Endurance

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The Packing It Out blog has been relatively quiet the last couple months. I apologize. The honest reason for this is because we're not documenting any long adventures at the moment.  Most of our time is being allocated to improving the Packing It Out teams physical, financial, and social endurance for this years Pacific Crest Trail clean-up.

Endurance: the capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear

Physical Endurance

I've been an active user of the outdoors for the last 10 years and have been dabbling into endurance events for five of those years. No event attempted or distance covered compares to the physical endurance required for a thru-hike. Sure, I have done events that were harder, but these events were only harder for say twelve hours. Hiking the Appalachian Trail was physically challenging for 141 consecutive days. Looking back at the beginning of our 2015 thru-hike I realized that we were in pretty decent shape starting out. It took us roughly 800 miles before I would say we were in good shape. We realized that we didn't want to start this trail in decent shape. We want to start this trail in excellent shape. As a result much of our free time is dedicated to strength training, mobility exercises and to improving our cardiovascular health. As cliche as it sounds, the best way to become a great hiker is to hike...a lot. Having a substantial weekly mileage base will help us not only stay in good spirits at the end of the day but will inevitably allow us to focus more energy on cleaning up our trails. As a result, we spend less time at a computer and more time in the woods. That's good, right!?


Mile 12 of 30. Cap clearly in the zone and ready to work.
Mile 30 of 30. After around 8,000' of climbing and 8,000' of descent, we were tired puppies.
Hut kids climbing Mt. Mitchell winter. No surprises here.
We made it!

Financial Endurance

Lets be honest, money is a huge factor in just about everyone's daily lives. An average thru-hiker spends roughly 2-4 dollars per mile hiked. With the Pacific Crest Trail being 2,650 miles in length and us having a three person crew, financial fitness will be yet again be a critical ingredient for Packing It Out's success. Look back at last years clean-up. We couldn't have finished the Appalachian Trail without the amazing support we received from friends, family, and even complete strangers.

A large part of our time has been dedicated to the doing what just about everyone does on  daily basis, work! Remaining frugal and saving as much as we can for the PCT is another priority. Packing It Out is lucky enough to not only have supportive friend and family on this years hike, but we will also be receiving support from a number of sponsors. Sponsors have helped PIO with many of our pre-trip equipment cost; for which, we can't say thank you enough! Between work and working out, we all know there isn't much time left in the week. When you get a chance take a look at our amazing sponsors to learn more about these great companies who, like us, are changing the standards in the outdoor world.

Friends in "High" places make weekend stays like this budget friendly! Huge thanks to JP for the hospitality.

Social Endurance

Our mission is to inspire a greater sense of environmental stewardship in our communities by raising awareness for litter conditions along America's Trails. This mission is our bread and butter. It drives our decisions and reasoning behind most of what Packing It Out does. Ask anyone who really know me and they will tell you that I'm the last person to take a selfie in the woods or take my phone out in the woods. I believe being un-plugged in the outdoors is a crucial ingredient in having a quality outdoor experience.

That being said, I also understand that spreading our passion to inspire others is the foundation of Packing It Out. Like any relationship, compromise is often the answer. We will be active on all of our social media outlets during the hike but I promise that the vast majority of our time will be focused on cleaning our trails and preserving our planet.

GoPro Hero 4 with PolarPro Polarizer Lense
At the office.


Thank you for all of your support. I am still in awe of how supportive everyone continues to be. Again thank you!

Cheers,
Seth "Cap" Orme

Sunday Service.

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