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PCT Section I, 24th to 27th August 2006
Gear
I knew that my pack was light, but it wasn't until early September
that I assembled my gear and weighed it. I intentionally didn't
weigh it the night before the trip since, at that point, it would have
been too late to do anything about it. Drum role please, the
weight of my pack and everything in it excluding food and water, per our
bathroom scale, was 11 pounds! Note that this
included a full size bear canister (2.5 pounds) and a two person (if
they are on good terms) shelter. Had I decided to cook the weight
would have increased by no more than about 8 ounces thanks to my titanium pot
and alcohol stove.
I find it tedious listing the weight of each of my pieces of gear so
instead I'll tell you what went where.
In the Pack (Gossamer Gear Mariposa)
My Nunatak Arc Alpinist down quilt goes into the bottom of the pack, in
a trash compactor bag if wet conditions are expected. The
compactor bag is always in my pack, but most of the time it sits folded
at the bottom. I do not pack the quilt in any kind of compression
sack nor do I smash it into the bottom of the pack with excessive force. My BearVault
canister is placed vertically directly on the quilt. To keep it
centered in the pack I place my Patagonia Micropuff pullover around
it. On top of the bear canister goes my extra clothing, stored in
a plastic bag. The extra clothes include: 3M O2
waterproof/breathable jacket and pants, fleece mittens, fleece
balaclava, disposable/inflatable pillow, spare socks, and sleep socks. That's
it, except for my wallet in a Ziploc bag in the hydration sleeve.
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| Here are all of the clothes that I brought,
except for my spare socks, sleep socks, running shoes, and bandana. On
the left is my base layer consisting of synthetic underwear,
synthetic shirt and Smartwool running ankle socks. The
underwear prevents my thighs from chaffing, a problem I didn't
have until recently. Adding the synthetic pants seen in
the middle picture, with the legs either on or off, you see my
standard backpacking uniform. For warmth we add a fleece
balaclava, fleece mittens, and a synthetic pullover; in this
case a Patagonia Micropuff purchased at their outlet store in
Santa Cruz for an unbelievable $25. The Micropuff is so
warm that it is reserved for camp and sleeping, not hiking. For wind,
rain, or even cold I wear the yellow waterproof and super
breathable raingear by 3M. That's it. Note the lack
of long synthetic pants and a long sleeve synthetic shirt.
At night, even well after the sun has set, I can jump in a creek
or lake wearing the items in the left picture, rinse them off,
wring them out, put them back on and get in the sleeping bag
with them damp but clean as my body heat will dry them in a few
hours. This may be may longest caption to date! |
Outside of the Pack
In the back panel of the pack I have a Gossamer Gear Torsolite closed
cell foam pad. In the right lower pocket (accessed by my right hand) I have
a 1 liter water bottle and my Nikon Coolpix 5600 digital camera with an
Ultrapod mini tripod. The upper right pocket has my permit, toilet
paper (paper towels cut into squares), and a lighter in a Ziploc
sandwich bag.
In the left pocket I have another 1 liter soda bottle, Aqua Mira
(water treatment which I didn't use), and a small silnylon bag with:
chapstick, emergency waterproof matches, ear plugs, a small Swiss Army
knife (1.5" blade) with scissors and tweezers, a film container
with vitamin I (ibuprofen, I took two 200 mg tablets at least 3 and
sometimes 4 times a day), two spare AA lithium batteries, a small vial
of Dr. Bronner's soap, a small balm jar of Vaseline (to prevent cheeks
from chaffing), and a toothbrush with intact handle. This pocket
also had my single tent pole, the tent strut, the tent stakes, and the
extensions for my trekking poles that allow the tent to be
freestanding. All of the poles/stakes are held to together with an
elastic cord. In the big mesh pocket in the front of the pack I
kept the food that I would eat during the day stored in a mylar potato
chip bag. This bag was covered by my tent, as described below.
The front of the pack has shock cord which I stuffed my tent
under. I did not carry a bag for my tent since I think rolling it
up and packing it is a waste of time in the wilderness. Keeping it on the outside
of my pack also let me strike camp quickly, and exit my tent with my
pack fully loaded which can be very useful in the rain. The last item on my pack was a 60" x
19" x 3/8" Gossamer Gear closed cell foam pad, held on the outside of the
pack with shock cord. It looks ungainly, but weighs so little you
can't tell its there. As an added benefit, it kept my pack from
falling over when I set it down. I would put my Torsolite pad on
this pad, with the dimples down, so that my butt was just below the
Torsolight pad. This created a depression for my rear, or hips if
I was sleeping on my side, that was quite comfortable, more so than my
Big Agnes Insulated Air Core pad. It also meant that my torso,
above my rear, was cushioned by two pads.
In my Pockets
Generally I hate carrying anything in my pockets unless they are really
light or have a low profile. On this trip I had a mosquito head
net and DEET in my left cargo pocket and a map, pen, and compass in my
right cargo pocket. I used the map and pen extensively but didn't
touch the other items.
In my Hand(s)
My homemade trekking poles. I'll post pictures and instructions
soon.
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