Gear and food

So much information, advice, and options are available in terms of gear and food, to be found on so many PCT websites and resources. Not sure what I can add specifically for the MYTH hiker that differs from (single-year) through-hikers.

One difference perhaps is that through-hikers have to learn, replace and upgrade their gear on the fly as they hike, but the MYTH hiker can consider and adjust gear year-by-year based on the just-completed hiking experience. Each year I would learn something and adjust for the next year.

I learned over the course of several years how to reduce my base pack weight (excluding food and water). On my first section in 1997 I carried a 60-lb. pack! It’s hard to imagine. Then I was able to follow “ultra-light backpacking” advice and websites to eventually get down to about 18-20 lb. base weight over several years. That seemed to be a plateau for me. But what gear I use now would probably be considered “old school ultra-light” by many of today’s through-hikers, some of whom carry packs down to 10 lb. that hardly look like backpacks at all.

And I learned that certain items of gear make a huge, huge difference to hiking the trail. The items that really stand out are:

Shoes. Starting with heavy hiking boots for some years, I then adopted what had become the de-facto shoe starting in the 1990s and 2000s — ultralight trail running shoes. I love the Brooks Cascadia model and have used it for the past 10 years exclusively. What a joy these shoes are! I had to learn, again over some years, how to walk differently in them to avoid strained or sprained ankles. Its a form of walking where you never commit 100% to each step, always ready to shift weight to the other foot and take weight off the foot that is landing, in case of landing at an angle or twisting at an angle when landing.

Hiking poles. Can’t imagine hiking the trail without them. Ultralight versions especially you hardly notice the weight when swinging. They reduce stress on your feet and knees, allow your feet to just push while your arms stabilize you side-to-side on the trail, and have many other uses. While hiking the trail, I came with 35 Uses for Trekking Poles on the PCT, which you may find as an interesting side note here!

Headlamp. Once I got a really good headlamp to replace the cheap one I had been using, a whole world of night hiking opened up. I learned that I really like to hike at night, sometimes all night long, and a good headlamp makes all the difference. I have been using the Princeton Tec Eos for the past 20 years, with high, medium, and low settings. The medium setting is perfect for night hiking, about 10-15 hours on one set of AAA batteries. (Although I imagine most people today probably use rechargeable headlamps because they already have a solar charger for their phone.)

Tent. I have used a free-standing side-door tent for the past 25 years and I love being cozy at night but also being able to lie on my side and stare sideways out the long side door at views and stars. The tent is an old Eureka model that is mesh with a zippered side door that is also mostly mesh. But a small rain fly can still cover all the mesh everywhere and the whole thing tightens down so well with or without the rain fly. And I replaced the stock aluminum poles with custom non-shock-corded carbon-fiber poles that weight virtually nothing, so the total weight is not much more than a typical non-free-standing corded tarp shelter. Plus I can put it anywhere as free-standing, no stakes or trees required.

Sunglasses. The glare and sun when hiking all day really get to me, but it took me several years to realize how much. When I finally sprung for an $80 pair of polarized sunglasses instead of the cheap $20 pair I had been using, it made such a difference.

Satellite communicator. In early years, my attitude was “if something happens to me on the trail, someone will likely pass by soon and be able to summon help.” In later years, with the advent of lightweight satellite communicators that allow two-way texting and emails, I was able to feel even more at ease knowing I always carried the means to summon help with the push of a button, whether for myself or someone else in distress whom I might encounter. (Never did use it for any emergency, mostly used for staying in touch with family and friends and arranging rides off the trail.)

As for food, there are so many ways to go and so many different regimes and diets. I’ve seen many other hikers with a huge proportion of junk food and sugar, but I find hot meals, soups, and beef jerky to be the most desirable personally. I found that coming onto the trail for a few weeks, especially at higher altitudes, I could hike with much fewer daily calories and not be hungry. (Never carried more than 2000 calories per day and some hikes as few as 1000 calories per day.) It was only after 2-3 weeks on the trail that I would start to want a higher calorie intake. So that makes for lighter food weight. I’ve tended to be heavy on freeze-dried food ingredients and to some extent prepared freeze-dried meals. But the prepared meals are always too strong so I dilute them on the trail by half or more with other bulk non-spiced freeze-dried ingredients like peas, carrots, beef, and rice. My kitchen has always been just one titanium pot, one lexan spoon, a 4-oz Snowpeak stove, and either 4-oz or 8-oz propane/butane fuel canisters.

If I am hiking more than section, it is easy to mail a food box to myself at the intermediate town stop(s), to maintain continuity of food while keeping my pack as light as possible. Although many through-hikers often buy resupplies based on the groceries offered locally in trail towns, many also send packages ahead. I would always send resupply packages to myself, either to a post office General Delivery, to a PCT trail angel, to a resort or other facility accepting PCT hiker boxes, or to a motel where I had made an advance reservation.

As for protecting food from bears at night, there is also lots of information available on the web and lots of different ways and levels of thoroughness (and risk) that PCT hikers go about dealing with this issue. Dealing with bears also depends on whether one is often camping with others in a large group or sleeping alone in more of a “stealth camping” mode. I don’t presume to offer the “best” way and I also suspect many PCT hikers don’t follow the guidance available. On some few sections, such as in the High Sierra and through Yosemite, hard-sided bear canisters are required for storing food and rangers can issue citations to hikers without them. Such canisters are heavy and unwieldy, however, so I would only use them where legally required.

Otherwise, in my early years I practiced the “counter-balance” method of hanging food from a high tree limb. In later years, I discovered the lightweight “Ursack” bear-proof sacks made of ballistic material that supposedly bears can’t chew through. I then used these exclusively throughout the trail, along with minimizing odors by double-plastic-bagging all my food inside the sack. In all my hiking the trail, never had a bear try for my food or bother me at night. (Ursack advises tying the sacks to a tree a fair distance from your tent, let the bear have at it all it wants without getting close to you.)

Along with the bear sacks goes a practice of severe tent and clothing hygiene that I learned to practice. Maybe this is now considered “old school” and not followed so much any more by most PCT hikers on less-risky parts of the trail, I don’t know. The practice is to never keep food with you in your tent overnight. And no eating or cooking in the tent either. And nothing getting on your clothing. Nothing to attract bears to your tent itself. That includes the scent of sunblock and toothpaste, which also go in the bear sack at night. And ideally, no cooking or eating near your tent, maybe instead eating during an earlier dinner break while still on the trail, or somewhere off to the side of your campsite. (However, I would often cook and eat right near my tent, just always aware of the risk of attracting a bear, moderated by how “stealth” of a campsite location I was in, and thus the chance of a random bear wondering by vs. a bear that knows the established spot is a frequent source of hikers with food.)