Well, the 2014 PCT hiking season is at hand, starting at Campo and continuing for the first 300 or so miles of the trail. Desert hiking will be new to me. The scarcity of water, the heat, and the necessity to shift from a hammock to sleeping on the ground will all impact what I have to take along with me for this segment. Hopefully I am making the right gear choices. But I suspect that if I err, it will be on the side of overkill. Next year I plan on completing the desert section, so this gear list may be refined quite a bit for that stretch. At the end of June and first half of July I will be back in the mountains and back into more familiar terrain.
This is a bit heavier than last year, but that is primarily due to sleeping on the ground verses hanging in the trees. Getting some sleep at night is going to be important.
Worn or Carried
There is nothing new here. I generally hike with minimal exposure to the sun, and that seems like a good plan to continue through this section. The shirt in particular has a lot of miles on it and dries pretty quickly.
| Pants | 0, 10 3/4 | ExOfficio Bug-off with zip off legs |
| Shirt | 0, 6 3/4 | Seattle Marathon long sleeved tech tee |
| Underwear | 0, 2 7/8 | Under Armour boxers |
| Shoes | 2, 1 1/4 | Brooks Dyad 7 road runners (size 15). These have 400 miles on them already but are in good shape. If they give out on me I will have last years Cascadia’s in the car as backup. |
| Socks | 0, 2 | Alpaca Direct ankle socks |
| Sun Gloves | 0, 0 7/8 | OR Chroma – Keeps the sun off the back of my hands as well as giving some padding between me and the trekking poles. |
| Gaiters | 0, 1 3/8 | Dirty Girl |
| Hat | 0, 3 | ExOfficio ball cap with long cape |
| Watch | 0, 2 1/8 | Casio Pathfinder |
| Trekking Poles | 1, 5 5/8 | Black Diamond |
| Total | 5, 2 7/8 | |
Belly Bag
Belly bags seem not to be terribly common on the trail, but I find using one to be very convenient. My ID, phone, camera and other misc items are always handy; even when I drop my pack and wander away a bit. It basically serves the purpose of big cargo pockets, without the rubbing against my legs.
| Belly Bag | 0, 6 5/8 | |
| Compass | 0, 0 5/8 | Seldom used, but comes in handy occasionally. |
| Reading Glasses | 0, 1 3/8 | Small reading glasses in metal case |
| Nail Clippers | 0, 0 3/4 | |
| Knife | 0, 0 5/8 | Tiny Swiss Army Knife |
| Whistle | 0, 0 1/8 | Fox40 Micro |
| Notebook & Pen | 0, 1 3/4 | Used for note taking along the way. Otherwise I’ll forget something I want to relate to the wife when I get home. |
| Chap Stick | 0, 0 1/4 | SPF 15 |
| Anti-bacterial hand cleaner | 0, 0 3/4 | Travel size |
| Light | 0, 0 1/4 | Photon Freedom Micro |
| Camera | 0, 10 | Sony CyberShot w/generic case |
| Phone | 0, 5 1/2 | Droid Bionic |
| Bible | 0, 3 3/8 | NIV New Testament |
| ID & Cash | 0, 0 3/8 | Drivers License, Credit Card and cash |
| Total | 2, 0 3/8 | |
Sleeping, Shelter & Pack
I hate sleeping on the ground and have only done so once in the past 4 years or so. The two pads may seem like overkill, but are necessary to keep my bony hips off the ground. The sleeping bag is probably way to heavy for much of this trip and am still considering taking a lighter quilt along to use instead, swapping it out if needed when I meet up with Sue.
| Pack | 2, 7 1/8 | Extra long cuben fiber ULA Circuit without internal pockets |
| Dry Bag | 0, 1 | LiteTrail NyloBarrier Pack Liner. Holds everything in the pack other than food, tent and coat. |
| Tent | 1, 4 3/4 | ZPacks Hexamid Solo Plus with Poncho ground cloth and 10 stakes |
| Sleeping Bag | 3, 8 7/8 | Big Agnes Storm King (long). Likely to be overkill for this section. |
| Inflatable Pad | 1, 4 1/8 | Big Agnes Quad Core |
| Closed Cell Pad | 1, 9 3/4 | Thermarest z-lite 3/4 length. Extra padding and to protect the inflatable. |
| Umbrella | 0, 7 7/8 | Golite Chrome |
| Map | 0, 2 1/2 | Laminated Forest Service map of the PCT. Cut in half and only carrying the current section. |
| Total | 10, 14 | |
Clothing Carried
Apart from the coat and extra socks, the rest of these clothes are generally just for camp and sleeping use. I don’t like snuggling under a down quilt, or into a down sleeping bag, wearing dirty and sweaty clothes.
