Training, cats, and dogs: Prepping for the PCT with hiking partner Courage the Lion and special guest Tisza.  August 1, 2017 – Courage the Lion and I have been doing a bunch of training hikes to prepare for the big one. Much as I’d like to be able to roll out of bed and hike the length of Washington cold turkey, the Courage/Tom brain trust determined that some practice in the lead-up will probably make for an all-around better experience. Lucky to have such a wise hiking partner… it’s often the quiet ones who have the best insights. Below are a few photos from the trail. We've been increasing distance, and did a 19-miler yesterday with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Even during moments of strain and occasional windedness, I couldn’t be more excited to embark on this journey. I think regularly about the families making extraordinary progress through Kindering, and the children who defy odds, diagnoses, and expectations. I also think about the unmet demand that still exists in our communities. Doing my small part to help Kindering reach more families in need is worth every blister, every bug bite, every step. Next up: more elevation! Want to get involved? Learn more and consider supporting Trek for Tots!   Courage the Lion, impersonating his favorite movie about a certain "regal" lion. Blue skies between the trees near Diamond Lake, Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Courage the Lion, taking a load off during a training hike. Taking in the scenery near Mason Lake.

July 24, 2017 – Packing for the PCT is a balancing act: you want your pack to be light-weight so you can maximize your daily travel, but you don’t want to leave any essential equipment behind. My goal is to average close to 19 miles per day, and so I’ve gotten the base weight of my pack down to 23.2 lbs. without food and water. I’ve adopted a long-distance hiking philosophy that balances being wise about weight and bulk without sacrificing too much comfort. For instance, I’ve decided to pack a one-man tent and rain fly. I need to be out of the rain and safe from bugs to get a good night’s sleep. The tent kit is 2.1 lbs. and is well worth the extra weight over an ultra-light tarp and trekking pole setup. The other area where I’m going with extra ounces is in the kitchen and stove setup. I’m choosing the dependability and convenience of a standard stove and gas cartridge. There are numerous other ways to cook, like super-light alcohol stoves built out of titanium (or even cat food cans), but I want more comfort for my journey. Having hot meals and drinks is critical fuel for the body AND serves physiological/emotional needs after many days of traveling in the mountains. One of the biggest kit items to carefully consider is footwear. One must weigh the time of year, the trail, etc., and decide what and how many pairs of footwear to take, as well as whether to pack them with you or change them out at cache points. I have decided to take only my Vasque light trail hikers, which are less than half the weight of my normal leather hikers. This [...]

July 17, 2017 – Did you know the Washington Section of the Pacific Crest Trail spans 511.8 miles through the diverse landscape of the rugged Cascade Mountains? Stretching from the Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia River to E.C. Manning Provincial Park (in Canada), the total elevation gain is 111,000 feet with a total elevation loss of 107,450 feet traveling south to north. That’s like climbing Mt. Rainier from Paradise over 12 times in a month! I’m getting really excited about this PCT hike, which we’re calling “Trek for Tots” in honor of the children at Kindering who conquer obstacles and move mountains every day. I’ve been accompanied on my training hikes by Courage the Lion, Kindering’s mascot who will be joining me on this trek, to be sure he’s trail-ready as well. The Plan To tackle this big challenge, we’ve broken the hike up into seven sections with only three days built in for rest out of the 30 total days for the trip. We plan to hike an average of 19 miles and gain/lose 4,015 vertical feet per day. The longest section will be six days, traveling from Stevens Pass to Stehekin on the far north shore of Lake Chelan. We will definitely need one of my rest days after that big push. The Trip On our journey, Courage and I will climb up and out of the Columbia River Gorge toward the Indian Heaven Wilderness, home to an abundance of lakes (and huckleberries), after which we’ll round the base of Mount Adams and head into the Goat Rocks Wilderness. This place is especially rugged, with rocky trails leading to the Packwood Glacier. To begin section 3, we’ll cross Highway 12 at [...]

July 11, 2017 – As a father, outdoor enthusiast, and long time supporter of Kindering, it felt ideal to combine my passions and hike the Washington Section of the Pacific Crest Trail to support Kindering and their mission to serve children with special needs and their families.  Kindering is launching some BIG projects and I wanted to do something equally BIG! I founded CFO Selections in Seattle 15 years ago, motivated by a desire to reinvent my work-life balance to spend less time in the office and more time enjoying the outdoors with my family. The CFO Selections leadership team also committed to fulfilling another shared passion: to reinvest in the communities from which we earn our living. We established the CFOS Foundation in 2007 to do just that, with a focus on foster children and the organizations that serve them, which is how I learned about Kindering and their work with children who have special needs and other risk factors. Children and families at Kindering move mountains every day, exhibiting uncommon courage and striving relentlessly to reach their fullest potential. In honor of the obstacles overcome and the heights reached by these children, I’m setting out to tackle a few hills of my own by hiking all 511 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington from the Columbia River to the terminus over the Canadian border. Kindering is poised to expand their ability to serve more families by opening a new campus in Renton, by hiring more gold-standard professionals, and by continuing to provide a space for families to receive services, regardless of their ability to pay! My goal is to raise $600,000 so that Kindering‘s big goals can be a reality! I look [...]