Colorado Trail 2016 gearlist 1st thru-hike

[Liam H]

Hey guys,

I’m a mechanical engineering student from Washington and I’ve been reading the BL forums for along time now and I finally decided to join! I wanted to get some input on my gear list for my first thru-hike on the CT with my girlfriend. We are planning on starting the trail around July 10th with an average pace of 20 miles a day.  We will be going an average of 5 days between resupply with 2.2 pounds of food per day, mostly home dehydrated meals. I am especially worried about the cold temps on the trail I suspect frequent 30-40deg temps at night and would appreciate input on optimizing clothing items. Some essentials will be carried by my partner and those are listed at the bottom of the gear list. https://lighterpack.com/r/1t0wid

[Shawn Bearden]

 

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[Liam H]

Thanks Shawn, really appreciate the feedback.

The umbrella is added obviously for sun but for rain as a precaution as I have little experience in rain with the poncho, and am not sure how i will react with the possibility of multiple days of rain and wet legs. I also like it as rain cover for the backcountry restroom when the poncho/groundsheets in use.

As with the clothing I agree with the redundancy, (I’m really worried about being cold at night) I’m not too familiar with weather coming from out of state on the CT. I’m partial to the T-shirt but I think ill remove the longsleeve. I get very hot while hiking & i have the umbrella/sunscreen for protection. I’m dropping the beanie and I forgot to add my Arcteryx Atom LT (hooded) at 12 ounces, (cant afford another lighter alternative as of now). I do own an REI coop down jacket w/out hood consider switching?

Dropping the spandex underwear

Sorry about the typos, the cold gear base layer is an underarmour synthetic base layer I would say mid-weight, and the smartwool mountaineering socks are just thick merino wool socks that pair well with the Chacos.

Dropping the trowel especially since it hasn’t been purchased yet.

Super comfortable with the quilt, tarp, and ccf pads, have had many trips with this setup and loved it. I am actually debating whether to use the full length GG 3/4in thick pad I have listed, paired with the GG sit light camp seat. Or just using my ccf torso length GG pad. I would save a few ounces with the pair and I think it will ride better in the pack using the sit light as a back panel instead of the bulkier torso length pad, and the full length pad for extra pack structure.

Dropping the scrubber

I would use the plastic bottles but i already own the 2L Evernews which are about the same weight, also like the ease of the drinking tube as the sawyers compatible with the Evernews. Otherwise i would have to take off my pack to drink because of the high netting on the G4.

Dropping aquamira, girlfriend cant stand taste.

As with the stove I am worried a switch to alcohol wont be all that efficient for 2 (partner also deems it dangerous which i don’t see eye to eye with). Also wondering if the cost of a Ti pot is worth the weight savings switching to the pocket rocket from the reactor. Reactor has served me well and I’m thinking in the high elevation its efficiency will pay off in the long run, but I know theres a debate on whether altitude really matters.

I am also curious how we should pack in our homemade energy bars and meals the lightest way (mostly tomato leathers, noodles)

 

 

 

 

[Valerie E]

I thru-hiked the CT last summer around the same time as you’re planning to, and they’re predicting very similar weather (el Nino again).  Think rain and mosquitoes/flies.

I sent my Ursack home after the first week, and just slept with my food like (nearly) everyone else.  The trees aren’t amenable to a proper bear hang (you can do a “critter hang” if you need to, but you can’t find branches that extend far enough out from the trunk for a real “bear hang”).

In the lower elevations, your quilt should be fine, but you’ll be cold when you go higher.  You might ask someone to send you the liner around the halfway point…

I wore my windshirt every day, but I don’t think you’ll need the Houdini pants.  Probably overkill.

I used a Steripen Ultra, and loved it (your GF would, too!), but the Sawyer Mini should be fine — virtually all the water is fairly clear (unless you’re in the middle of a storm and the creeks are flowing hard & fast).

Your clothes seem fine to me, EXCEPT:  I would ditch the running shorts for a pair of lightweight hiking pants (allowing you to safely ditch the Houdini pants, too).  Pants would provide protection against biting bugs and sun, and it’s really not terribly hot on the CT (ok, except the climb out of Clear Creek, but that’s only a few hours).

YES to the poncho+umbrella!!!  I WISH I’d had my umbrella last year — all the start/stop rain was a giant PITA (wait until it starts raining hard enough, then put on poncho; 3 minutes later, rain stops; take off poncho, repeat 100 times in the same day!!!).  Ugh.  With my umbrella, I would have avoided a lot of that frustration.

Don’t forget that bug net, she said laughing bitterly…  But seriously, Lake City to Durango is awesome; the rest…well, I hope you love walking in thick forests.

[Liam H]

Thank you Valerie! Great info.

Ursack is off the list. And definitely keeping the Umbrella!

Do that many people really sleep with food? Everything i’ve ever believed in has said to always hang or use a canister. But this is not the first ive heard about CT’ers sleeping with their food.

Looks like the liner is going to be the first item in the bounce box.

