WCT 2010 Gear List

I am a 5 timer so hopefully I can add some perspective:

– Rain pants. Are these necessary or not? If they are, does that mean I gotta gear long pants for the entire hike?

I wear shorts when I hike. Too much mud on this trail for pants. As far as rain pants are concerned, I have done the WCT in torrential rain for the entire trip. I would take them.

– Footwear. I'd love to gear my New Balance 875 again, but they already got 250 miles on them. If necessary I can get a new pair. Do I need something waterproof? Or should I just not worry about having wet feet? I got some super heavy pair of Montrail Goretex boots weighting at a whooping 58oz as another option.

Your shoes are going to get wet regardless. I have done the trail with both GTX shoes and non GTX shoes with Sealskin waterproof socks. Both kept my feet dry. If you chose to go with non GTX shoes and non waterproof socks, bring a few pairs. If it rains the entire time you will not have a chance to dry any gear.

– Socks. Do I need waterproof ones? See above.

– Gaiters. Do I need to knee high ones or just the short ones? Do they need to be waterproof? Which ones are recommended?

Just take shorties. I use MLD eVENT shortie gaiters. Integral Designs makes a good one as well. Yes on the waterproof front but you will want something breathable.

– Bear Canister. Good idea to bring one? I've never used rope to hang food before. If hanging is the way to go, what kind of bag do I need to put the food in?

No canister needed. Each designated campsite has a bear locker.

– Waterproof stuff sack. Should I just get one to put sleeping bag/clothes in it, or a bigger one for the whole inside of the backpack.

Just to the latter. I might also double up on the sleeping bag.

You need to talk to Mr. Ure….recent WCT Yo-Yo'er and all around trail guru.

Edit: Too funny. 1 second before I posted!

I think Steve needs to give his perspective because my 'big 3' is slightly heavier than HIS BASE WEIGHT!!!!

Steve is my SUL hero currently.

Hahaha…:)

That list is nice. You obviously have all the gear so there would be no reason to buy/change stuff out, but your pack and tent are pretty beefy when you look at the rest of your gear. Something to think about in the future maybe…food for thought.

What kind of food are you bringing? Just curious about the no cook option as I am now moving towards that style for lunches…saves me so much time.

Also, I'm dying to do the WCT so make sure we get a good trip report afterwards.

I don't know about everyone else but 7 days means you'll be hiking 11km a day. I did it in 3 and a half days and I feel like a didn't miss anything. we ate crab and omlettes and burgers at the stops. with your gear your a lot lighter than we were so I think you'll spend a lot of time sitting around talking to people with 95LB packs.

sorry if it ruins it for you. but there isn't any huge elevation gain, West coat trail builders like to use ladders instead of switchbacks.

it was a lot of fun when I did it last year. Plan to eat at the stops cuts down on food weight. David could probably give more info on the eating at the ferry and the lighthouse.

Gaiters- I used OR flex-tex gaiters but i never actually put them on.

Bear canister- just bring a stuff sack to have all your food in for the bear lockers.

Rain pants-I had no rain but I would take them for those 2 month rain storms that happen…

Shoes- I had Salomon fastpacker GTXs and i managed to get water in them a few times but no problems. If I did it again I would use un-water proof trail runners. those montrails might be slippery on the boardwalks.

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Hi- a friend and I are starting at Gordon River on 7/7. Still pondering the umbrella option, which it appears you have decided against. Sam.

There are some excellent side trips on teh WCT. You can get to camp early, swim in the ocean, play in the falls, hike inland in the Carmanah valley, drink beer at Chez Moniques, search the tidal pools, take pictures of bald eagles 10ft away, meet the lighthouse keepers, etc. The point is that if this is your first time, don't rush it. Savor it. Of course, if it is raining and blowing you may want to hurry up and finish it!

Sam – http://www.brettonstuff.com. Brett used an umbrella on the WCT. But admittedly, he really didn't have any substantial rain. Because some of your trek will be on the tidal shelf and or the beach, the winds can be pretty significant. Add in rain and it becomes almost horizontal. I would recommend UL rain gear over an umbrella on this trek. Obviously Brett would suggest otherwise. YMMV.

Yes it was Brett that has me thinking about umbrellas. Thanks David for your reply to my question about WCT add ons. We haven't decided yet but will prob add North Coast or Nootka. Had not thought of more Carmanah hiking but that might be nice. Sam.

if all those down trees are over the trail it might be a pain with an umbrella while trying to get under and over the downed trees.

