We are sort of lightweight when it comes to gear, with a baseweight of around 12 1/2 lb.

PACK We use Z-Packs, because we like the way the stays help with weight transfer. But in addition, we asked for some custom features.. The standard Z-Pack is too narrow to handle a fullsize “bear can”, placed into the pack horizontally. So we had the pack size changed in order to be able to do that. Bill’s pack has the standard pockets provided by Z-Packs. I requested NO pockets, because I wanted to add my own. My pockets are made of net, with elasticized tops. One side of the pack has two smaller, overlapping pockets. The other side has one tall pocket. I love not having to rummage through the whole pack for bits of gear–that’s why the pockets. Our original packs, which we used for our two PCT thruhikes, were made by me, following Ray Jardine’s basic packmaking ideas. But sorry, Ray, my shoulders would absolutely DIE without a bit of frame and hip belt. So I simply took an old, small frame and attached the RayWay pack to that. For doing the CDT, I thought about making a new RayWay pack, but finally decided to go with Z-Packs. They have been great! Very comfortable. The only addition (other than pockets) that I did was to add a bit of soft fleece to the inside of the shoulder straps, to make my shoulders happy!

TENT We will be using our Z-Packs Duplex cuben fiber tent that we took on the CDT. We’d much rather use a tarp! Tarps are awesome, especially in the rain. But the AT has ticks. We do not want to take a chance of getting Lyme disease, so a tent it will be. Underneath the tent goes a polycryo superlight “ground cloth”.

SLEEP SYSTEM We both use Z-Rest for a sleep pad. It folds up quickly and easily and is very comfortable. We also use the Z-Rests to lie down on when we take a rest break by the trail. Our sleeping bags are from Z Packs–30 degree down bags with NO zipper and no hood. We each have our own bag. We have very lightweight silk “long johns” to wear at night to keep the inside of the sleeping bag clean, and if it’s cold, we wear light wool socks. For a “pillow”, I use my down jacket, all rolled up, and Bill (Fixit) uses his hiking clothes bag. If it REALLY gets cold, we WEAR our jackets and put on a fleece hat and gloves. For serious, super-cold, we drape our raingear over us and stick the foot of our sleeping bags INTO our empty packs.

WATER We each carry two 2 1/2 liter Platypuses, plus we each have a SmartWater bottle. On the trail we typically only use one of the “Platy’s” and the SmartWater. The extra one is just in case we get a long dry stretch, like we did in the desert regions of the CDT. For water purification, we use AquaMira. No sitting around pumping or filtering for us! Too slow, too boring. We carry 4 little plastic bottle caps to mix the AquaMira solution in. When we get to a questionable water source, Bill starts collecting water while I set up the “kitchen”–the 4 little bottle caps each get 7-14 drops of AquaMira solution A, then B. They steam a little bit and turn yellow. Then I just wait 5 minutes and dump them into the water Bill has collected. The 7-drop ones go into the SmartWater bottle, while the 14 drop ones go into the Platys. Shake, shake, shake to mix well, then put everything back in the pack and hit the trail. Thirty minutes later, we can drink the water. We do not obsess over treating EVERY water source. If it looks OK, we just drink it and don’t worry.

SHOES We use La Sportiva Ultra Raptors. They are trail running shoes that give lots of protection from rocks and bumps, but without being too heavy. They are also just fine for fording rivers. We never take them off when fording–just march right in, and after awhile, the Ultras dry out, no problem. We used to use Vasques, which were a bit lighter, but found that they just were not doing the job for rough & rocky trail. It is no fun to hike when your feet hurt! Going through Sisters Wilderness on the PCT in Oregon, there are many miles of walking over lava. Owwwww! The Vasques did not cope well with that, and they wore out more quickly. The Ultra Raptors really do the job on rocks, snow, dirt, lava or whatever you throw at them. I guess they will get the Ultimate Test on the AT rocks!

CLOTHING I make all my own hiking clothes, and pants for Bill. I use sunblocking fabric that I get from Rainshed in Albany, Oregon. We always wear long pants so we don’t need sunblock (we NEVER use sunblock–nasty chemicals right on your skin–not good!), and the long pants protect us from mosquitoes, thorns & brambles, long grass, ticks, etc. as well. They are loose and comfortable and do not hinder our hiking in any way. If they get wet, they dry very quickly. We also wear a longsleeved shirt, for sun protection, tick protection, etc. If it gets hot, we roll up the sleeves, which are very loose, anyway. For socks we use a double layering system–Wrightsocks as the inner layer, then I have Thorlo WALKING (not hiking) socks as the outer layer, while Bill uses “Point 6” socks. Since we are both rather antique people (72 and 80 years old) we find we need more cushioning for our feet. For a hat, I use the Sunday Afternoon hat (I really like the very broad brim in front, but a flap in the back that can be up for hot weather or down for cool. Bill likes the Seattle Sombrero hat.