| Coat | 0, 12 7/8 | Westcomb Specter LT Hoody |
| Long Sleeve Shirt | 0, 6 1/4 | Light weight fleece |
| Short Sleeve Shirt | 0, 4 3/4 | Performance tee |
| Silk Pants | 0, 3 3/8 | REI |
| Possum Down Socks | 0, 2 3/4 | Very warm sleeping socks |
| Skull Cap | 0, 1 3/4 | Smart Wool beanie |
| Gloves | 0, 2 | Mountain Hardware |
| Socks (2 pair) | 0, 4 1/8 | Alpaca Direct |
| Shorts | 0, 3 | Old pair of running shorts without liner, in case there is an opportunity to swim. |
| Stuff Sacks (2) | 0, 0 5/8 | Sea to Summit Ultra Mesh 6.5 L |
| Total | 2, 9 1/2 | |
Toiletries
| Toothbrush and Toothpaste | 0, 1 1/2 | Toob – contains a small refillable tube of toothpaste in the handle. |
| TP | 0, 0 7/8 | A roll from the backpacking section at WalMart |
| Wet Wipes | 0, 2 | Travel Pack |
| Hydrocortisone Cream | 0, 1 1/2 | Travel size anti-itch cream |
| Insect Repellent | 0, 0 1/2 | Ultrathon – 34.34% deet – in a drop bottle |
| Sun Screen | 0, 0 1/2 | Banana Boat SPF 30 – in a drop bottle |
| Total | 0, 6 7/8 | |
Food and Water
This does not include the weight of the food and water which will vary depending on water availability and how long I am out between resupplies.
| Water Filter & Bag | 0, 2 7/8 | Sawyer Squeeze Mini filter with 2 liter Evernew bag |
| Extra water bags | 0, 2 5/8 | 2 – 2 liter Sawyer mylar bags. Carried to give a total of 8 liter capacity for water if needed. |
| Scoop | 0, 0 3/8 | Top of a soda bottle |
| Chlorine Dioxide | 0, 0 1/8 | 10 pills in foil. For emergency use. |
| UrSack and liner | 0, 7 3/4 | LiteTrail NyloBarrier order proof bag. |
| Bowl w/lid | 0, 1 3/8 | 2 cup bowl with screw on lid. Works well for re-hydrating food while marching along the trail. |
| Spoon | 0, 0 3/8 | Plastic spoon |
| Gatorade Bottles | 0, 3 1/2 | 2-32 oz bottles. |
| Total | 1, 3 | |
Other Stuff
| SPOT | 0, 4 3/4 | Communicator mates with the phone. Not really necessary but goes along for my wife’s benefit. |
| Spare Batteries | 0, 3 | For the phone and SPOT |
| iPod & earbuds | 0, 1 1/8 | iPod Nano |
| Headlamp | 0, 3 1/2 | Black Diamond rechargeable |
| Stuff Sack | 0, 0 1/8 | 1 small bag |
| Sun Glasses | 0, 1 1/4 | Cheap sun glasses and a strap to hang around my neck |
| Headnet | 0, 1 | Sea to Summit Insect Shield |
| Bandanna | 0, 1 | 18″ square cotton |
| Towel | 0, 1 3/4 | MSR Ultralite Packtowl |
| First Aid Kit | 0, 4 3/8 | Tape, cream & bandages in a Medical Kit .5 bag |
| Tyvek | 0, 1 1/8 | 2 foot square chunk of tyvek to sit on or pile pack contents on |
| Soap | 0, 0 1/2 | Dr Bonner in a small drop bottle |
| Total | 1, 7 1/2 | |
Totals
| Worn or Carried | 5, 2 7/8 |
| Belly Bag | 2, 0 3/8 |
| |
| Sleeping, Shelter & Pack | 10, 14 |
| Clothes | 2, 9 1/2 |
| Toiletries | 0, 6 7/8 |
| Food & Water | 1, 3 |
| Other | 1, 7 1/2 |
| |
| Total Carried in Pack | 16, 8 7/8 |
| Grand Total (Carried & Worn) | 23, 12 1/8 |
