Change of Plans!!

Okay…. I’ve been MIA for awhile now. I know this is nothing new!! I’m coming on the end of my studies so I have been very busy.

My PCT plans have changed a little… I was planning on doing a NOBO hike in the summer of 2015 after I graduate. I won’t be graduating until May so that kind of throws that plan out the window. I am also going to Ghana in September of 2015 for 4 months. I was thinking of just hiking a NOBO hike when I return in 2016 but I am not sure yet.

New plan: So my dad is now retired from the Army and has been getting into camping and doing things to keep himself busy. He mentioned that he would be interested in doing the PCT. I think we are going to shoot for a SOBO hike in June/July before I head to Ghana. We are thinking of doing all of WA and ending at The Bridge of the Gods. We live in WA so this would be perfect for us…and a bonus is with two people we can spread our gear out!!!

I’m excited about this new idea and I think it will be a perfect father/daughter bonding trip!!

I’ll keep you posted

Back At It..

Well, I haven’t really posted anything since Jan…. I guess I haven’t really been up to much since then. I’m in my final year of graduate school and my PCT plans have changed a little. My first goal was that I wanted to hike the PCT in 2015 after I graduate. As it turns out I wont graduate until May of 2015 and I have to take another class that will go until July. So, that pretty much threw a wrench into my plans to hike in 2015 since the ideal time to start the hike is in April. This really upset me because I didn’t know what I would do for a year before my hike. I didn’t want to find my dream job because then I didn’t know if I would ever get on the trail. I have found my solution that will give me job experience but allow me to hike the PCT in . This solution is with a company called UBELONG. I plan to spend 6 months in Ghana volunteering in a hospital. I plan to be in Ghana from September 2015-March 2016. This will put me back in the country for about a month before I start my PCT hike.

I have started to get more gear for my hike, so I plan to have most of my things before I leave for Ghana, so that way when I return home I will only have to prep my resupply boxes. I have my pack, tent, stove, sleeping bag, shoes, and some of my smaller items. I plan to update my gear list soon.

I’m excited about my trip to Ghana because I have been researching it and there are a lot of parks in the country with amazing hiking trails. Hopefully I will be able to do many hikes while I am there.

 

I will write another post soon with more info about the gear I have purchased and my Ghana trip.

 

Shay 

Home Sweet Pacific Northwest!!!

I’m home for Christmas here in the PNW, visiting from Tulsa. It’s good to be back home for a little while. I just finished my first semester of grad school with a 3.3 gpa. Not bad I guess, 2 B’s abd 1 A. I’m glad to be done with this semester but I’m kind of looking forward to going back to school.

My second day home started off pretty gloomy out but I was determined to go for a short hike. I’m SO glad I did, it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day. I went to Point Defiance Park located near downtown Tacoma, just a short 20 min drive from my house. I did the outer loop called 5-mile drive. It goes along the outer edge of the park and has some cool trails leading down to the beach. I just did a quick 1he, 3mi hike, with a short trip to the beach.

Here are some pictures of that beautiful hike.

There was an eagle flying overhead

Love the beach

Christmas

My family was good to me and bought some items off of my PCT wishlist!!!! I didn’t get my tent or sleeping bag like I really wanted but I got some smaller items. I’m forever grateful to them for supporting me on this adventure I’m going to take.

So excited about my PCT calendar!!

Now I really need my bag and tent lol kind of useless without them haha

Camp stove is needed next but at least I have my sporks

First and only injury of Christmas, cut my finger on my knife

Tattoos…

So I have been thinking a lot about my up coming PCT hike (2015). I have a tattoo on my arm of birds and I have been planning on adding to it, just not sure how.

 I knew I wanted to add things about my hike once I hike it, so I’m thinking of adding to it with different aspects of each place I stop along the way and with anything that really makes an impact on me during the hike and just make it a very unique piece. I know for sure I’m going to add a compass rose and I want to add a half of a sun at my wrist with ‘wanderlust’ written in the sun to signify the start of my journey.

Bummer weekend..

I was all set to go out for a fun day hike on Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, only to wake up to a stomach bug… BUMMER!!!! And what makes it even sadder is the fact that it was a BEAUTIFUL Fall weekend here in OK. Not feeling great on Saturday I spent most of the day inside. When I finally got up to go outside, I was SHOCKED because it was warm. It was about 70 degrees outside and a tad muggy. Sunday morning, I woke up to my family cooking breakfast with all the windows and doors open, and the sun was shining! It would have been the perfect day to go on a hike, but I was still feeling under the weather and I had 2 papers to work on. I worked on my short paper and finished it, and I still have to work on my 2nd (10 page) paper. This weekend it is supposed to SNOW!!! SNOW!!! WTF! This is not okay with me. I feel I may have missed my perfect chance to hike this Fall. Hopefully it won’t snow and I can still get a hike in this weekend, if I feel better.

