Questions from at AT thru-hiker prepping for a PCT thru

[raphaelmatto]

Hey folks,I'm so sooo excited to get back out in the woods after a couple years in a "cubicle." I completed an AT thru in 2015, so I've got a rig fairly well dialed in—but I have some questions, since I've heard things are somewhat different on the pct:Bear canister: sounds like we only have to carry these for a total of 400 miles. On the AT, resupply was rarely more than 3 days—so my instinct is to go with something like a bv450. So the question is: for those 400 relevant miles, are there any resupply gaps definitely longer than three days? If there's, say, two or three seven day resupplies, then I'm guessing something more like a bv500 is in order. I'd look up the resupply spots in a guide book, but I'm waiting until Feb to purchase in case they're updated. I got burned in 2015 buying my book early.I'm hoping to start nobo either April 2nd or April 9th. Based on that, do you think I need an ice ax? I mean... it's a horse trail—do you really need an ax? I like to go as light as possible, so if I can get away with it, I'll try. I carry two LTC3 poles, so will have some help (altho I snapped one in a river crossing on the AT, so I wouldn't want to try one of those "self-arrests" I've been hearing so much about w/my pole). That said, I'm looking at this (I don't like the price): https://suluk46.com/product/tica-ice-tool-r5/. Any other suggestions?Temperature. So, based on a April 2nd start date, what sort of temps am I looking at? What's the lowest I might encounter & where? I had a few 10 degree (F) nights on the AT & they were painful, so if it's like that I might invest in some down pants, mostly to sleep in. I'm carrying a 20 degree bag & a neoair.Traction. I didn't have any sort of foot traction on the AT & it was a sheet of ice for the first two weeks. I didn't fall, but was tip-toeing & it was super slow-going. I already have a pair of 4oz yaktrax & they help a lot on ice, besides the bad reviews (https://yaktrax.implus.com/Catalog/Traction/Walk). & I've always liked the look of the 8oz Diamond Grips (https://yaktrax.implus.com/Catalog/Traction/DiamondGrip). Basically, again, I'm trying to get away with not using something heavy: 11oz micro-spikes (https://kahtoola.com/product/microspikes). Tell me if this is stupid. A friendly forum guy talked me out of not taking a headlamp on the AT & I am eternally grateful, turns out I'm a night-hiker.Rain. On the AT I sent my rain jacket home when the daytime temps got above 50 degrees—my big hat & rain kilt were enough after that. When I encountered really horrible rain, I just ducked under my tarp & waited it out. I had this game going where I tried to keep my socks dry for as long as I could (I called it "ghosting the rain"). Anyway, it sounds like there's almost no rain on the PCT, so I was thinking of not even starting with my raincoat. What scares me is spots where it might rain for several days w/temps below 50 degrees, what's the chance of that happening? I saw some peeps get hypothermia on the AT & walk around like grinning zombies & forget where they were & take off their clothes. Would like to avoid that.Water filtration. Is everyone still using the Sawyer Squeeze? It's been around so long I thought there must be some fancy new filter. If not, I've heard some of the water in the desert is pretty gross and can clog a filter—so my question there is: do folks carry the plunger to clear the filter? Or just clean it out at resupply spots?Bounce box. I didn't send a single resupply box to myself on the AT, and it was brilliant. Instead I just kept my bounce bucket well stocked & dug into it when pickings were slim in town. & left the rest up to luck & the kindness of strangers. Never even came close to being hungry. I've found this excellent article: http://www.halfwayanywhere.com/trail...r-survey-2016/ that's starting to convince me I can't get away with that on the PCT... & narrows resupply-box mailing points down to ten. Could those just be handled with some clever bounce-boxing skills? Has anyone here just winged it with a bounce box/bucket?
Thank you for reading this far, happy hiking.
Cheers,Raphael

[Malto]

I will take a couple. Bad news for you, the 400 miles are in the middle of the Sierra where mileage often drops, resupplies can be inconvenient and full hiker hunger kicks in. If you,look at resupplies most bail into Lone Pine or Independence out of KM. I went straight through to VVR and it was a 7 day carry.

I believe a 20deg quilt is about perfect for the entire PCT. It gets cold at night in the clear dry air.

