PCT Rough Draft

It's a good list. Here's what I might do differently.

– You can probably live without the rain kilt until Oregon. I didn't pick up rain pants until Sisters (if I did it again, I'd get them at Ashland).

– I almost bought a kindle for a long overseas trip recently but decided to save weight and read books on my smartphone instead. Now I'll never buy a kindle–reading on the phone was perfect for me. 5 oz. saved here potentially.

– I don't use a sleeping bag stuff sack anymore. It just sits in the bottom of my pack and gets compressed by the gear above.

– Don't forget a trash compactor bag if you switch to the Prophet.

– Think about a little athletic tape or body glide for blisters/chafing. I cut off a tiny piece of body glide and stuck it in a small ziploc. <1 oz. will usually last me an entire thru-hike.

– The first 700 miles of the PCT were made for umbrellas. There wasn't much shade when I thru-hiked a few years ago, and thanks to all the fires, there is even less now.

– I wouldn't do any thru-hike without a compass (though I only used mine once on the entire PCT).

Good luck. Hope it's not too crowded out there.

Thanks Scott!

I scrapped the Kindle, I can give the phone a shot and see how it does for battery life. I probably won't be reading too much, I'll be so tired.

I don't usually use a sleeping back stuff sack either when I use the porter. I may have to use it for the prophet, but for now I have scrapped that too.

I have a few pack liners so I will be all set when I swap packs.

I have considered scrapping the rain gear for an umbrella, still on the fence about it though.

I am using my watch as my compass, the wife also has a little suunto button compass.

Have much experience with the Lone Peak shoes? Just picked up a pair and are loving them so far, but wont get any trail time for a few weeks due to injury recovery.

I like your set-up for what it is so far. Nothing egregious that I can see.

Not too much experience with the LPs. Working through another pair before I break in the LPs

Tyler – the LPs are great shoes. I've used them hiking/backpacking and for ultramarathons. They excel on trails. However, off trail they show their inherent weakness in upper durability. Wife and I did some extensive off trail boulder, downed tree, etc. travel last year and the fabric of the uppers can get shredded fast on any abrasive surfaces. The 'rubber' that extends up in front of the toes is more like foam and also gets shredded where it meets the fabric upper.

Edit: during a hike after this post, the shoes wife used on hike described above blew out on the fabric upper over pinky toe.

Seems to be some redundancy between the windshirt, windpants, rain jacket, rain kilt, liner goves, and rain gloves?

Thanks Eli, what would you eliminate to reduce redundancy?

I feel that each has it's own purpose.

I could see getting rid of the liner gloves and maybe the rain kilt but I can't go without the wind pants because I will be using the 5" running shorts.

Also, I can't get rid of the windshirt because I can't seem myself hiking comfortably, without perspiring, in a rain jacket.

I don't think you need the liner gloves or the rain kilt (but maybe pick it up in WA). Keep the windpants. Personally, if it's too hot to hike in a rain jacket, it's also too hot to hike in a windshirt. If you really think there will be a lot of time, when it's not raining, when a rain jacket will be too warm, then you'll need the windshirt. Otherwise, drop the windshirt or drop the rain jacket and pick up an umbrella.

I see your logic, and I agree. I will bounce the windjacket and at the worst I can pick it up with the kilt and liners, if needed.

That will save me about a half pound!

Great stuff, thanks!

You can check out how I used / changed gear for my PCT thru last year:

http://peaksandvalleys.weebly.com/pacific-crest-trail-2013.html

I used a Houdini and umbrella till northern Oregon when I picked up a rain jacket and rain pants for Washington. LOVED my Umbrella and brought it all the way until the snow hit in central Washington.

I loved my Altra Lone Peaks (4 pairs – with one pair holding up fairly well with Rocky Mtn GTX socks and MSR Alpine Ascent snowshoes for 200+ miles of snowshoeing – including crossing into Canada) and one pair of Brooks Cascadia 8 during the Sierra section.

Enjoy the Addiction !

Thanks for the feedback Seth!

I am still looking for an umbrella, as it seems it may be preferable to rain gear in warmer weather. The weight is comparable between the rain combo and umbrella as well.

Any models to recommend other than the Chrome Dome?

Check out the one that I used:

Birdie Pal Swing LiteFlex Silver (A chrome dome without the marketing)

http://www.euroschirm.com/schirm/liteflex/info.cgi?session=R2BOM5e7XZcWK&sprache_land= usa

$48 _ shipping is you buy direct…check online – I think I paid $35 or so shipped.

Wow, that is really affordable. I'll have to try a pair out.

Re: snowshoes. Do you think NLs (Tundra and Elite) would handle the stretch of snowshoeing you had crossing into Canada?

Thanks!

It's hard to say, mainly due to the fact that I've never tried NL snowshoes and can't really compare. What I will say is this : I was very very happy that my snowshoes had really good traction. If I would have brought real crampons instead of the crappy microspikes, then maybe I would have wanted my snowshoes to be lighter instead of grippier (is that a real word?).

All in all I think most folks just go with what they have – but I enjoyed using the MSR alpine ascents and barring falling in love with the NL, would bring them again. I don't even know how much more they weigh compared to the NL — but I had the tails on (25" + 5" tails) and would want AT LEAST a 30" to provide some level of float in the slush …… the condition will determine what snowshoes everyone wishes they had!