Techno - phobe

I have come to realize that the first thing that goes with me in the event of extreme fatigue is my problem solving ability. This is good to know as I am assuming that in the event of a true survival situation, I may very well be fatigued :). Luckily this affliction only seems to affect my problem solving ability when it comes to technology. Thanks to our sponsors, Brunton solar roll and Go Pro Cameras, the technology for the trip is coming together. However, I have found myself time after time, holding the pieces of technology and staring vaguely at the plugs and wondering how on earth they will fit together. Which button does what and how come all the instructions seem to be written in gibberish even when it says English on the title. Thank goodness for Thomas' patient explanations and encouragement and the fact that I have a week and a half to figure it all out before we leave. If I can't figure out this technology, then all this preparation, indeed the walk itself, will be for nothing. Then again, if I can figure it all out with this level of sleep deprivation, then it should be no problem to figure out on the hike itself ;) - Ky

Feeling the crunch...

I looked at my phone today and noticed the date. The 24th of August! We are almost at the end of August and scheduled to do this adventure on the 10th September. Time is flying by towards d-day and I feel slightly unorganized. I think it's the fact I am shooting at night right now. It leaves my days a little fuzzy but when I look at my lists of things to do, I seem on top of it all. Thomas is busy running classes with his school too so there is hardly any time to communicate about what needs to be done still but our hurried phone calls and texts seem to be on the right track. Probably just pre-trip nerves. It comes with the territory of being a perfectionist I guess. I like everything to be over-organized and will stress till it is. The most relaxing part of this whole journey may well be the hike itself :) - Ky

Never enough time in the day...

So I am really feeling the time crunch now. I have just begun working on Pirates of the Caribbean 4 and have been told that I will be working every night until 4 days before we leave on the hike. Now night shoots are hard enough but to have no days off to organize anything else for HFS has left me a little nervous. The toss up now comes between getting enough sleep or forgoing sleep in order to train and prepare for the hike. Hhhmmm... There may need to be a bit of both.

People think that being fit is being fit but for every different activity there is a completely different set of muscles that work for it. I may be swimming fit at the end of the next 2 weeks but not hiking fit. And we need to be moving fast when we hike this trail. I can't afford to be too sore to put in a long day or holding Thomas back. I'll let you know how I figure this out :) - Ky

Outa Ware clothing

We have just been so fortunate to secure sponsorship with a truly all American apparel company. Andrew Tuller from Outa Ware (www.outaware.com) has kindly agreed to sponsor us by donating a full set of goretex rain gear, hard wearing traveling pants and warm fleece jackets. This is even more incredible when you realize that Andrew makes all his gear by hand from scratch in his Montana factory. The reviews for his gear are amazing with people saying they have never worn better outdoor gear that fits them more perfectly. He tailors for every different body type. Please check out his site and support small made in America businesses. Thanks - Ky

Lowa Boots

We are so fortunate to have Lowa Boots come on board as our shoe of choice for the hike. Their boots are awesome European made hiking boots of the highest quality. I am sure that we will be totally thankful for their gore-tex lining and thick vibram soles on the 125 mile journey. Check them out at www.lowaboots.com. Thanks so much Lowa. - Ky

This little Aussie may be in trouble....

About a month ago sleeping out in tents was like a trip to the sauna. So when originally planning this trip I had little concern for sleeping without a tent or sleeping bag. Having just slept out last night in a tent, I can tell you, I am in trouble!!!! I had a sleeping bag and a tent and still I woke in the middle of the night FREEZING! The nights have got much colder now and that is not even at altitude, so I can't imagine how frigid it's going to be as we cross the 4 mountain passes that stand between us and our goal. The plan is to build shelters each night but that takes time. A good windproof shelter can take at least 3 hours to build and that is if there are good materials around for it. With shelter building and gathering enough food to burn in the cold, we may be hard pressed to find time to hike the 125 miles. It has made me even more determined to make sure that the products we wear and use are the very best American made products we can find. The hunt is on for warmth :) - Ky

Skills training for this trip...

People often hear about the description of this trip and ask me if I'm mad. Just a pocket knife? But how will you eat? Where will you sleep? What about the bears? The really cool thing about this trip that Thomas and I are undertaking is that the land will provide. I am so fortunate to have Thomas as my co-host on this trip as he brings to this adventure a whole range knowledge that will not only make for a successful trip, but it should be a relatively comfortable trip too. Check out the amazing survival skills that Thomas has been teaching me at his YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/STSCThomas

Now I know that this doesn't answer the bear question but at this stage I am choosing to focus on all the positives :) - Ky

Sleep issues

Having just returned from some more North American plant identification training with Thomas I have identified what I think is my biggest concern about the whole adventure - Sleep deprivation. I love sleeping outdoors but even with a tent and a comfy air bed it takes a few nights to get used to the whole experience. Then there is the sleeping on a thin camp mattress which takes even more getting used to and, I have to admit, my hips do ache a little sometimes. We are taking this sleeping outdoors thing to a whole new level on our trip. No sleeping bags, no camp mats and no tents. Does this mean 12 or more nights of no sleep? Or really bad sleep? How am I supposed to function like that and make survival decisions in a haze of sleep deprivation? Or maybe it's like anything and I will just adapt and soon sleeping on the ground will feel normal and a bed will feel too soft? How will Thomas and I get along if we are cranky from lack of sleep? And most people would have thought I was most concerned about bears! :) - Ky

Leatherman Multi-tool comes on board

The nature of this survival hike is such that the most important tool we will be carrying is our pocket knife. To this end we sought a solid knife that had all the necessary implements on it. Leatherman is made in Oregon, USA and will be supplying us with their very best outdoor tools for the journey. Our very first sponsors, with more companies getting interested every day. How exciting! - Ky

So very excited today. Our official website for Hike for Survival is up and running. It has been a bit of an office slog to get it all going but I am very proud of the end product. - Ky

HFS photo shoot

Thomas and I had a long hot day with amazing photographer, Teren Oddo, in a canyon in Malibu yesterday. We hiked and jumped and played with survival items in order to get some new photos for the website. It was just like a normal day for us except when we stopped playing, someone came and fixed my make-up for me :). It was Thomas' first photo shoot ever which is always a nerve wracking experience. He did really well and held back the "blue steel" until after the shot was taken. Watch the gallery for some of the shots from the shoot. Coming soon...