[pct-l] Gear/Weight/Risk

[Jason Moores]

Well said!

Jackass



On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 9:09 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> You said you have a 20lb base weight and don't know if you can go
> lighter. Here's my advice, take out all your change of clothing, if
> you have any, then hit the trail with what you have.
>
> You do not need a change of clothing. Just one complete outfit: Your
> hiking clothes plus any insulation layers and rain gear and one or
> two extra pairs of socks.
>
> Now you are ready to go. As you haul your load around, ask yourself
> if you really used all the pots and pans you brought, or if a stove
> that can melt snow is really a necessity. If you didn't need all the
> pots and pans, cups and bowls, mail home everything you don't need.
> If the stove that melts snow isn't needed, ask another hiker to show
> you how to make a stove out of a pepsi can. There's a couple pounds
> saved right there.
>
> Continue up the trail. If those blisters are really killing you, and
> those goretex boots are making your feet really sweaty, ask the other
> hikers how they like their trail running shoes. Perhaps you'll talk
> to someone who has feet similar to yours and you can consider
> ordering a pair of shoes from Zappos along the trail.
>
> With your new shoes, keep on trucking up the trail. Do you really
> need a double-wall tent with a rain fly? People around you are
> managing even on rainy desert days with just a tarp. Maybe, at least
> through the desert section where mosquitoes are nearly non-existent,
> you can save a few pounds by mailing your tent ahead to Kennedy
> Meadows and carrying only your rain fly. Or maybe you'd like to place
> an order over the Internet for one of those really nice light single-
> wall tents everybody has.
>
> As you keep on hiking, you'll start to realize the PCT isn't a "man
> alone in the wilderness" situation. Maybe you don't need so much
> survival gear. Maybe you can let the post office carry more of your
> stuff for you. Maybe you can resupply more often so you can carry
> less food. More weight saved.
>
> As you go along, dropping more and more gear that maybe isn't so
> necessary for a tour-de-small-town-American-West that the PCT is,
> perhaps you'll start to wonder somewhere around Agua Dulce if your
> heavy old backpack is really necessary anymore. After all, it's not
> even full anymore. Everybody else is going to REI in Agua Dulce, so
> hop in and we'll take you down and maybe you can get a smaller pack.
> Or maybe once again, it's time for another trip to the Internet to
> purchase one of those spiffy UL packs everybody else seems to love.
>
> So now you're all ultralight, lean and mean, loving every minute of
> it, worried about the snow in the High Sierra. Well, you own a heavy-
> duty backpack, a double-wall tent, a stove that can melt snow and
> probably an ice axe and crampons. They're probably waiting for you to
> pick up in Kennedy Meadows. Now you can handle the snow for a few
> weeks. But you're not stuck with it for the duration and can send it
> home when you are clear of the snow.
>
>
> Enjoy your hike. The PCT is not like other trails. It doesn't have to
> be hiked like other trails. But you won't know that until you do it.
>
> Diane
>
>
> On Feb 21, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > Gear/Weight/Risk
>
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