FOOD and COOKING Our policy is to cook once a day, at NOON. We are frankly horrified to see hikers cooking at the end of the day, in the vicinity of where they are camped. That is like shouting “Here, bears! Hikers with food here! Come and get it!” That’s one of the reasons we prefer to camp alone–almost all other hikers seem oblivious to the foolishness of cooking where they camp.

Here’s how we do our food & cooking. First off, we pack up and hit the trail. Who wants to shiver through breakfast in the cold and dark of early morning? That is NOT fun! We hike for an hour or so till we get to a spot with sunshine and a nice view. Then we stop and enjoy breakfast (usually granola with powdered milk and lots of dried fruit, nuts & seeds). We take 30 minutes for this.

Midmorning we stop for 15 minutes to rest (lie down on Z-Rest) and eat a Snickers.

Lunch is when we COOK. Our entire “cooking system” fits inside our titanium cook pot. It consists of a tiny “beer can stove” (made by Bill), a little pot stand made of wire, an aluminum foil windbreak and of course matches) The fuel bottle (usually HEET) is carried on the outside of the pack, The challenge with liquid alcohol is that if it’s really cold, it’s hard to light. If that’s the case, I stick the fuel bottle inside my jacket for a couple of hours before lunch so it warms up enough.

Typically we have a freezedried dinner with added stuff (dried veges from our garden or freezedried veges, plus extra beef or chicken) and some sort of treat like cookies. Sometimes we also make a “redneck mocha”–instant coffee mixed with hot chocolate powder. It’s great!

And weather permitting, we also do a “garage sale” of our sleeping bags and gear, spreading everything out in the sun to get thoroughly warm and DRY. This lightens our pack–the moisture that comes off you while you sleep can accumulate and get heavier and heavier. So every noontime, we “sun” our sleeping bags, inside and out. All this takes about 60 minutes.

Midafternoon, another 15 minute break with a Snickers.

Around 5:30 pm or so, we stop for “supper”–typically some sort of sandwich-y thing like tortillas or bagels with peanut butter or spam or cheese or tuna. And chips! And fruit, if we were recently in town. This takes about 30 minutes, and then we are back on the trail.

And that’s it for food. We NEVER EVER cook where we camp, and prefer to not even EAT where we camp.

The only exception to this plan is if it is RAINING in the morning, we will eat breakfast inside our tent before packing up, and if it is RAINING in the late afternoon, instead of stopping for supper, we continue on, but stop at 6:30 instead of 7:00, and eat supper inside the tent.

CAMPING STRATEGY

Just before 7:00 pm we start looking for a reasonably flat place to camp. We never plan ahead as to WHERE that will be, unless the map shows it may be hard to find something.

We AVOID camping near water, and we avoid camping where other people have camped. The reason is simple: Bears & critters don’t want to wander all over the woods looking for backpackers. They go where backpackers go–which is by water sources and “comfortable” places. So if you AVOID those locations, you have far less worries about a bear coming for a visit in the night.

Then we might–maybe–hang the food bags (on the PCT and CDT we hardly ever did–we slept with our food most of the time), set up the tent (again, we might NOT set it up; we actually prefer to “cowboy camp” if possible), wash off our feet & legs & face, and off to bed. Man, does it feel good to “get horizontal” after a long day! I spend some time (while lying down) writing up our “photo log” and journal and studying the maps to see if there is anything we need to know for tomorrow, and especially “Where are the WATER sources?”, read a little bit from the Bible (I actually cut up a New Testament and carry only part of it with me at a time), thank God for another awesome day, and then “Good night!”

WEATHER

We are pretty minimalist when it comes to coping with weather extremes.

HOT : Our clothes are loose, which allows for good air circulation, and our long sleeves and pants protect us from the direct rays of the sun. Sunlight on bare skin is a recipe for feeling the heat! When it’s REALLY hot, we use our hiking umbrellas to provide shade, and roll up our sleeves. If there’s a lake or creek, we will stop and splash water on ourselves.

COLD: First line of defense is to put on our very lightweight “polypews” (long underwear tops; we call them”pews” for how stinky they get, being made of synthetic fabric). If needed, we will then add lightweight fleece mittens. If the cold gets worse, we add our down jackets (Mountain Hardware brand) and fleece headbands/hoods. If it gets worse yet, we put on our raingear. (I make our raingear myself, out of lightweight silnylon fabric). That last combination has taken us through some seriously nasty cold weather, like what we faced in “The Bobs” on the CDT (snowing plus wind!)

We are not bullheaded, though, about what to do if faced with seriously bad weather–BAIL! Off the trail! We’ve had to do this a few times on the PCT and CDT, mostly due to snowstorms. On the CDT we had to bail once due to being up very high (12,000 feet or so) with weather so “thick” that we could not see more than 20 feet or so, accompanied by bitter cold and heavy rain. Since there was no trail to follow (a fair amount of the CDT is that way–no trail!) and the “route” was sporadically marked only by crumbling rock cairns, we decided we’d best get out of the situation rather than risking becoming completely lost and facing hypothermia.