+1 on chez and nitnat for beers. bring 100 cash and you can eat and drink like a king.

Thanks for all the responses!

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David: "I wear shorts when I hike. Too much mud on this trail for pants. As far as rain pants are concerned, I have done the WCT in torrential rain for the entire trip. I would take them."

Are you saying that you hike with regular shorts and switch to rain pants during torrential rain? or is there such a thing as a "rain short". Sorry if this is a stupid question.

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Steven: "What kind of food are you bringing? Just curious about the no cook option as I am now moving towards that style for lunches…saves me so much time."

Salami, cheese, hummus, dried bacon bits, peanut M&Ms, Cliff and Snicker bars, trail mix, chicken in packets, mayo, olive oil, tortillas. That was for the JMT last year where I had to send resupply caches up to 1 month in advance. This time I might bring more variety with stuff that doesn't have to last that long.

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Robert: "I don't know about everyone else but 7 days means you'll be hiking 11km a day. I did it in 3 and a half days and I feel like a didn't miss anything."

Yeah, 7 days is my max. It might end up being fewer days.

Robert: "If I did it again I would use un-water proof trail runners."

Did you wear waterproof socks? If not, do you just not worry about shoes/feet getting wet?

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Mike: "Since you are going to be taking a week to do the trail you will be sitting around camp quite a bit so you may want to take another warm top (puffy jacket?)."

I've been thinking of getting a Montbell down vest or jacket for a while, I might ended up doing it for this trip.

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Sam: "Still pondering the umbrella option, which it appears you have decided against"

Yeah, I'm not sure about the umbrella thing, How do you operate 2 hiking poles and an umbrella at the same time?

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Some other questions:

– How many of these places where I can get meals are there on the trail? How many meals could they save me from having to carry?
– Approximately, how many of these designated campsites with bear boxes are there?
– Any recommendations for light/ultralight rain pants?

"Are you saying that you hike with regular shorts and switch to rain pants during torrential rain? or is there such a thing as a "rain short". Sorry if this is a stupid question."

Sorry – I would wear shorts but if the rain became too substantial, I would put my rain pants on and keep hiking. I also found the rain pants a good way to keep warm at night if the wind picket up. I have 7.7oz Mountain Hardwear Conduit rain pants. I do not think they make them any more.

Every campsite but one does not have a bear locker (I think). Thrasher Cove I believe does not have a bear locker so you hang your food. I am pretty sure all the rest do. If you bypass a campsite and choose to camp elsewhere on the beach, you will have to hang food. I have had two encounters with bears on the WCT. The first was as I was getting ready to leave camp in the morning and the bear walked right under where I had hung my food! The second was when one came running out on the beach as I was on the tidal shelf. Both were easily scared off.

my feet run hot so being wet cools them off. I did it though in GTX shoes with lightweight wool socks and my feet were fine.

usually I just wear trailrunners and my feet dry really fast. I'm doing the north bounday in jasper next week with patagonia tasali's my new go to shoe. letting your feet be wet is an acquired feeling I got from trail running and adventure races.

just nitnat ferry and the farm after your second lighthouse chez monquies has food. the ferry has fish and crab, and the farm has breakfasts in the am and burgers in the afternoon. both run about 20bucks a meal. beer is 5 and 6 bucks.

What to wear on your feet is a tough issue. I haven't done the WCT but I've done the JDF trail twice which is similar. I don't think waterproof footwear is a good idea because most likely it will still get wet. The WCT is super muddy even several days after the last rain. Expect a lot of mud hiking. I would go with very breathable shoes and if you really want dry feet then I would bring along waterproof socks (ie. Rocky Gore-Tex Socks). I pretty much just accept wet feet on trails like this, so I've never brought gaiters on the JDF but it wouldn't be a bad idea if you want to keep mud, pebbles, sand etc out of your shoes. Think of gaiters as something to keep crud out of your footwear, not as a way to keep your shoes/boots dry because it likely won't work.

For rainpants I use GoLite Reeds (3.96oz, ladies large) but they are hard to find since they are no longer made. A womens large fits me just like a men's medium.

For bear bagging I use a cuben food sack (0.78oz) from Zpacks.com. Cuben is totally waterproof and the Zpacks food bags are a great size. Their rectangle shape fits in my pack perfect and 1.5oz cuben is bomber stuff. I use 1/16" spectra cord (45 ft, 0.64oz) and a 0.1oz mini biner from MEC.