I don’t think ill make the switch to hiking pants I have zip offs and I find that usually the bottom halfs never come out of my pack (+ zippers=heavy) and I really prefer running shorts for hiking, (I’m that guy  you see snowshoeing in shorts). The Houdini bottoms will be my primary protection for bugs/sun. I’m hoping it will help in those on/off rain situations nicely with the ability to dry a lot quicker than hiking pants. Just hope they don’t fall apart. Great recommendation though, its a must on my GF’s gear list.

I used to have a steripen but it broke :(

[Paul Magnanti]

Trowl? Use a stick/rock.

Please don’t do that.

The Colorado Trail, and Colorado Front Range trails in general, is getting a lot of use now.

Stick/rocks rarely make a hole deep enough and there are more and more TP blossoms in the popular areas.

The residuals of doing #2 do not decompose under a rock all that well.

I used to be a stick/pole/rock guy.  I know better now. And we’ll leave it at that. We used to trench around tents as well way-back-when. I am glad we don’t do that either.

There are many options for a trowels that are sub-1 oz and do a far better job than both the orange trowels of old or the thru-hiker special of stick/rock/pole. Want to save that weight? Pack one less candy bar on a resupply.

From the PCTA, but applies for any high use area.

Colorado thanks you.

[Shawn Bearden]

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[Liam H]

Thank you Paul,

Ill keep that in mind, I think I could spare a trowel but only the lightest. Its at the bottom of the “to buy” list. So as of now ill buy it if I have the money, if i don’t ill do my best to #2 responsibly.

I also think the trowel could come in handy in off chance of a freak storm for trench digging around my tarp. Or is that frowned upon?

[Paul Magnanti]

I can dig a hole as big and deep as a trowel with a stick or appropriately shaped rock. YMMV

Perhaps you can. Based on what trail maintainers have noticed,  most thru-hikers and backpackers aren’t doing that.

It is bad advice to give in 2016.

A trowel is $20 or less for one that is ~.5 oz +/- .  A craft beer and burger is $20. A Snickers bar is ~ 2 oz. :)

 

 

 

[Valerie E]

I’ve got to agree with Mags.  There were some pretty nasty areas along the CT where TP and poop were visible (I wish I could un-see that!).

I love my Big Dig QiWiz trowel, but I think you can get less expensive ones that will be nearly as good/light.  I guess it doesn’t have to be titanium… (can’t believe I said that!)…

I hope the bugs are less hungry this year (or that you aren’t as delicious as I clearly am, Liam!).

[Shawn Bearden]

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[Paul Magnanti]

I don’t bury TP (I only use a tiny bit and I burn it).

Um, er, yeah… Probably not a good idea to advocate in the rather fire prone West either. :)

 

 

[Brian B]

The orange plastic trowel works well in my experience.  It has a ~1/2 inch thick handle which makes pushing/digging down easier.  The one titanium trowel I owed was a little like trying to dig with a the business end of a butter knife — a lot of work and a little uncomfortable.

Yes, it weighs 1.76 oz, but rather than spending 5 min digging an 6 – 8 inch cat hole I could be hiking — not unlike the rationale for an umbrella, it just works better.  Plus it’s $5 or $6 (Amazon).

 

[Shawn Bearden]

Yes, like the fire that destroyed my neighborhood, nearly took everything I own and devastated the lives of many of my friends.

Everything I described about how I poo was what I learned on a guided trip with Andrew Skurka and Mike Clelland here in the west. Deleted as it is apparently bad info. Guess I need to take a PMags trip.

[Paul Magnanti]

Shawn, I see you are upset.

But these are not just my ideas or techniques.

All ideas changes, evolve and adapt based on the area and times we live in. What works well for the biologically diverse Appalachians may not work for a drier area as one example.

As for times changing, we don’t trench around tents or bury our garbage any more. We don’t feed bears in national parks at night for entertainment purposes. We don’t touch petroglyphs in Pueblo areas anymore. We do not cut down pine boughs for bedding in camp. Etc.

We all have done practices in the past that would not pass muster today. Myself included. That does not mean we should continue to do them, however.

Please read  the following material and note the authors. I am going to side with them over you. And yes, it was perhaps misguided advice you gave for the very popular Colorado Trail area. I say this as  volunteer for trail orgs, a person who does trail work about one week a year total, as a Colorado resident and as an outdoors person.

From the PCTA, but applies for any high use area.

Don’t burn toliet paper says LNT

As an aside, I  know Andrew very well. In fact, I have guided with him. I can’t say I know Mike or what he would say, but I am pretty sure Andrew does not advocate burning toilet paper in 2016 in the American West.  As another aside, I am sure you know Mike C advocates natural TP methods.

It is great you dug a hole with  sharp rock. As evidenced by many trail maintainers, most people are not doing as such.

Take a trowel. They are light now-a-days vs 2012. They are also more efficient, quicker and effective than your stick/pole/rock technique many of us used to use.

And please don’t burn your TP.

 

[Shawn Bearden]

2014, here in the arid west, Andrew 4 squares/day to polish the mirror, Mike gave a 20 min presentation (he’s a funny guy) during a break with all present on good/bad rocks etc – no TP – then how to burn it if you do use it. They probably now advocate exactly as you have explained for the same areas.

I hear you Mags. I will read, I will learn, I will change. You’ve made your points. Thank you.

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