Preparing to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail.

Might I just say -- re: kayak4water -- on the footwear.
I tend to prefer boots. I have hiked 20-25 mile days in running shoes and my feet felt quite beat up at the end of those days. Granted, my shoes were old, and by "trail shoes" I am going to assume you mean something with a sturdy sole. But, for clarifications sake, I would just like to mention that walking on sharp rocks and hard trail, all day, in soft, filmsy footwear, is not fun.

Hike your own hike.
There are so many ways to walk. But ultimately, four words say it all: "Hike your own hike." Don't copy someone else's gear list or hiking wear because it is the only way. Do it if you have no other reference point from which to start. Accept that you need to change something if it doesn't work for you. That is one way to know you're hiking your own hike. Don't try to keep up with someone if you're so exhausted come day's end, that you don't even clean up before crawling into your sleeping gear.

When conditions change, it may require that you change your "hike." Make sure you have fun, however you define fun. You might want to be flexible on the definition of "fun," so you can enjoy yourself. If you do this you won't feel "incomplete" if you can't finish the trail for any reason.

On walking:. Most of us walk quite well on level floors without a pack. Add a pack, trekking poles and a five degree hill and many people begin to activate muscles that add little to the hike. I've seen dirt fly out from people's heels while ascending a hill, when they put their calves into high gear to help them up and/or they take bigger steps. Sadly, the calf muscles don't add much to a long climb. Taking bigger steps turns an aerobic walk into a muscle building session. The quadriceps (front of the thigh) muscles do the work of getting us up hills and can do it all day long without screaming, if we use them efficiently. Yeah, this may be too much information for most of us. We should just go out and walk!

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