Yes – I think footwear is a personal choice. I don't sweat much, especially my feet. I found that GTX shoes worked great. I never once (after 5 times on the trail including a Yo Yo) got water inside my shoes albeit I had on eVENT shortie gaiters.

My hiking partner this past May used a non GTX shoe with a GTX sock. I have tried this but found this undeniably stuffy for the feet.

On the other hand, I know some who sweat horribly in GTX shoes.

I think the worst is probably a goretex shoe that's not waterproof anymore. On my most recent (April) JDF hike I used an older pair of shoes that were GoreTex XCR but they are 4 years old now and they aren't waterproof anymore. Those sucked because they didn't keep my feet dry and they also didn't let the water back out, so I had soggy shoes the entire time. Good goretex footwear will be more comfortable then GoreTex socks, but you run the risk that if it gets wet then it'll be quite slow to dry. Goretex socks are less comfortable but you can always not use them, so it depends on what compromises and risks you want to make.

Whatever you do with footwear, I've found that bringing socks that dry quickly to be a real positive. On my last JDF hike I had a pair of medium weight wool socks and a pair of light 70% polypro / 30% wool socks. They both stunk after a day of hiking with wet shoes, but I could wash the polypro ones and let them dry overnight in the tent so the next day they were pretty much dry. The medium weight wool ones were way slower drying so they were still wet the next day. We even took a day off and my wool socks took nearly the entire sunny day to dry when hung on a tree branch.

Last year on the JDF I washed these polypro socks, wrung them out well and wore them to sleep and they were dry in ~3 hrs. This spring I wore the wool ones to bed one night to try to get them dry and I took them off 2/3 of the way through the night because they weren't getting noticeably drier.

I don’t have any experience with the WCT but I’ll throw my two cents in anyways.

First, Steven is right, your pack and tent are heavy compared to the rest of your kit. I used the BA Seedhouse from 2005-2008 and liked it, but have since moved on to lighter things (GG SpinnShelter + Alpinlite Bug Tent 1.25).

Second, is there any reason for the water filter rather than Aquamira? Unless there is a particular reason you need a filter on the WCT, I would save 10oz and never look back.

Third, you could save some weight on your first aid kit and your duct tape just by reducing the quantity carried. Those pre-packaged kits always have something crazy like 40 Band-Aids that you don’t need and you could probably cut 90’ off your duct tape.

Have a great hike!

Brad makes a great point. I have never used a filter on the WCT – only Chlorine Tabs.

In orientation I once asked the Ranger (there was only myself and a hiking buddy at the class) how 'clean' the water was. She indicated that none of the rangers that scout the WCT ever used anything. No one had ever gotten sick. Just make sure you go upstream sufficiently to avoid salt water when the tides change.

+1 on the pristine/aquamira.

used it when I wasn't drinking beer.(we drank a lot of it)

+2 on tabs or pristine.
Tons of clean spots to refill. At the orientation, they'll point out the 1 or 2 areas where you'll want to stock up on water.

Lightweight gloves will be useful with all the ladders and cable-cars, especially if it's raining. I did the trail in reasonably dry weather, so didn't bring any gaiters or rain pants. To me, rain paints would only be necessary if you're experiencing super rainy weather. Check the forecast before you move to the starting trailhead, and make the call then.
Also, I'm not usually a big fan of GTX shoes, but on this trail, my Montrail Sabino Trail Mid's in GTX were great. My buddy was wearing INOV8 non-wtpf shoes, and he had a few blisters by the end.

Check out my trip report here for more info: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=33269

Have a great time, and take lots of pictures!
Colin

Hi all- 1) is rope needed for anything other than hanging a bear bag? 2) I saw someone somewhere recommend microspikes for sandstone ledges. Thoughts?
General question: any safety concerns? Can you leave your tent and stuff and explore around? Theft reports?
Thanks, Sam.

-You may want to bring bear bagging rope. Although there are bear lockers, depending on when you go, they may be full.

-No need for micro-spikes. You will help destroy the tidal shelf. Just watch where you put your feet.

-No reported thefts. Yes to exploring!

-No hidden dangers. The obvious are the logs that you have to walk on, ladders, and surge channels. However, if it rains, it is a completely different story. Then everything is very slippery.

Have fun.

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