SHARED EXPECTATIONS

SHARED EXPECTATIONS

Leave No Trace Camping

Get up and break camp together.

Re-group at lunch stop.

Re-group for evening campsite.

Each evening common dinners together.  Rotation for 2 men to prepare meal; 2 men to clean up and hang food, etc. on bear lines; other 4 men have free time.  

Buddy System:  Rick & George/Matt & Jason/Graham & Josh/ Bob & Duke

Each pair responsible for their shelter as well as food for their own breakfast, lunch, and snacks. 

Most of what we cook (morning & evening) will be boiling water, so we can share 2-3 stoves with 2-3 pots.  

Shared gear for purifying drinking water.

Evening campfires.  

Sunny days, without a cloud in the sky.

A GREAT ADVENTURE!

 

TRAVEL & LOGISTICS - PRE-HIKE

TRAVEL & LOGISTICS  PRE-HIKE

So far, here's what I see:

We can use my home on Lake Union and Graham's home in West Seattle for prep, staging, bunks, and mobilization.

Tuesday, July 22

Rick and George fly into Seatac about 4 PM Tuesday July 22. I will pick up. Bunk at Lake Union.
Matt & Jason fly into Seatac about 6PM . Graham or I will pick up. Bunk at West Seattle.
Can you men plan to ship your pack & gear in advance, and avoid potential lost luggage?

Josh & Bob - I think you each need to get from Portland to Seattle by Tuesday evening. Bob could sleep on Lake Union and Josh in West Seattle.

Wednesday July 23 

Note: Based on Pt. Angeles Ferry. Alternate route is crossing border at Blaine, and taking Tsawassen Ferry.

7AM We load up and depart in 2 vans from West Seattle and take the 7:45 ferry from Fauntleroy Dock to Southworth.
Drive north to Port Angeles.
12:45PM Ferry to Victoria BC and go through Canadian Customs. ( Need passport)
2:30 PM Drive (about 2 hours) west to Port Renfrew. Dinner out; sleep in campsite near boat shuttle.

Thursday July 24

6:30 AM - 10:30 AM Boat shuttle from Pt. Renfrew west along Vancouver Coast to Banfield.
Hike to trailhead
1 PM Ranger briefing at Banfield Trailhead - Mandatory
2PM BEGIN hike to Day 1 Campsite

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW

It's time to start pulling this together. We are 8 men together taking on the adventure of the West Coast Trail. We hale from around the country with different backgrounds and experience; most of us will only meet for the first time on Day 1.

My intention is to begin a series of posts on separate topics, such as

Shared Expectations
Travel & Logistics
Gear
Training
Food
Budget

You may want to add other topics. My want/hope is we can create chains of responses and dialogue according to topic.

I see these posts as drafts, based on my understanding. We can use this process to share, review, confirm, clarify, reconsider, change, adjust, propose alternatives, take on assignments, reach agreement, and support one another getting ready for this expedition.

Duke

Overview

Contact

Hi Matt, et.al.,

I'm with you on the blog. George and I just did a 6.6 mile trail this morning up to 8000 foot pass in the Organ Mts. directly east of Las Cruces. 106 degrees here today. Glad we left early and with adequate water. We're in training.

Rick Powell

Test

OK -- this is just a test post from the blog. Please visit the blog (http://www.impassableheadland.blogspot.com/) and write a comment to confirm that you received an email version notifying you of this post.

Matt

Bears & varmints

Well, after watching the movie documentary "Grizzly Man" that Carolyn brought home from the library and careful consideration of whether a neon green spandex suit might attract bears like a neon green flatfish lure attracts salmon, I decided to buy bear spray and a holster for it at REI ($49.95 + $13.95). I may yet decide to return it to REI (ie Return Every Item) because I don't want to be standing there in front trying to protect the group from a charging bear alone (even if Josh is standing next to me with his bowie knife).

Is anyone else thinking about bear spray? Maybe we don't need it.

In any case the bear protection information recommends cooking and hanging food, scented items and cooking utensils at least 100 yds away from where you sleep for he night. They also recommend avoiding established campsites where bears and other animals become accustomed to finding food.

Some of the established sites on the WCT have locker boxers to keep animals out of food supplies. Others require hanging. What is our plan?

I have two bear cannisters if someone wants to borrow one for the trip. I plan to hang my items.

Rob