Yesterday we had our first practice hike. We planned on going 10 miles and carrying roughly 40 pounds each, which is the limit of each of our packs. Without actual weights to pack we had to get creative at our friend’s house, where we’re staying before we leave Houston. After putting in the few heavy things of our own, we got permission to grab heavy stuff lying around, weighing our packs as we added weight. We added canned food, a giant smooth rock, a bag of nuts and bolts, old electronics and wiring, dozens of magazines, bottles of water, and anything else that wouldn’t break or spill. Each time we added what we thought was at least five pounds we’d be shocked to see the number on the scale read a mere two. Just two. Shoving all the junk in our packs gave us a grand total of approximately 25 pounds each according to the luggage scale. Frustrated and perplexed, Marcel questioned the scale’s accuracy, “Are you sure this scale isn’t broken?” Our friends assured us it works. Leah brought out the bathroom scale and we weighed ourselves with and without packs. Only then, we discovered the human error. The luggage scale was set to kilograms. Our packs were filled with about 50 pounds each!

We all had a good laugh at our dumb mistake and then removed the absurd extra weight neither of us ever want to carry on the PCT.

The practice hike went okay. We started at Marcel’s work, went through downtown, Buffalo Bayou Park, looped around to see Marcel’s brother in Montrose, then made our way back. At a quarter til 5, we realized we weren’t going to make it back in time to get ready for a dinner party our friend was having in honor of our upcoming hike.

At 8.5 miles we got an Uber at Sabine Street around 5pm and made it back to the east end in time for a quick shower and to hitch a ride with our host friends Jody & Leah. For once the four of us were on time!

Shout out to Lindsay & Brad! Thank you for having us over for a lovely evening! Your caesar salad, bolognese lasagna, garlic bread and red velvet cupcakes were divine!