First Things First…

Greetings! My name is Emilio and I will be attempting to hike the Pacific Crest Trail this year. I am a rocket engineer, knitter, and hopefully soon a thruhiker. I start in under 3 weeks now so my permit is locked in, my tickets are booked, and my gear is all picked out and purchased. I’m equal parts excited and anxious and I find myself constantly mentally reviewing my preparations. Have I gotten all the necessary gear? Has my physical conditioning adequately prepared me? Is there information I’m missing that could compromise my experience or put me in danger? I’m a planner by nature so these thoughts rattle around a bit in my head.

Hiking in the rain. By accepting my feet will be wet I get to explore the forest during some of its most beautiful moments.

Why the PCT?

Considering how much of my brainpower the PCT is currently consuming, it’s a little odd to think that up until August of last year I had never thought I would hike the trail. I lived in Ashland, OR for a few years and remember seeing the hikers hanging around Lithia Park and thinking “man, I’m never going to do that”. My life in the front country was so satisfying that the idea of leaving behind my friends, family, and career for 4-5 months had no draw.

My first night out with all my new gear in Mt Diablo State Park. I got caught in a windstorm, tried to bail out at 2am, discovered I was locked into the park, and ended up sleeping in my car. The second attempt went better.

But things change and, to put it simply, my life fell apart over 15 months from 2023 to 2024. When the dust finally settled I realized I could no longer go on trying to live the way I had. I knew I needed to change somehow and turn the page to the next chapter of my life but was struggling to do so on my own. I found myself searching for something, not knowing exactly what, just certain I would know it when I found it. And then, something happened.

The Seed is Planted

A college friend was getting married late last summer near Mt. Hood and I found myself helping plan some fun events for my friends and I to do while attending. On the itinerary was a hike near the Timberline Lodge. It was a gorgeous day in early August with perfectly clear skies. Our party was unathletic engineers, myself included, so I picked out a short there and back hike that just happened to go along a segment of the PCT. We had only been hiking for a few minutes when a thruhiker breezed past us. I remember their confident stride, tiny backpack, and (sorry) awful smell, and I distinctly recall thinking “huh, I wonder what that’s like.”

The view from Mt Hood. My life had just been changed, although I wouldn’t realize it for a few weeks.

Just like that, the seed of an idea that would’ve previously withered found newly fertile soil. A few weeks later I found myself looking up what hiking the PCT is like and a little after that I signed up for a permit. I’d found the path to my future.

What Next?

Since then, I’ve been furiously training and buying gear. My past backpacking experiences in Utah left me with a great setup… if I wanted a baseweight of 40lbs! I managed to buy most of my gear during the winter sales but still ended up spending quite a bit of money on high quality equipment. Living in the Bay Area does mean I have access to a great variety of outdoor spaces and trails so I’ve been taking full advantage, pushing my mileage and pack weight up to trail levels. I like to be prepared so I’ve taken both a first aid and a mountaineering class. I’ve done a few overnight shakedowns with, uh, lets say some good lessons learned and leave it at that. I start in a frighteningly short time and the jitters are REAL but I’m trying to keep focused and stay strong through these last few weeks.

I love to find banana slugs on my hikes. They never fail to excite me no matter how many I find, and I make sure to photograph each one. Expect plenty of critter pictures as I walk the trail.

As a last note, dear reader, if you hiked the PCT last year and passed the Timberline Lodge on August 4th at ~1:30pm, hit me up because I owe you a drink.

Happy hiking and I hope I’ll see some of y’all out there!