As far as rain it will depend on a lot of factors. The earlier you start the more rain you will see. Likewise, the later you end in Canada the greater the chance of rain. In my case I started late, May 21st and finished August 27th so I missed both ends of the rainy times. I only had snow once, rain once and a mist once. I only set up my tarp three nights, once in each state. Take a rain jacket, trust me, I didn't just took Wind shirt initially and would never do that again. The weather can be dangerous.

ICe axe. It depends. I am super glad I had mine or I likely would have been found at the bottom of the Forester chute. It really depends on the year.

[raphaelmatto]

Excellent, thanks for this info about resupply in the Sierra!

& great to get your take on the rain jacket—yeah, I was feeling a bit nervous starting without one. I'll assess & box it if it gets warm enough later in the season, like I did on the AT. The Smokies would have been pretty bad w/o a jacket.

Cool, I'll box an ax & decide day-of.

+1 for bv500
+1 for an ax
+1 for rain jacket

[Malto]

Excellent, thanks for this info about resupply in the Sierra!

& great to get your take on the rain jacket—yeah, I was feeling a bit nervous starting without one. I'll assess & box it if it gets warm enough later in the season, like I did on the AT. The Smokies would have been pretty bad w/o a jacket.

Cool, I'll box an ax & decide day-of.

+1 for bv500
+1 for an ax
+1 for rain jacket

The PCT is a very different critter. I had rain, sheet and snow on June 29th. The problem you have is that the rain is likely going to come with wind and cold. It is not like the afternoon shower that we get here in the east. I ended up carrying Frogg Toggs after that day. Never used them but they made an excellent pillow!

[gwschenk]

For a bear canister you should look at the Wild Ideas Bearikade. A bit lighter than the rest.

The Wilderness Press guidebooks, while not the hip thing anymore, will answer a lot of your questions.

My way of thinking is I either need crampons or I don't need anything. YMMV

I like the Charlet Moser snow walker ice axe, very light and will do the job. An ice axe can be a very dangerous piece of equipment. If you don't know how to use it, don't bring one along. While everyone stresses self-arrest, it's more important to know how to use the axe to prevent a fall. You can get instruction from a guide service. It'd be a lot of fun, too.

The temps you are looking at range from freezing to broiling hot. A 20 degree bag will be fine.

The second day from the border you'll be in the Laguna Mountains. Snow or freezing rain storms are not totally uncommon in the spring there. Snow, while not likely, can hit you in the San Jacintos, San Bernardinos and San Gabriels that time of year as well. In the Sierra it can snow in June. Monsoons from the southwest deserts arrive in July and you can get a lot of rain for several days. In August the pattern is afternoon thunderstorms. It's true that no major mountain range in the world has weather as mild as the Sierra, but it still has weather.

I would not leave the border without rain jacket and rain pants. YMMV, HYOH

Good luck on your trip. Have fun and please pack out your TP. One more thing, unlike the AT, campfires are illegal on almost all the PCT. You'll understand why as you hike through miles of burn.

[raphaelmatto]

Thanks for all this info, gwschenk. I like the rental option for the Bearikade—ends up being about the same cost as buying a bv500 & I won't have to worry about mailing it all the way home.

... & also for the ice axe recommendation & tips (https://www.mtntools.com/cat/alpinei...wwalkeraxe.htm). I bet I can find an ice axe AMC course up here in the Whites, to get some practice in. I was still having trouble imagining why you'd need an axe on a horse trail, but a couple pics & discussion at the end of this article sort of helped me understand: http://leannalj.blogspot.com/2012/09...V2P36TVMn7vjRs

I can't imagine carrying crampons. I'm short, so microspikes are like crampons for me, everything is relative. That said, it sounds like it's more about slippery snow & less about ice, so yaktrax/diamond grips may not help much. I'll count it as:

+1 for microspikes
+1 for rain jacket
+1 for axe

Dumb question: if you take a "walking axe," then you probs still take your hiking poles, right? For the flat sections?

I don't remember anyone packing at toilet paper on the AT, just burying it. Is that really a thing on the PCT? Eew.

