PCT NorCal-Oregon Section Hike

[John Rowan]

Since it’s that time of year, I figured I’d trot out my PCT list for the year. I did a 2015 thru attempt that ended in a herniated disc at Ebbetts Pass (about 50mi south of Tahoe). I’ve worked some stuff out with my job, and have a decent-sized chunk of time to hike this year over the course of two trips. If all goes to plan, I’ll be doing Ebbetts-Sierra City for my shorter trip (late June, may change if the snow keeps up), and Shasta-Cascade Locks for my longer one (very end of July-Labor Day). For the longer one, I might double back and try and knock our Burney to Shasta if I have time left, but I’m not going to kill myself doing it.

List is here: https://lighterpack.com/r/4qmoxk

(I just migrated my old spreadsheet over to LighterPack, so I might be missing something massive that I just forgot to copy. I also haven’t finalized the weights of some of the smaller items, like in the FAK)

I’ve retooled my kit a fair amount for this hiking season, and am really trying to pare things down a decent bit from what I used in 2015. Aside from really wanting to minimize the weight for my back, I also want to actually make use of the lessons I learned and really start to cut things down to what I need (or what I know I want/enjoy).

A couple of general notes:

• The SPOT’s staying on there. It keeps the folks back home sane.
• Poncho tarp is a TBD item- I have it and like it conceptually and will definitely be taking it for my shorter hike (Ebbetts-Sierra City) since I’m comfortable and familiar with the area from several trips. I’m less sure about taking from Shasta up to the WA border. I’ve played with it in the rain a bit, and it definitely makes things a bit more challenging, but using one is always a gamble on decent conditions. Alternative would be picking up either a 5×9 flat tarp or a Grace Solo and tossing my OR Helium II in there instead. I like cowboying in the bivy, so the shelter only goes up rarely (and begrudgingly).
• Cap4 hoodie is wildly unnecessary and should go. I do love it so, and it was a surprisingly useful garment in 2015 (surprisingly good town shirt, towel, occasional hiking layer, and so on). I probably won’t take it, but give me time to emotionally prepare myself.
• I’ve got an Ursack that I’ll probably use for the first trip. Unsure if I’ll continue to do so for the longer hike further north.
• I don’t have the Burn yet, but it’s on order and is nearing its time in the queue. Going to play around with the packing and see if I can really swing a 4-5 day carry in it. If not, I have my beloved and trusty Circuit waiting in the wings.
• I got the Burn with the suspension upgrade, which I acknowledge is an odd choice for that pack, but I’m trying to get something light, small, and supportive- see earlier note on back. I’m better now but want something resembling a suspension. Might swap out the inflatable framesheet for a chunk of foam, since I’ve killed those framesheets before.

I’m reasonably comfortable with the list, so I’m not sure what specific feedback I’m looking for, but feedback is nonetheless always appreciated. Thoughts from folks who’ve used poncho tarps for long trips are especially appreciated, since that’s the choice I’m most ambivalent about. I’m willing to live with having a few nights suck from the inconvenience and am comfortable enough with my pitches that I could adequately shelter myself during pretty foul weather, but I’m not sold yet on the concept for a long distance hike.

 

[John Rowan]

Updated: https://lighterpack.com/r/4gslid

• Dropped the Cap4 in favor of a Houdini- the Houdini will have better value for hiking when a bit chilly (I overheat in the Cap4 if I’m hiking) and I think it’ll help me sell myself on having a second bit of rain protection if I need to set up the poncho tarp without resorting to yoga. (Also somewhat basing this off of that Ryan Jordan article that we all post everytime someone says the words “poncho tarp”.
• Changed my puffy to maybe a Montbell Ex Light Anorak at half the weight of my current puffy. Gonna have a think on that one, especially since the reviews seem pretty starkly divided between people who think it’s the greatest thing ever invented and people who despise it.
• Finished fleshing out my FAK

I changed up my itinerary a bit as well- I’ll be doing Chester-Shasta in late June, and then Shasta-Cascade Locks from end of July-Labor day. If I have enough time, I might snag a quick Amtrak down to Tahoe and hike from there to Ebbetts Pass (unintended ending point of my last thru attempt) just to get rid of that section and let me start my last CA section hikes from more sensible locations.

[Link .]

1st gear list posted HYPER LINK .

2nd gear list posted HYPER LINK .

[Eli Zabielski]

This is a nice list.

I think you could ditch the bivy for the first leg of your trip. There can be mosquitoes in any part of the trail, but they aren’t very intense in Norcal. If you hike till it gets dark and start early, you can ditch the bivy for Oregon as well.

