “ I want to do it because I want to do it.” That’s basically it. Actually I have been trying to get out more, as in outdoors out. Recently I signed up for a Wilderness Basics Course, so I have been out seriously over appreciating nature for the last ten weeks. Turns out when I am hiking I feel more alive, healthier, more connected, and even happier. When I get to see the sunset, the moon rise and the stars in the sky, I feel all giddy. More than anything it’s time for an adventure that challenges me and gets me out of my comfort zone. I need to feel like I am moving towards something, not just going through the motions.

Concerns, I have them, they are money, gear, training, and maintaining this journal.

I will be mad saving for the next year, probably take on a second job also. This will be a true challenge as I am not good with money and I already have A LOT going on this year. I have to cover all the bases plus be prepared when I return. There is also A LOT of gear I will need because what I have either isn’t suited for this or I just don’t have it. Geez there is so much gear, recommendations, reviews, it all makes my head swim. But I have lists! So I’ll just keep reading, testing, and pricing til I have the right collection. That’s the current plan.

As far as training I need to get out and hike A LOT each weekend from here on out, otherwise I may be in trouble. Honestly I’m not in the best shape. I’m not in horrible shape either. My recent group hikes have not been over 5 miles, even less with a pack. A couple of weeks ago I decided I really needed some miles so I decide to hike El Cajon Mountain. Holy crap! That was the hardest hike I have ever done. About 11 miles of up and down, just as many ups going down as going up! Actually it was pretty terrible around mile 8, my legs were cramping so bad. I could not figure out why I had plenty of water even Gatorade (spoiler alert: I only had a 6 inch sub and peanuts, bad-idea. I had forgotten my pop tart breakfast in the car!) Well, I learned some things, I REALLY need more miles and I REALLY REALLY need to pay attention to my hydration and nutrition. Even though I was not prepared and my legs were sore for 3 days I liked that I completed it, all by myself! (I could have hopped on the golf cart with the Ranger that drove by, but nope I just waved and smiled through the pain)

Everybody seems to have a PCT blog, journal, video,or something. Sure it’s a really great idea, however, I really suck at keeping a consistent journal. I’ve had a couple of blogs that all at some point I abandoned. Even when I was younger I would write in my diary everyday….then not for like months. A writer I am not, but I’ll give it my best go, so don’t expect much and you won’t be let down!

So there, that’s it! It should be a interesting year. There are a whole bunch of hikers hitting the PCT soon(some already out there). I am excited for them and will following like a gazillion blogs! Posting links to some of my favs.

so until next time…..chardonnay everyday!