Wonderland trail solo August 2013

You could get a hexamid ~10oz ($300), or a bearpaw lair 18oz ($200). This would save you over a pound.

Completley revise your cook kit, consider esbit, like the Litetrail kit 3oz ($60). At the very least get a 2-3oz titanium pot.

Use the galaxy S phone for a camera, consider upgrading to the S4.

OK, thanks. Those are good ideas but require either spending lots more money or leaving home something I really want to bring (nice camera). Anyone have thoughts on rain gear? Whether I need rain pants or not? I've decided to bring an umbrella fwiw.

For rain gear I would ditch a jacket and rain pants and go with a poncho like Golite's poncho/tarp. A sil poncho can be picked up cheap and saves weight. I switched to a poncho 2 years ago and love it. I use a spare piece of shock cord and a cord lock as belt to help with wind.

You are bringing a smartphone, yet you are also bringing a camera, mp3 player.

If you sell off your old gear and buy used gear its basically free.

Well, the mp3 player is lighter than a third spare battery, plus I already own it. The camera is a prosumer level product that completely outclasses any smartphone camera, with a wide angle lens and polarizing filter. I intend to spend a lot of time taking pics on this trip as I'm averaging just 10 miles / day.

Do you think a poncho alone is enough raingear? I'm told to prep for multi-day driving rain as a distinct possibility on the wonderland. I would rather carry a pound of raingear that never gets used than spend days soaking and freezing. I was also thinking of getting a piece of tyvek and sewing grommets in the corners, to be used as a pack cover / additional rain shelter.

I've done the Wonderland in mid-late August and had rain 7 out of 10 days. Driving, flooding rain. I ended up being hypothermic at Mystic Lake on the worst day of rain because it was also pretty cold. The second time I did it in early-mid August (12 days, including side trips) and I had one day of rain, one drizzly day and the rest were hot. I live in Washington and take full rain gear on every trip. IMHO, Washington is not a place to go without some sort of rain gear on longer trips, especially at a place like Mt. Rainier, which can create its own weather. I'd take something — jacket and pants or poncho. I prefer mobility and usually head off-trail at some point, so I go with a lightweight rain jacket and pants.

BTW — if you can swing two food caches — say dropping a box off at Longmire before heading to Sunrise and mailing a box to Mowich — it's pretty nice and makes your pack even lighter. Although your itinerary is shorter than mine have been so not as important.

Thank you Andrea. Yes I was thinking about a second resupply to Mowich lake. Saves maybe 4 lb off my back for the west side which will be my hardest days. I also have a res at the National Park Inn at Longmire, so if it is really wet I'll at least have one day to dry out and warm up at the lodge. I decided on Marmot Precip, driducks poncho, and lightweight umbrella for my rain gear. I never really cared for rain pants because of the sweat factor, and I sweat a lot. Just took my new Montrail Mountain Masochist II shoes out for a trial run / hike yesterday and really enjoyed the feel.