Have you considered the Gossamer Gear Nightlight instead of the half Z-Lite? It’s quite a bit thicker where it counts, but weighs a couple ounces less and doesn’t get crushed easily like the Z-Lite. It’s also perfectly made for the Burn when folded. I think you could ditch the Burn suspension. The resupplies aren’t far apart and there are only two long water carries: Hat Creek Rim and the Crater Lake Rim area. Your pack will be generally very light.

[John Rowan]

Thanks for the comments Eli.

I actually own a Nightlight, but never actually used it much. (I actually have no idea why I have it.) My general experience with it was that I found it a bit hard for my liking, but I haven’t used it in a few years and not since I went back to CCF I’ll give it another chance next time I’m playing around outside with my gear. Are you able to fit it into the Burn with enough space for everything else? My Burn is still on order and probably a bit from production still, thanks to the customizations, so I still don’t have a sense of the size of the pack and how everything will fit.

As far as the suspension goes, I’m hoping to ditch it (I ordered the upgrade because I wanted load lifters and the pad pocket…the Klymit pad in my similarly-modded Exodus died about 10ish miles south of Crabtree Meadows, so I’m not sold on the durability.) I still might use a Sitlight or similar in the pad pocket as dedicated support (or just hack one of the sections off of that Nightlight), since I like having my Zlite on top for breaks/naps/turning a boulder into a lounge. I’m trying to keep things reasonably supportive for my back (even with a low max pack weight) after having my 2015 thru attempt end with a herniated disc. It’s one of the things I’m going to be playing around with when the Burn comes in and I can use my actual gear instead of my imagination.

 

[Eli Zabielski]

The Nightlight fits nearly perfectly in the Burn. It fits just a hair better in the Prophet since the Prophet is wider, but I’ve used it in both quite a bit. I can probably fit 6+ days of thru hiking food in my Burn with the Nightlight and the rest of my kit, which is similar to yours but no cook, no bivy, and no Spot. The Nightlight gets smaller once it is worn in a bit. Out of the box it’s pretty bulky.

[John Rowan]

Burn finally arrived, so I can actually play around with this stuff in real-time. It’s actually surprisingly roomy, which is good for the PCT stuff, although it my wind up still being on the big side for weekend stuff. (How the hell I got to the point where a Burn is overkill for some trips is a different question, but glad to be at this point.)

Loaded up with basically all my gear and a simulated 4-5-ish day food load (Ursack loaded to capacity), there’s definitely a bit of room to spare for an extra day of food or some gear changes, which is nice if I decide to switch to dedicated shelter/raingear later on. I’m still not 100% convinced I could get a CCF pad in there and still fit, but I need to play around a little bit more with the packing.

So far, reasonably happy with the gear choices, pending some trail time with the newer pieces. (Mostly the poncho-tarp, which I’m not 100% conceptually sold on.) The Burn carries pretty similarly to my old Exodus (shock!), so I think I’ll get on with it just fine, although I forgot that I had put a pretty decent bruise on the top of my shoulder yesterday, so it took me a second to realize why it was so uncomfortable to put on the pack.

[John Rowan]

Updated and mostly finalized, I think: https://lighterpack.com/r/13d9if

After spending a good bit of time using the poncho tarp in bad weather in the backyard (this is a strange hobby), I swapped it out for a Cuben Grace Solo and my trusty Helium/ULA Kilt combo. The weights should be within an ounce or two of the poncho/windshirt combo, and I do have some mixed feelings about it, because I think that the combo would’ve been a bit more useful overall for the HIKING part of this trip, but I didn’t love the poncho as either raingear or shelter, and the compromises just weren’t worth it for me. Considering that the poncho/tarp would’ve been fine or even unnecessary for 95-100% of this trip, I guess I’m packing my fears a bit, which is a strange thing to say when talking about a solo-size cuben tarp and one of the lighter rainshells out there.

Also picked up an MH Ghost Whisperer on Gear Swap for super cheap, which is less functional than my old SD DriDown Hoody (less down and a few comforts are stripped out), but drops like 4.something ounces, packs significantly smaller, and should be more than adequate for the conditions.

I haven’t totally ruled out the possibility of swapping out the bivy for a polycro groundsheet and sleeping in a headnet, but I do really like the bivy (and sleeping in it without a tarp most nights…favorite way to sleep), so it’ll probably stay, especially since it wouldn’t blow my mind to have heavy bug pressure in OR after this winter. For now, I think the bivy stays, since I’m obviously light enough and I like it, but playing around with not using it is a useful mental exercise for me seeing where I can lose weight in the future if I want to really drop down the base weight.

If there’s something on there that’s randomly marked as “worn” when it’s obviously not, it’s probably just me playing around with different combinations/alternatives and forgetting to clean up the list. (It’s faster than removing things entirely if you’re just juggling numbers.)

[Author]

Posts