Moscow

Today I got back to Moscow, Russia where I have worked and lived over a year. Some of my time in Russia was hard and sometimes not so bad.  One of the good things was working at an English-Russian-French kindergarten called P’tit Cref. Out of all my English teaching jobs this one was the best. You got to choose your hours and they never pushed you to do anything you didn’t want to do. They gave teachers really long vacations and paid on time. It was pretty great but the economy in Russia made my decision to stay so long kinda illogical.  Besides work… life in Russia was ok. It is nice to be in a harsh climate for a time to make you appreciate some of the sunny days and it's good to be around some grumpy Russians to keep you on your toes.

Basic info about going to Russia

If you just want to visit a place like Russia you will need to get a visa through a travel agency. There are plenty of places where you can find sponsors online or just contact a hotel. As long as you’re just visiting the economic collapse will definitely work in your favor, especially if you like to live it up. Hotels are trying to lure in customers and are lowering prices. It turns out Putin-led annexation isn't good for tourism. You will have to carry around your passport everywhere because there are “tourist police” looking out for illegal immigrants, especially in the metro.

Life in Russia

Life in Russia was a little bleak for me, especially with the economic collapse. I first went to Moscow because my girlfriend wanted to go, but I ended up staying after she moved to France. I’m not sure why. I didn’t end up making as much money as I thought I would due to the declining ruble. I ended up just working a lot and taking pictures.
I tried to be as active as possible to try to keep in shape for hiking the PCT later on. I ended up having to be a little creative, especially when it got really cold and slushy. I ran up and down the stairs in my 25 floor apartment building and using my suspension training system – similar to TRX but offbrand.

I also briefly volunteered with LAPA, an organization that runs a dog shelter a little outside of Moscow. The plight of dogs in Moscow is pretty miserable. There are dog hunters that go around poisoning and shooting dogs- even the ones on leashes being led by their owners. The situation is probably not as bad as in S. Korea, but LAPA is kept busy with it’s shelter with over 500 dogs. They constantly have to fundraise to help sick animals, buy food, and sterilize dogs. They also conduct outreach activities in local schools since animal sterilization is not very popular, especially for strays.

The cold isn’t as unbearable as I thought it would be, though the grey skies were a little depressing. I really appreciated when the sun came out. I also took vitamin D daily. The temperature rarely got below 10F, and below 0 only a couple of times. The real struggle was adapting to the Russian automatic heating systems in apartment buildings, the metro, business…everywhere really. It was impossible to know how to dress, you just need to wear tons of layers and strip down once you get to your destination. Sometimes there would be people who smelled like they never took of their coats, definitely smelled more than any other place I’ve been in.

Top 5 weirdest things about Russia

1.      Russians think that if you have a window open while you’re in the room, you’ll get sick. Don’t understand the basic law of thermodynamics.

2.      Russians always dress really warm, even when it’s not cold. So much sweating!! And so unnecessary.

3.      They don’t put bags on the ground, cause if you do, you’ll become poor. You will also become poor if you whistle indoors.

4.      If you finish a bottle of alcohol, you mustn't put the empty bottle on the table, only on the floor.

5.      Not too many Russians drink vodka, from what I can tell it’s mostly for special occasions. The everyday alcohol is beer, which does not taste that great. 

….and there are so many strange superstitions Russians believe in. And it’s not only the over 70 crowd. When you see a black cat, you can’t turn your back to it. If you forget something in your house and have to go back going backwards and then you have to do something with salt. There are so many I can’t keep them straight.

That’s my 2 rubles on Russia and will be the last blog about this country for a little while because on March 31^st 2015 I will be flying back to California to do my final preparations for the PCT and get on the trail.

Thank you for reading my blog AND a really big THANK YOU for buying my pictures. It makes me feel more at ease going on the trail with the capability of making a little money taking pictures and doing what I love.

Three Permits you might want to get to hike the PCT

Long Distance Hiking Permit for the PCT

To hike the Pacific Crest Trail you are supposed to have a permit. Last year I hiked from section K to section N and I never needed to show anyone my PCT permit.  I met a lot of rangers and people that worked for the Forest Service but all of them were friendly and didn’t ask to see any permits.  

For this year I got my permit and one thing that I didn’t expect was limited number of people the Pacific Crest Trail Association gives out permits for each day. For each day only 50 people are allowed a permit to start at the Mexican border. When I went online to get my permit there were no open days in April or May. That means that there are at least 50 people are planning to attempt the PCT every day for 50 days straight. I’m not a mathematician but that is a lot of people. I’m envisioning the beginning of the PCT being something like a mass cattle drive.

