Countdown 10 days...

In ten days I will be standing in New Mexico at the Crazy Cook Monument looking North. Oh man ten days is really soon, even sooner when you realize that by ten days I actually mean eight. See I start the trail on the 23rd but this border is not the easiest to get to. So on the 21st I fly into Tucson, the next day I Greyhound to Lordsburg, NM and finally catch a shuttle to the border on Thursday. 

I am so ready, and so very not ready at all. But hey I've done this once before right? This trail is longer, more isolated, way less marked and has Grizzlies but embrace the brutality right?

I should have a gear list and know what I'm taking but of course am still debating a million little options. Really I'm just procrastinating so I can avoid actually packing up my resupply boxes and seeing how many more grocery trips are still in my future. Yes the two plus hours I spent staring at shirts and 20% off coupons yesterday could have been more wisely spent but its a new day and I have way to much to do to stress about yesterday. 

On the gear front at least I finally have a pack (and it only took two days to make! ULA you rock) I used a ULA Circuit on the PCT for my pack and due to a whole lot of back chafe and rodent eaten straps I've changed it up and will be trying the ULA Ohm 2.0 this time around. I admit I am like a kid in a candy store and love that ULA will let you pick custom neon fabrics (only 4 choices but all so pretty) so yes that dusty neon dirtball on the trail will be me. Due to my still somewhat gimpy foot I haven't put too many miles on it but so far I'm loving it. Still waiting on some other big items, come on zpacks where is that tracking number 5 weeks is a long time to wait...

Because pointing at nothing is more fun than standing still. 

springtime keeps distracting me from planning

Resupplying for a trip like this could be a book in itself but I'll keep it brief because mostly its just staring at food you can't eat yet and in a few months won't want at all plus the added hassle of logistics and boxes thrown in. No I don't carry five months of food at once, the trail gets close enough to a town that through side trails, shuttles and hitchhiking food is available at least once a week. 

Towns are similarly spread out on the CDT compared to the PCT but the hitches are longer and most stretches seem to be about 5 days between food. As much fun as resupplying for 5 days of food from a picked over convenience store is (picture 7-11 or any other gas station market) I'm hoping to have some boxes ready and waiting for me when I get into town providing some much needed and hard to find things like the ever amazing dehydrated veggies I didn't take enough advantage of on my PCT hike. I'm going to focus on healthy dinners (not necessarily eaten at dinner but you get the idea), hard to find snacks (does Chevron have seaweed?), and packed breakfasts. I'm trying the protein shake idea a few times a week because a bulky breakfast is usually unappetizing and I still grimace at the thought of oatmeal but protein powder, chocolate, coffee, and whole fat milk powder sound pretty darn tasty. Although talk to me in a month or two, I may have changed my tune. Either way snacks and lunch will be more spur of the moment but boxes will hopefully keep me healthier and happier. 

I'm super excited about harmony house dehydrated food, I probably should have opened the box before yesterday though. Probably not even close to enough...

the current state of my resupply, haphazardly organized into categories and shoved onto a shelf while I hope they magically pack themselves into well balanced flat rate boxes complete with the right number of days of food and postage

I have no idea how many boxes I will actually manage but at the bare minimum I'm aiming for is 7. There are a few stops on this trail that will hold boxes but don't sell food so to break up 8+ day stretches its totally worth it. Also thrown into these boxes will be things like sunscreen, toothpaste and nicely sorted maps I also have yet to organize.

I have amazing support from my lovely mother who will be the grand postmistress ferrying things to our local post office every week or so and my wonderful friends who have already promised bail out food and homemade treats. Things I am already dreaming of.  

I will also have extra/replacement gear like snow stuff and warmer/lighter clothing I may beg my mom to add to boxes to save my butt along the way. 

Ok enough procrastinating, its nose to the grindstone time.