Since I am mostly a technopeasant, I don’t know how to add a “Gear” category to the menu on our blog,  and our very websavvy person who set everything up for us is unbelievably busy, so….I shall do my best to list our gear.  If I have time later, I will try to add the weights in oz.  for everything also, but for now, with ten zillion things on my to-do list, I will stick with gear only, except where Bill has already figured out weights.

By the way, on the trail, it is totally fun to “talk gear” with the other thruhikers!  We learned a lot, and got lots of interesting ideas.  We also saw gear that made us think, “No way would I ever bother with THAT!”

Shared gear (we split these up between ourselves):  Tarp (10.5 oz), net tent (13 oz), ground cloth (4.6 oz), stakes (2 oz),  “bear rope” (for hanging food in trees–1 oz), spare rope (.5 oz), Cooking pot containing stove, pot stand, cups, spoons, matches (14 oz),  fuel bottle (1 oz, empty), camera (9 oz), spare batteries (2 oz), toothpaste (2 oz), “wash basin” (cutoff bottom of a 1 gallon plastic water jug–we use this to rinse sox or do “dundo” baths on the trail–1 oz), duct tape (2 oz), “Toe bag” (white tape, 2nd skin, bandaids, Tinactin–3.5 oz), “Medicine bag” (Motrin, antibiotic ointment, allergy medicine, ace bandage–1.5 oz), “Emergency bag” (fire starter kit a la Ray Jardine, heavy thread, 3 safety pins, 2 needles–3.5 oz)

We each line our packs with a trash compactor bag (to keep the contents dry in the rain).

We each carry:

Sleeping bag, closed cell foam pad to sleep on, silk long johns (for pajamas),  & sleeping sox (Monty also carries an extra plastic garbage bag to put her pack in at night to protect it from the dew)

(For cold & rain):  Rainjacket, pants, mittens;  Polyester long johns (top ONLY), lightweight fleece jacket, balaclava (Bill) or fleece hat (Monty), fleece mittens; in High Sierra only, an ice axe.

(For heat & extreme sun conditions): Umbrella, sun mitts

(For food & water & hygiene)  2 platypus water bladders (2.5 liters each), 1 liter water bottle; 1 strong plastic food bag (And in High Sierra only, a bear can and a nickel to open the bear can) ; “camp towel” for dundo baths (very small!); small plastic shovel (for digging holes)

(Spare clothes):  Bill brings one extra pair of sox;  Monty brings 2 pairs of WrightSox and 1 pair of “regular” sox.

(For town): Town shirt and shorts, made of very lightweight fabric.

In addition, we each carry a fanny pack.  Bill’s contains: compass, knife, flashlight, toothbrush, sunglasses, nail clippers, comb, money, credit card and driver’s license.  Mine contains: camera, small New Testament, knife, tweezers,  toothbrush, sunglasses, money, credit card and driver’s license.  I also carry a small headlamp, but not in the fanny pack.  And I have a little bag for carrying what I call my “girl stuff”.  Being POSTmenopausal is nice in one way (no worrying about menstrual periods on the trail), but it has its own set of issues, and I have to bring stuff to deal with those.

OK, I think that’s it!  If I think of anything else, I’ll add it on!