Hammock worked excellently for me north of Sierra City. I think had I carried a hammock earlier in my hike nobo, it would have often been used as a ground bivvy.
Hammock worked excellently for me north of Sierra City. I think had I carried a hammock earlier in my hike nobo, it would have often been used as a ground bivvy.
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sorry. postholer link is http://postholer.com/steveflinn
Hi Steve...only a couple thoughts when looking at your gearlist quickly.
Some lightweight gloves (maybe I missed this on your list?)
Possibly a warmer sleeping quilt. I used a 30deg one on my PCT thruhike in 2012 and wished I had taken a 20deg. This past year I did have a 20deg on the JMT...and was glad I did. Not saying that the 30deg won't be warm enough most of the time. But there is a good chance it will be cool enough, enough of the time, to enjoy the warmth of a 20 deg. The HG burrow may be a warm 30deg, I am not sure.
Ursack. You could cut some good weight (and looking at your list it appears you do consider weight) by using a loksack for food.
Satphone?
Good luck on the hike. You will love it! Feel free to PM if you have any questions
thanks for the great replies!
I carry Walgreens $1 poly gloves when I hike. i have cuben mitts now though I've used exam gloves for decades - tried dishwashing gloves in the 1970s. good vb but horrible prunefinger! and yet the idea of taking full on ski gloves keeps tickling me. a good definition of suffering is a week of having to check fingers and toes visually for frostbite.
my setup is tested at Tahoe down to 25f in a steady breeze (with tarp and cuben uq). actually it's a way-overstuffed 40f HG quilt. but I am probably lucky. ymmv. is great gear and vents easily.
I have an ursack but unsure if I'll take it or a bearikade or just odorproofs or steel mesh foodbag. I carry a couple of cherry bombs often, too...
satphone was only on my optional list because I was toying with the idea; family obligations and the possibility of checking in on work and property obligations make daily check-ins desirable. best deal I found was 'free' phone plus a $150 subscription for a year. trouble is phone plus power supply is about a full pound with all the models I looked at.
Hard to beat a set of $1 gloves. I've been using REI glove liners for a few thousand miles now, and like them. They are the lightest that I have found, but probably not as light as exam gloves. Full on ski gloves would probably be overkill, unless you run into a truly unseasonable weather situation.
You have probably seen that the Sierras have an 'approved' bear container requirement. I didn't see any rangers when I went through on the PCT, but when I did the JMT last summer (earlier) they were out there. The letter of the law is pretty confusing with regards to the bear issue. Most PCT hikers get a bearikade, bearvault or something similar. I made use of the PCT Bear Canister loaner program to get the smaller sized canister. The program is great, and pretty convenient to boot.
I did Section J and saw no bears, but plenty of thru-hikers had. The thru-hikers all said they run off easily. What they did run into were vermin: rats at popular campsites (the ones you find listed on Half-Mile) and mice anywhere, but more likely if there's water. Hang away from the popular sites if possible. The mesh bag is a heavier option, but ask yourself if you're going to perfectly hang your food every night?
A strange planning issue that we discovered while talking to the thru-ers (we were hiking South) was they go through about 3 lightweight trail-running shoes! So you'll need to add them to your drop-offs.
Yep, or even more. I used 4 pair on the PCT, and that was pushing it. Getting the correct shoes dialed in for yourself can be tough. Purchasing en route is not too bad if you are wearing something that you are confident in. You can then order online and just have them shipped a couple towns up. That is what most hikers are doing. Either using their smart phones to order, or going into a library.
On the AT, I purchased a couple pairs of shoes before starting. While I had used them day hiking happily, they were not a good shoe for day after day after use.
I wrote a little bit about my experience with shoes here: http://longtrailvermont.com/footwear/
Nice site. Some good info on there. I've mostly moved over to light trail shoes in Summer (assuming no crampons) but I haven't had the confidence in low-top shoes over large sections of scree/talus. Your experiences?
And the PCT is going to be busy this year.
spandex gaiters (http://dirtygirlgaiters.com) are great to complete the foot coverage of a trail runner
but i still wind up emptying out a rock or bit of sand every couple of miles, maybe every mile if there's a lot of duff or littles etc
and that's ok with me because it keeps my feet in the forefront of my mind. keeping them cool and dry is important.
i also like to change socks every 8 or 9 miles, at least. even if it's just to rotate em out so theyre always dry. i do like to launder them daily.
i recommend thin socks and i'm currently totally in love with those silly injinji toe socks.
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