[pct-l] Lightweight Shelter and Pack

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Sep 30, 2008, at 7:27 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> tent-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> I am hoping?thu hike the PCT next year and?wondering?what?  
> lightweight?tents\shelters and packs have?worked well for others?on  
> their?trips.
> ?
> Thanks
> ?
> Kirk

I started my hike with a frameless, lightweight pack. The trouble was  
that it did not have enough substance to carry the large quantities  
of water I needed to carry. I ended up going to REI from Agua Dulce  
and buying a heavier pack that had an internal frame, an Osprey Aura.  
Even though my new pack weighed a little under 4lbs, it felt lighter  
carrying 5 liters of water than my previous pack.

Of course, I could have carried less water. That is something for me  
to work on. But every time I came close to running out I was glad I  
had enough. And every time I saw some ultra-lighter carrying his tiny  
gatorade bottle back a few miles to a water source he missed, I was  
really super glad I treated myself like a camel. Even with nothing on  
my back, I would not have wanted to re-hike any miles.

Moral of the story is, for some of us, the lightest options are not  
always the best.

Don't forget that you can always have different tools for different  
parts of the trail. I treasured my The One tent with full bug netting  
and slept in it (and ate in it) almost every single night. I do not  
like mosquitos coming anywhere near my face or committing suicide in  
my dinner. However, I could have slept outside more in certain non- 
mosquito places and could have saved myself carrying the tent around  
by mailing it forward. What would have been perfect is if I had some  
kind of upper-body bug net tent. My head net was not enough to allow  
sleeping outside with mosquitos comfortably. I started to build  
something along the way, but I never perfected it so it didn't work  
very well.

Enjoy your hike. I'm already thinking that since I didn't finish the  
trail this year (and I never actually set out to do the whole thing  
anyway) I ought to finish it next year. Dang trail. Ruins your life.  
Makes it the only thing that matters anymore.