Actual 2013 PCT Gear List for 2014 Hopefuls

Awesome list man! Thanks for sharing. You seemed to doing great when I ran into you with a group of BPLers in Emigrant Wilderness in July. Glad to see this worked for you.
Thanks,
James

Thanks for sharing Seth. Which umbrella did you use?

I was excited to meet all of you – and hope the Emigrant Wilderness was as epic as it looked from my brief passage through it! I snagged a photo of the group — don't remember all who are in it, but they are popping up in this thread as time passes!

(Far Left – Kevin Burton, unknown, Jay Wilkerson, Unknown till Far Right – James DeGraaf.)

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My trekking umbrella was the BirdiePal Swing Liteflex w/ Silver Reflective Mylar : ProLiteGear.com has them for $30

Got it because I didn't want the GoLite logo on my umbrella…they didn't pay me to market for them.

BEST ITEM I CARRIED ON THE PCT WAS MY UMBRELLA !! My zpacks pillow stuffsack was also AWESOME, but here are all the things I could do with my umbrella:
– Hike during the heat of the day in relative comfort, while others near perished in the 110* heat
– Use only a Houdini Windshirt till Bend, Oregon – the umbrella took care of little spouts in the Sierra's
– A place to nap in the shade, when there was no shade to be had
– REAR SUPPORT for my Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform SW tent (front support was my single CF trekking pole)
– Protected my eyes from driving hail and freezing rain while going through the Knifes Edge in near white out from typhoon conditions.
– ENVY of every other hiker in the Sierra's (those exposed climbs can get HOT).
– Major cool points by being the guy with the silver umbrella (you do tend to see a fair number of people carrying them)

Haha, that's me there, on the right holding my golite umbrella! It's funny, that is the picture you chose then posted about your umbrella. Coincidence?

-James

I knew you had to be in there somewhere ! The funny thing is — the only trekking umbrellas I saw where GoLite Chrome Dome's — mine was the lone wolf of the bunch… but all in all they are EXACTLY the same umbrella – and I saw two people pick up Chrome Domes out of the Kennedy Meadows hiker box after seeing me with mine :-)

Not hating on the GoLite – just wanted to "walk a different path" in the umbrella department!

I looked at a a bunch of reviews for the Altra Lone Peaks and pretty much everyone said that they disintegrated after just a few miles. How did you get 1200 miles out of one pair? I believe you, it just sounds wierd that you did 1200% better than others.

Excellent list, I'm curious. Did you feel that the 30 degree bag was enough. I was planning on a 20.

Thank you for the list. Lots of great info.

I don't mean to answer for the OP but in the Sierra Nevada Mnts during the summer, a 30* bag should be sufficient if not more than enough. A 20* might be overkill. The times I spent in the Sierra Nevada Mnts this summer a 30* was plenty if not maybe too much, however, when I brought my 20* it was far too much. I did wear clothes, wool base layers, and down jacket, to bed and was overly warm in my 20* quilt while I was just fine with my 30* bag. Hope that helps but I'm sure Seth will be able to answer that much better than I can.
Thanks,
James

Here's what I've got to say :

@ CAMERON – regarding the ALTRA LONE PEAKS: I don't know if the Reviews you saw were Runners or Hikers – but I loved them.
1st Pair from Mexico and went 700 miles till Kennedy Meadows
–> I then got a pair of old Brooks Cascadia 7's from home (previously used running shoes with about 250 hard miles already on
–> them) and used the Brooks till South Lake Tahoe (about 395 miles)
2nd Pair at Tahoe got Altra Lone Peak 1.5 's (first pair was the old model). These lasted till Cascade Locks, OR (1055 miles — NOT 1,200 as I had guess when writing that up)…Still — not bad at all!
3rd Pair from Cascade Locks till Manning Park (500 miles — with about 200 being in MSR Axis Ascent Snowshoes or Microspikes)

OVERALL I loved the shoes and am embarrassed to admit that I am actually still wearing the 3rd pair right now as I right this. MAIN PROBLEM I HAD was with the Toe Guard coming unglued almost immediately — fast fix of just emptying a small tube of super glue on the toe guard right when I get them..problem solved (still look good on my feet – aside from the torn mesh from the snowshoe straps). I LOVE ALTRA AND WILL BE GETTING MORE OF THEIR SHOES. GREAT TOE BOX ROOMINESS AND VERY LIMITED BLISTERS COMPARED TO OTHER HIKERS.

@ JAMES R. – 30* was great. I brought the Ghost Whisperer Hooded Down and only wore it maybe 5 times to start sleeping in till the snow fell, and usually had to take it off after an hour when I warmed the bag up. Honestly it really depends on YOU — as I slept in the Western Mountaineering Whisper Liner (about 4 oz.) and that actually did add noticeable warmth. FOR THE PRICE and minimal weight gain — go with your gut. I WAS THE EXCEPTION NOT THE RULE. Most other UL quilt/bag users had a 20* bag. AND once the feathers start to go (a few a day) and it gets dirty between washes (I washed it ONCE at Ashland, OR while hiking) it will get more compressed and feel colder. FOR THE WEIGHT I'd almost say get an OVERSTUFFED 30* or 20* and you'll be spot on (if you're like me).

@ JAMES D. – Spot on with your comments. AGAIN I STARTED MAY 19TH. IF YOU START EARLIER PLAN ACCORDINGLY. I hit mostly warm weather until the snow hit me in Washington. Many folks I talked to really needed the extra warmth starting around APRIL and MAY… this is the time for your past experience to come into play. To each their own — but even if you have to layer up for a few nights — I think either way you'd be fine. IF YOU SLEEP COLD then go with the warmer bag for sure.

