So what do
you want to wear for the next five months? Remember, some days it will be over
100 degrees and others will be below freezing (seriously 17 degrees with
gusting wind is cold!) but mostly you will have sunny hot days and chilly
nights. Weather is fairly mild on the PCT but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t
exist. I got snowed on, rained on, walked through constant mist and just
generally baked in the sun. So what does this all mean clothing wise? Be
versatile, layers are your friend! If you like pockets than make sure you have
pockets, if you’re bra didn’t fit before you left chances are its going to be
annoying on the trail too. Listen to your gut and remember common sense.
I remember
stressing about shorts versus pants, button down shirt or T shirt. Why are
there ever so many options? Headbands, hats, visors what the heck is a sane
person to do? I think this is just a big personal preference thing. Logically I
knew light colors make more sense in the heat and long sleeves and pants
protect you from sun/bugs but personally I just can’t do pants. I tried, I
really did, but am just so much happier in shorts. And with only one basic
outfit I want happiness, so I hiked in shorts. I went for some durable ones I
found on closeout at Patagonia and they lasted the whole hike, I like running
shorts but they are so much more prone to ripping that I tried something
different for this trip.
Overall I
liked hiking in shorts; I had two pockets and a drawstring, things I hadn’t
thought much about but that I loved. One pocket usually had a map or a snack
and the other was my dirty pocket. Okay this might be in the TMI area but I’m a
big fan of a pee rag, its exactly what it sounds like and a word to the wise if
you see bandanas on the trail proceed with caution, I am by no means the only
female out on the trail making use of one and they have a habit of getting
dropped.
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| just a bit of the classy trail fashion |
I carried a
pair of light pants that I very occasionally wore as well as baselayer tights
that I wore less than ten times. They were occasionally bug protection or
laundry clothes. But I was glad I carried them even though I so rarely used
them. Next time I might try wind pants instead of a pair of long pants but the
baselayer is a must for those really cold times.
I carried a
wind shirt that I used quite frequently, it’s a great layering piece and I
really enjoyed having it. I did carry a rainjacket for the second half of the
trip but it was mostly dead weight.
I had a
hooded down jacket by Montbell because I get cold. I liked the hood and was
pretty happy with the jacket although the zipper didn’t work for over 1000
miles and then whatever invisible dust was jamming it finally fell out. I would
go through hundreds of miles never using it but I loved having it when it was
really chilly. Useful in unexpected places, who knew Tehachapi would be
freezing? I was very happy with the jacket but I think I’m leaning towards
something synthetic for my next hike just due to my paranoia about things
getting drenched. I hiked with some people with the Patagonia Nanopuff and I’m
pretty sure that will be my next choice if I can find it on sale.
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| my classy sun hat with all my hair jammed underneath |
Hats, this is a big one. I love hats. They can be ever so useful. I had a sun hat for ages but lost it near Mt. Rainer. It was incredibly ugly but kept my nose and ears from being sunburned and did its job. I even managed to look slightly less shabby when I realized I could (and should) wash it whenever I did laundry. Alas it is now in a bush somewhere. After that I picked up a visor in Shasta which worked okay. I had met a lot of folks who did the visor/bandana trick (protect neck/ears with bandana tucked under visor as needed) but I think I needed a bigger brim. My nose kept getting sunburnt. But not too fear I lost that visor too and found a classy beige visor with a massive brim that served me well the rest of the trip. Although I think I wore a sun hat less and less frequently as the trip progressed I would never do without one totally.
I also had a
fancy shmancy warm hat (down and ever so light) that I managed to lose coming
over one of the passes in the Sierras. Being bright red didn’t help, I still
managed to drop it and the trail never brought it back to me. I managed to pick
up a warm hat from a hiker box in Sierra City. A very stylish pink floppy thing
that was about three times too big (as I do not have dred locks) but it made me
smile and kept me warm all the way until Canada. Having two different hats
worked well for me, I also carried a buff (yes the one of survivor fame) and I
loved that thing as well. It was a lifesaver for my cold ears (especially after
I had lost my warm hat), I started most mornings with the buff and only slept
in the warm hat. It seems like a lot for just your head but I used all three
throughout the trip and would do so again.
Socks, oh
socks you were a trial. Somewhere during the second half of my hike I
complained to my lovely support person (thank you mom you honestly were
fantastic) that all my socks had holes. Seriously I was carrying 4 pairs and
every single one had massive holes and my next resupply box arrived with the
cryptic phone message, “I hope I didn’t send too many socks.” Well who am I to
turn down perfectly serviceable socks? The thing is you can hike in seemingly
busted socks for a pretty darn long time as long as they aren't causing
blisters. So I headed out from that resupply with seven pairs of socks! And the
day before the border I pulled on a brand spanking new fluffy pair because I
refused to show up at the border with unworn socks. Ounces count but I became
so much less picky as the miles passed.