Hike for a cause??

So I have been thinking if I should try to hike for a cause, in addition to my own cause of just wanting to accomplish something. I was trying to find a charity or something that I believe in and would accept donations for. Then I came across this photo of me and Gary Sinise (my FAVORITE actor), he came to my Air Force base in 2010 for a concert with the Lt. Dan Band. He does a lot of work for the military so I was thinking of maybe setting up a donation page for my hike and then donating it all to his foundation. What do you think?? Since being in the military I have a soft spot in my heart and want to help out. I have seen his work first hand and seen the impact it makes on the troops so that is why I would be willing to donate to this foundation. When I was in Iraq in 2010, the USO tours were such a saving grace for us. It was nice to be able to go and just enjoy a concert (I saw Zach Brown Band) and take your mind off of what was going on around you, even if it was just for an hour or so. I’m not really sure how to go about taking donations? I think I will get in contact with the foundation and let them know that I want to donate and maybe start a go fund me or paypal for it!?!100% of the proceeds would go towards that foundation.  

This is a link to his foundation: http://www.garysinisefoundation.org/ 

Related articles

• Gary Sinise Uses Lt. Dan Fame to Build Smart Houses for Wounded Veterans (thestir.cafemom.com)
• CBS News: Gary Sinise Gives Wounded Veterans A “Fighting Chance” [Video] (myq105.cbslocal.com)

Isn’t she beautiful!!!

I got my pack in yesterday and it’s so pretty!!!!!! I LOVE it. Green is my favorite color so I kind of wish I would have gotten the green but the purple is pretty and it will match my Eeyore! I love Eeyore so I will probably be bringing one along with me for the ride. Maybe I’ll name my pack Eeyore. lol  I’m going to get some sheepskin and have my dad’s aunt sew it into the shoulder straps (idea from Muk Muk) and I can’t sew so that is why I need help lol… I can’t wait to get started. Now all I need is my sleeping bag, tent, stove, and pad to get started on some overnight adventures!! 

My little cousins thought the pack was amazing lol My cousin Megan said that she could fit in the pack (which is probably true). I love that my family is so supportive of this adventure that I want to take. I can’t wait to get started!!!

Peace!

 

Slowly working out the kinks

I’m very new to blogging so it has taken me awhile, and many, many, many theme changes to get this blog up and running smoothly. Every time I try something it doesn’t look right, or it’s too light or too dark. I think that I am slowly working out the kinks. I now have a layout that I like and I finally was able to put up a background that kind of works. Anyone else have trouble with blogging? Sometimes I feel like I started this blog way too early, I’m not even hiking until 2015!!!!!!!! Yet, I think that this is helping me stay motivated. There was a time when I started thinking about doing this hike back in April, and I was super motivated but it tapered off as I got busy with other life happenings. With this blog I can come back to it on a daily or weekly basis and it keeps me motivated to research new things and stay in the forefront of my mind. Not that this is a problem, actually I have a problem with thinking about it too much. I find my self daydreaming about the hike and then losing focus on other tasks (like grad school). oops!    

I don’t have much to blog about this week. I got my new shoes, and I’m going to go on a little day hike this weekend (possibly Saturday and Sunday). I ordered my pack, and pack cover (it came with a free mini Sawyer water filter!!). I also ordered a pretty sweet PCT Buff, I’m excited to get that in (I’ll take pictures later).   

I’ll post pictures and write a little post about my day hike over at Turkey Mt. here in Tulsa on Saturday. Its starting to get pretty cold here in Tulsa. It dropped to about 18 degrees last night! I’m hoping that the weather isn’t too cold on Saturday for my hike. Brrrr 🙂

Pack..

 I ordered my pack! I got the ULA Catalyst in Purple, along with a pack cover. It is also coming with a free sawyer mini filter. Hopefully I can get my sleeping bag, and tent for Christmas this year. Then I’ll be set for this summer for my short weekend hikes. I’m going to do what Muk Muk did and sew sheepskin onto the straps for added comfort. I know it’s early to buy my pack but I just couldn’t help it!!!! It will be good to use on my training hikes.