Were you fine sleeping without a big bivy or anything? Did you just wear the headnet to bed?

Thanks,
-Richard.

The Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform Single Wall is a tarp with the netting and silnylon floor integrated.

http://www.yamamountaingear.com/cirriform-sw-1p/

-James

Right again James — I used a fully enclosed Cirriform SW Cuben for the trip. Bathtub floor, netting to simply zip closed on buggy of cold nights, and storage space for all the essentials to be in the tent with you. I often kept all my gear in the tent – including having my Arc Blast lay next to my feet. A very roomy tent for it's footprint, best I've found in that tent style.

I didn't notice a pot or stove, unless I missed it. Did you do all no cook food? If so, what was your typical day like foodwise?

1) *Stoveless from Mexico to Kennedy Meadows. Super hot out and didn't really want hot meals after a long hot day.

2) Kennedy Meadows to South Lake Tahoe -MSR Titan Kettle / WhiteBox Stove/ Fuel Bt / Screen/Bic Mini Lighter (7.6 oz.) Nice set-up and enjoyed using it.

3) *Stoveless from Lake Tahoe to Snowqualmie Pass

4) Snowqualmie Pass to Canada – Jetboil Sol + Ti Mug. Snow camping and cold weather made hot meals not just good motivation, but also a safety thing. Good to have in case of needing to melt a lot of snow, or heat up the tent if I got hypothermic and needed water bottles by arteries. Also – I traveled in a group of 3 and we had 1 Jetboil and 1 MSR Reactor that was shared by all of us. I carried the Jetboil and the other two guys split the weight of the Reactor by having one of them carry more tent stuff.

You completed the hike end of October? I live in the PNW and that's really late to be on the PCT. You must've run into a lot of snow on the trail.

Your assumption of lots of snow is correct. I had mixed winter conditions from Snowqualmie Pass all the way to Manning Park, that included lots of crusting ice over an unstable snowpack and loose soil (from the previous rain). In particular, the Glacier Peak Wilderness was very challenging, and many sections of trail showed some damage and washout from the typhoon aftermath that came through in Sept/Oct and dropped record amount of rain and snow. The final few days from Hart's Pass also proved to be challenging, and the nights dropped into the low 20's for a couple nights. Our group got about 6-8 inches fresh snow at Hart's Pass, and that was ontop of the earlier snowfall. The last day to the border was extremely treacherous, and at one point we made only 3 miles in 5 1/2 hours of exhausting hiking. Needless to say, I'm very fortunate to have finished at all given the time of year and weather, and the day after we finished another 5 day snowstorm began that dropped over 12" at Hart's Pass. I DO NOT RECOMMEND HIKING AT THIS TIME OF YEAR, and our group of 3 were the last PCT hikers to finish for 2013 (as far a I know). Had I known the weather was going to get that bad, I would have hiked faster…but such is the trail!

The photo below is looking back at Rock Pass on my last day. This section would prove to be one of the most dangerous that I would go through. All the trail in this photo was unstable, and trying to kick in steps in the icy snow would often times lead to the whole step simply sliding away – rock, dirt, snow and all. It had taken me about 3 hours to get to where I was standing, from the ridgeline above me and to my right.

Seth, I have to say that that one one of the better gear lists, both in form and content, I have ever read on here. Lean, yet totally comprehensive presentation. Kudos!

Is there anywhere we could read more about your trip Seth? Do you have a blog?

I'd be very interested in hearing more about your adventures and seeing more pictures.

Thanks for the interest Mark and Matthew.

I do have a website: http://www.peaksandvalleys.weebly.com

And I do plan on having MUCH more stuff than is currently on there..but it all takes time, and money (I'm going to need to upgrade from a free website to a paid one) but more is one the way. And Christmas is a good time to get money…

I DO plan on having full trip reports with Photos and Videos on all my long hikes…I've already got good Long Trail and AT videos done, and almost a full AT write up…NET is done – but can't post it until I upgrade my site (I can't post videos or files larger than 10mb). The PCT will likely take some time, but I've got teaser videos up for now to keep you all interested.

Check out the website from time to time, as I will be working on it late into the night for many months to come. I'll post each new update to my site as it's completed so things will slowly start to appear.

Thanks for the good karma and I appreciate the interest. Cheers

Do the Altras run true to size? You mentioned a running and a hiking model but I can only seem to find running models.

@ Cameron – I mean't to say that ROAD shoes are what I consider running shoes, and TRAIL shoes are hiking shoes. The Lone Peaks are Altra's most cushioned trail shoe — and they are still very minimal at that. I found the Lone Peaks to be true to size — that is to say true to how I go about sizing shoes for myself. The toe box is WIDE which is way I like them, but overall I think they do run fairly true to size, but but I'd check out the Altra website or Amazon or another retailer for more reviews.

How many pairs of gaiters did you go through?

I like wide toe shoes as well. It doesn't make sense to me why shoes narrow so much at the toes when if anything your foot widens at the toes. I like my merrell ventilators for the wide toe box but I would like to try a more minimalist and flatter shoe.

Thanks

I used only a single pair of Dirty Girl Gaiters for the whole trail — excluding the last 250 of snow — and I didn't even get any holes in the gaiters, i still have them with my gear. Not too bad for $18 pair of 2 oz. gaiters.