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| Nate Hegseth begins long West Coast trek |
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| Wednesday, 02 April 2008 | |
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Jennifer Larson Community Editor A classroom full of children were in awe when they heard what Nate Hegseth and his hiking partner, Claire Porter, were about to undertake. The two are setting out April 3 on a roughly seven month expedition of the Pacific Coastal Range. They will be trekking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that extends from the Mexican to the Canadian border, from California to Washington, and that follows mountain ridges for 2,600 miles. Their final destination is Bella Coola, British Columbia – an additional 600 miles into Canada. Hegseth is a 2001 graduate of Forest Lake High School. In February, he and Porter talked about their trip to students at Forest Lake Elementary where Hegseth attended. The pair highlighted their route and displayed the equipment they will need on the long journey ahead. The alumnus encouraged the elementary students to follow Hegseth and Porter’s travels through a blog they’ll be keeping. Posting updates to the site will be limited to their location, he said. They are not bringing a computer but will write in journals daily as well as corresponding through letters. “There will be a bit of a lag (in communication),” Hegseth said. He is excited to keep in contact with family and friends without the help of technology, and is looking forward to the letter writing. “I’m a big fan of slowing things down a notch,” Hegseth said. Porter posted a blog after seeing the elementary students, saying that to the outdoor adventure community, hiking the PCT in one season is a feat but not extraordinary. But to most of the people they encounter, she said backpacking and camping are themselves adventures. Outward bound In order to keep their packs light, he said they will be picking up food at designated resupply points along the way. However, there are fewer of those stops in Canada so the packs weighing up to 25 pounds will have more cargo that part of the expedition. Along the PCT, they’ll be hiking between 25 to 28 miles a day. Hegseth said the two will be without a tent to sleep in but plan on using a tarp for shelter from the elements. When they make it to British Columbia, he said there is no recreation trail. The two 25-year olds will be bushwhacking through the uncultivated country and navigating their way with the help of a compass and hand-held global positioning system (GPS) units. “We’ll need more time everyday to make sure we’re not lost,” Hegseth said, of the dense scenery. In the mountainous areas of the U.S. and Canada, he said they will pace themselves in the higher elevations, which may mean switching to snowshoes in the rugged terrain. To prepare for audacious voyage, Porter has been cross-country skiing. Hegseth has been running long distances as well as doing resistance activities with his pack on. The two met while working at Midwest Mountaineering in Minneapolis. It was there that they began to plan for the lengthy trip. All their support to pay for the extensive and expensive endeavor comes from sponsors and individual donations. About them Both of them enjoy being outdoors. According to her biography, Porter has explored the Bighorn, Wind River, Sawtooth ranges with stops in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rockies. Most recently, she spent a year and a half in Tanzania living in the bush and studying one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes on the planet. Porter received her undergraduate degree from Harvard and is now studying for a Masters in Geographic Information Systems at the University of Minnesota. Hegseth spent the past year as a trail crew leader in the Oregon wilderness with the Northwest Service Academy. While out west he hiked over 250 miles of the PCT, climbed numerous peaks in the Cascades and did Wilderness Fire Rehabilitation with the Forest Service. Hegseth has also spent time backpacking in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Montana, Canada, and his native Minnesota. He has one semester left at the U of M before receiving a degree in Middle Eastern studies. A modern luxury Hegseth will miss the most is showering. They’ll have to wash up in whatever water is nearby. He’ll also miss watching the Twins games. “I certainly will not miss the traffic,” Hegseth joked. All too often, he said people tend to lose sight of the important things. Their hope is the journey will give them a newly-found perspective. “I am looking forward to the solitude of being out there,” Hegseth said. To follow their travels or contribute to the expedition, visit www.pcrexp.com. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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