Planning a Hike - Day 5

Today we simulated preparations for a hiking trip for however long we wanted and wherever we wanted. This was after we had learned about Cheryl Strayed, a woman who had hiked the Pacific Crest Trail for 96 days. To complete the simulation, I had a partner. We decided to choose the Pacific Crest Trail. We wanted to hike 2,000 miles. We also decided that we would walk about 22 miles a day. This would take us about 90 days to complete. For our backpack, we had to figure out what we wanted to put in the bag and the weight of the items. This is what we decided on,

1 Water (gallon) – 8 lbs.

4 Water bottles – 5 lbs.

1 Tent – 4.52 lbs.

3 First aid kits – 6 lbs.

2 Bungie cords – 3 lbs.

Food – 20 lbs.

Extra clothes – 5 lbs.

1 Swiss army knife – 0.3 lbs.

1 Compass – 0.6 lbs.

1 Flashlight – 2 lbs.

10 Batteries – 0.8 lbs.

2 Bottles of Sunblock and Chap Stick – 2 lbs.

Medicine - 0.5 lbs.

Gun (9 millimeter) – 2.1 lbs.

50 Rounds – 11 lbs.

4 Books – 0.5 lbs.

The final overall weight was 68.52 pounds. Creating this list required a balance in the things that we needed and the weight of each item. This was difficult because anyone could say that they needed something but in the reality of a hike, some things were unnecessary. My partner and I had to think of the most important things first, the things that we couldn’t live without. Next, we had to establish the things that will help us, like a flashlight. We also had to figure out the quantity of each item so that the item could be used efficiently without weighting too much.