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| Is it bad that these were some of my better looking socks? |
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| what happens when you wear mesh running shoes and no gaiters... |
I tried lots of brands and styles. Darn tough are awesome but do wear through and can too thick or me, Defeet wear through quickly but not as quickly as wrightsocks, those things didn’t last a week, and I put a ton of holes in smartwools too. I think a great trick for saving socks is frequent rinsing and gaiters, oh and not letting them roll off a bridge, that helps too.
Gaiters: I
used a pair of dirty girls and loved them until they fell apart and I was just
too lazy to replace them. Its amazing how much junk gets into your shoes. Nice
and lightweight highly recommended.
Shoes
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| pair number 3 all bright and shiny, pair number 2 with 800 or so miles on them |
Camp shoes, I carried mary jane style crocs. Say what you will I love camp shoes and am not yet ready to part with them. Lots of people forgoe these but not me just yet. I actually hiked a few hundred miles in them when my feet were giving me trouble and was beyond thankful for their cushy loveliness.
Trekking Poles
I used them
until the sierras and then carried them for miles. When my feet started giving me
trouble I went back to using them and was glad I hadn’t sent them home. Poles
can be fun, they can really help you haul butt up hill and take some stress of
your knees going down. I do hate how you lose use of your hands though,
snacking is just not quite as easy.
Water Filtration
I’m going to
be totally honest here; I filtered my water very rarely. I was vigilant in So Cal
using my sawyer squeeze filter up until Idyllwild when I lost it in a hitch.
The next stretch I was supposed to be hiking with people who were going to let
me use their filter but during the day of mission creek I was thirsty and alone
so I started the slippery slope of not filtering. I judged water sources and if
they looked really awful I would still filter. Then right after Kennedy meadows
my second sawyer filter froze and stopped working and I gave up. I treated my
water once the entire rest of the trip. Yes people get Giardia and other nasty
bugs but quite often its from bad hand hygiene not bad water. So this is very
much your own decision but it worked okay for me. That being said I will carry
backup chemicals like aquamira, sweetwater drops or bleach on my next trip
because there were times when I carried extra water because I didn’t trust
sources and I was just pretty lucky and I know that.
Umbrella
What a
surprising piece of gear! I thought I would chuck this thing at my first town
stop but carried it the whole way. It was useful in sun, rain and snow.
Depending on where you are planning your next trip stick this thing in your sternum
strap and be pleasantly surprised. Wind is a deal breaker and it does mess with
your peripheral vision but overall I really liked it.
First Aid Kit
In other
words a ziplock bag full of odds and ends. A roll of tape, Vaseline, dental
floss, a needle, a lighter and Ibuprofen got the most use. There were a few
other things periodically in there but that really covered all my bases.
A few other odds and ends
I carried a
few bandanas, mostly to jam behind my back when I got a terrible heat rash but
also just to wipe my poor sweaty face, handy things. Just tie within reach and
you are good to go. Also carried a bug net, may not have used it often but I appreciated
the sanity it brought.
Navigation
I carried Halfmiles
maps (http://www.pctmap.net/). They are free to download, just cost the money to print. I love having
papermaps so was glad I had these. Often I never used them but I liked the
security of maps. Southern California in particular was well covered and
accurate, less so farther north with some annoying inconsistencies. I know that
Halfmile had people out this year updating the GPS coordinates so hopefully
some of that will get fixed.
Iphone Apps
Along with
my phone and maps I did have some handy apps on my phone that I highly recommend.
Its in its
first year but Guthook, a previous PCT thruhiker has created apps for
navigation. They have maps and pictures and my favorite were the lists of
things on the trail, similar to halfmile you have lots of info about water and
intersections and such. Still some kinks and mistakes but the ability to use it
as GPS could be really fun too. Yes it takes some of the mystery out of the
trail but if you want mystery than just don’t use the thing. He has split them
into sections and I think they cost $5 each (a total of 5: socal, sierras,
norcal, OR and WA). To each his own but I enjoyed them.
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| Guthooks app |
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| watching your gps dot on guthooks app |
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| PCTHYOH app |
Halfmile also has an app that a lot of people like and PCTHYOH has a ton of info in one little package.
Non-trail
related check out photosynch for panoramic pictures and I used the Blogpress
app to blog from my phone. It was much easier to use photo wise than the actual
blogger app and apparently works with different Blog hosting sites. I would just
type them offline and then post whenever I got service. My only glitch was
movies wouldn’t upload, still no clue why not.
Good lord
that was a lot of rambling! If I was carrying anything else I can’t remember it
so that’s it, I’ll try to do one more little thing about food but at the rate I’m
going no promises. Thanks for reading.