If you still need your Pacific Crest Long Distance Permit and you want to start at the Mexican border good luck because there aren’t many free days left. If you are planning to hike the PCT in 2016 I recommend getting on the PCT’s website and reserving your spot as early as possible.

https://www.pcta.org/discover-the-trail/permits/long-distance-permit-request/

Permit to Enter Canada

If you complete the entire PCT and get to Canada you will need a permit to avoid complications returning to the US. There are no border police or authorities on the PCT at the US Canadian border so you are required to fill out a permit. I’m going to fill out the majority of the permit and send it in later because I’m not completely sure when I will be arriving in Canada. Because you are supposed to put an approximate date for entering into Canada and leaving, it's a little difficult to figure out when walking there from Mexico and all. Some people might be able to but I’m just not one of those folks. Also, you will need to bring your passport to get back into the US.

http://cdn.pcta.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/PCT-Canada-Entry-Form-10.9.14.pdf

California Fire Permit

This is permit basically to use your stove on the trail and is the easiest permit to get. All you need to do is go online, take a short quiz and print it out.  Since California is experiencing a massive drought the majority of California forbids campfires in the backcountry. I personally am planning to start off without a stove because I will be carrying extra clothes in the beginning and I want to save weight but I might change my mind and carry one later on.   

http://www.preventwildfireca.org/Campfire-Permit/

Notable backpacking websites

Over the past two years I've been planning to hike the PCT and I am finally getting close to my departure. During the time while I was stuck inside I spent a good deal of my free time online reading articles and blogs.  Here are some of my favorite places to learn about backpacking on the internets.

Trail Groove

This is an online backpacking and hiking magazine that gives you some really useful reviews about the best and lightest backpacking gear. Besides reviews on gear it has loads of useful information and the formatting of the magazine makes it pleasant to read.

http://www.trailgroove.com/

Section Hiker

If you are looking for a place to get reviews on gear this is and great place to check out.  He has a comprehensive list of gear and manufacturers that are outside the realm of REI which is refreshing..

http://sectionhiker.com/

Brian Green

Brain has a very useful blog with tons of great articles. He focuses on a lot of different things like cooking, food, knives, shelters tips… that are very useful while learning more about packing light.

http://briangreen.net/

Backpacking North

This is another great site to learn more about lightening up your pack and much more.

http://www.backpackingnorth.com/

Sticksblog

Chad has a informative site that gave me a lot of great ideas. He has a ton of videos on his Youtube page that are definitely worth checking out.

http://sticksblog.com/

Clever Hiker

Dave has made a simple site that has all the information you need to know about long distance hiking and his Youtube channel in probably the best on the web for those who want to learn the basics about hiking “clever”.

http://www.cleverhiker.com/

Hike Lighter

If you need to research what gear to get and learn some tips about lightening your load this is the sight to go to.

http://hikelighter.com/

There are a lot more sites out there that I didn't mention because I forgot to add them or I haven’t discovered them yet. If you have any recommendations place feel free to leave a comment below.

Walking on the the PCT

I hope that I can keep it up to date for the months to come and provide some insights on what it is like to walk the Pacific Crest Trail  (PCT). I’m guessing it will be a lot like being a homeless person who carries around expensive gear and blogs on a smartphone.  

What is the Pacific Crest Trail?

The Pacific Crest Trail is a long distance hiking trail that starts in Campo California which is a small outpost on the Mexican border and ends in Canada near Manning Provincial Park.  The trail is around 2,600 miles (4200 kilometers) long and takes between three and six months to complete. It was recently popularized be the movie and book “Wild” which I recommend reading snuggled up with a glass of red wine and a bar of chocolate.  

Why are you hiking the Pacific Crest Trail?

I have met a good amount of people who have hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and this is a question that most of them dread and I am no different. A good majority of the people I met that were hiking the trail didn’t like their jobs or they just needed a change.

I am attempting to hike the trail just for the experience of it and to be outside more. For the last four years I have been teaching English. I started off in a suburb of Seoul in South Korea. After one year and three months I moved to Busan the second biggest city in the country. Then I moved to Moscow, Russia where I have been teaching since August 2014. I recently quit my job and I am currently living with my girlfriend in Bordeaux, France.

I love that teaching gave me the opportunity to travel and see different places, but living in cities made me miss things like clean air, clean water, sunshine, silence, and seeing the stars.  So, I hope that walking on this trail will be a good change from living abroad and worrying about things like acid rain.