Thanks again!
Raphael

[norts]

My resupply for the Sierra( this was in '16 so a low snow year) was
Box to KM Picked up my BV 500( I borrowed one so no decision for me)
Resuppy at Bishop( came out via Kearsage Pass)Took 5 days to get there( including a side trip up Whitney
Resupply at Mammoth 7 days ( including the hitch back to Onion Valley and the climb over Kearsage Pass) Kearsage Pass is a bit of a climb but the views are stunning.
Resupply at Sonora Pass( I used Sonora Pass Resupply - they deliver right to the pass) . It took 5 days to get there
So for me the biggest food carry was 7 days ( I am an older walker, 57 so not terribly fast)

Rain Jacket All the way. You can get snow storms at any of the high spots before the Sierra and through the Sierra you can get thunderstorms and if you are up on the passes it gets very uncomfortable especially if there is still snow about. I had an uncomfortable time near Muir Pass huddling under a rock ledge waiting for a thunderstorm to pass. I did have wet weather gear but it was very cold.
Sierra this year, traction devices were needed( I am told), I did it in '16 and didnt need them. It will depend on the snow. I carried microspikes but no ice axe

I carried a Sawyer Squeeze and the plunger, most water wasnt too bad, the plunger doesnt weigh much.

I am now a believer in regard to an umbrella, great for the desert and I used it right through the Sierra. Set up so it is hands free. You can keep walking for longer through the midday heat in and it is cooler than a sun hat.
Dont forget sunglasses, hardly needed them on the AT but definitely need them for PCT.

Taz

[AllDownhillFromHere]

+1 for the umbrella.

[colorado_rob]

+1 for the umbrella.

Yeah, another +1. I was skeptical until I carried one recently on the Sierra high route (parallels the PCT in the Sierra). 9 ounces of bliss during broiling sun and the occasional heavy downpour. We justified using a lighter weight (dri duck vs. heavier Arctyrex) rain jacket because you can keep 95% of the heqavy rain off of you completely. We even skipped on the pack cover thing.

By the way, this last early-mid September, we had heavy rain almost every day in the Sierra for a 3-week period. I realize this is unusual, but it can happen.

[raphaelmatto]

Norts—thanks heaps for the resupply details, they're super helpful; I won't be moving quickly either—I took the full 6 months on the AT, so I'll prepare myself for a 7 day carry. & interesting about the sunglasses, something else to shop for!

I'm definitely skeptical of the umbrella idea (what about wind? won't it catch on things? fiddling w/it to match the sun angle? or can't use one of your poles when carrying), but I like the idea of reducing the rain burden on hat/jacket/pack, so I'll do some research. Any picks on brand/model to get me started?

+1 microspikes
-1 axe
+3 umbrella

[colorado_rob]

Norts—thanks heaps for the resupply details, they're super helpful; I won't be moving quickly either—I took the full 6 months on the AT, so I'll prepare myself for a 7 day carry. & interesting about the sunglasses, something else to shop for!

I'm definitely skeptical of the umbrella idea (what about wind? won't it catch on things? fiddling w/it to match the sun angle? or can't use one of your poles when carrying), but I like the idea of reducing the rain burden on hat/jacket/pack, so I'll do some research. Any picks on brand/model to get me started?

+1 microspikes
-1 axe
+3 umbrella

This is the one we have:

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/revie...-trek-liteflex

"Editor's Choice" on outdoor gear lab. We got ours on Amazon. I believe it goes under a couple different names, and I think it's made in Germany. It does actually weigh only 8.x ounces. And yes, there is a fiddle-factor with it, but worth it during a downpour. At such times, I do go down to one trekking pole and carry the umbrella with one hand, so I can more easily adjust the angle to maximize the rain protection. For les critical sun-only protection, I attach it to my shoulder strap.

[raphaelmatto]

Excellent, thanks for the lead colorado_rob! ... & the correction on the weight.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

Depending the terrain, i.e. if you're on switchbacks, I find its best to hold the umbrella in 1 hand, so you can switch angles, especially as the sun dips later in the day.

[egilbe]

Contact IME in North Conway. They can get you set up for a basic mountaineering class. They may tell you if you need an ice axe, you will want full crampons.

[raphaelmatto]

Fantastic, egilbe—thanks for the lead, will definitely check it out! Now we just wait for the snow.