Long distance hikers love to talk about their gear. I am an exception to this rule because I actually hate talking about gear! It stresses me out, I don’t find it that interesting, and I hate how competitive the conversations become – I don’t really care which quilt is lighter or which tent is larger and I definitely don’t want to have an argument about stuff sacks vs. no stuff sacks or trail runners vs. hiking boots! Ugh, I’m stressed just thinking about it. All I want from my gear is for it to do its job, be somewhat lightweight, not cost a million dollars, and if it comes in pink? Well, that’s a bonus that I’ll gladly take, duh!

That said, almost everyone I’ve mentioned my hike to has been very interested in what gear I’m taking, so I have put together the stereotypical “PCT Gear Post” for y’all to peruse.

A few things to note before we dive in:

• I aimed to go as lightweight as possible, but I did not obsess about being ultralight. I was going to include the weight of all my gear items in this post but honestly it proved to be too much of a pain in the ass. I know roughly what all my major gear pieces weigh, so if you have a question feel free to ask (or Google!), but I just couldn’t be bothered to weigh my chapstick, my trash compactor bag, my laminated photo of Alley, etc. Sorry not sorry!

• That said, I was interested to know what my pack weighed when fully packed because hey, I’m carrying this thing on my back for the next five months! I’m curious! My base weight is currently 15.5 lbs. (For non-hikers, FYI: “base weight” refers to the weight of your pack before you add any consumables, so it’s basically all your gear minus food, water, fuel, and worn clothing.) Once I add all my consumables I imagine it will weigh anywhere from 30-35 lbs, depending on how much water I am carrying (water is heavy!). I may see if I can shave a pound or two off my base weight as I get more confident on the trail, but for now I’m very happy with my pack weight.

• I would like to publicly say a HUGE thank you to the people who helped me put together this gear collection. Mom, Alley, Dad, Dan, Jill, Nicole, Courtney, Jackie — THANK YOU ALL for gifting me gear and gift certificates. I am very grateful and feel very lucky.

Without any further chit-chat, here’s my gear list for my 2017 Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike!

Pack + Home + Bed

• Ultralight Adventure Equipment Circuit backpack
• Trash compactor bag liner (instead of a rain cover)
• Enlightened Equipment Convert quilt
• Thermarest NeoAir Xlite sleeping pad (women’s)
• Gossamer Gear 1/8 inch foam pad
• Zpacks Duplex two-person tent
• Titanium tent stakes (8)

Water

• Sawyer Squeeze water filter
• Aqua Mira water treatment drops (just incase)
• Platypus 2L water bladder (x2)
• Smartwater bottles, bedazzled by Alex (x2) (lighter than Nalgenes!)

Kitchen + Food

• Granite Gear food sack (16L)
• Loksak Opsak (as a trash bag because apparently it’s totally scent proof)
• MSR Pocket Rocket stove
• Snow Peak 900ml titanium pot (with tiny frying pan lid!)
• DIY insulated cozy for my pot (thanks for the idea, Abi!)
• Sea to Summit long spork
• Swiss Army Classic (mostly for its tiny knife but I’m also excited for its tweezers outside of the kitchen!)
• Mini BIC lighter, pink and bedazzled by Alex

Bathroom

• Deuce of Spades trowel
• Diva Cup
• 1 oz hand sanitizer
• toilet paper

Navigation + Safety

• Halfmile’s PCT paper maps + Yogi’s PCT town pages
• Permits (PCT, California campfires, entry to Canada)
• Brunton compass
• SPOT Gen3
• Guthooks PCT Guide app and Halfmile’s PCT app
• Good luck charms from my mom/grandma and my Earth element necklace

Electronics

• iPhone SE and LifeProof phone case
• headphones
• Anker external battery 16750 MaH
• wall chargers for phone and battery (x2)
• Petzl e+Lite headlamp

Wardrobe

• Mosquito headnet (double as a stuff sack for clothes)
• Darn Tough Socks (1 pair, for sleeping)
• Injini lightweight toe socks (1 pair, so I can wash and switch my hiking socks daily)
• Patagonia underwear (1 pair, so I can wash and switch my undies daily)
• Bandana x2 (1 as pee rag, 1 for all other uses)
• Sunglasses (I don’t really love hiking in sunglasses but I figure I should have them)
• Patagonia Capilene Midweight Longsleeve (women’s, for sleeping)
• Patagonia Capilene Midweight Bottoms (women’s, for sleeping)
• Zpacks fleece hat
• Black Diamond lightweight gloves
• Montbell Superior Down Parka (women’s, with hood)
• Marmot PreCip Rain Jacket

Etc.

• Med Kit (blister care kit, antibiotic cream, ibuprofen, allergy meds, wipes, etc.)
• Toiletries (sunscreen, toothpaste, tooth brush, dental floss with sewing needle, mini Body Glide, hair ties)
• Rite in the Rain notebook
• Pen and Sharpie
• ziplock bag with drivers license, debit card, some cash (will add passport when I get closer to Canada)
• a laminated photo of my babely girlfriend Alley
• a laminated manifestation list that Alex helped me create and then wrote out for me in pink sparkly pens

Everyone Told Me Not To Bring A Film Camera But I’m Bringing A Film Camera

• Canon EOS Rebel 2000 35mm Film SLR camera
• 10-15 rolls of Kodak GC/UltraMax 400 color film (I’ll be sending my film to be developed with The Darkroom and will be ordering new film from B&H as I go)
• Capture Clip (a magical tool for carrying my camera on my hip belt!)

Sierra Snow Gear
(conditions in the Sierra portion of the PCT require some specific gear that is not necessary to have for the rest of the trail)

• CAMP Corsa ice axe
• BearVault BV500 bear canister
• Kahtoola microspikes or Kahtoola K-10 hiking crampons (I will decide which traction system makes the most sense when I get closer to the Sierra but I am currently leaning toward the crampons because it’s such a high snow year)

Outfit Of The Day aka What I’m Wearing (+ Carrying)
(Read a more detailed post about my hiking outfit as a chubby curvy femme girl)

• Hat
• Buff
• Patagonia underwear
• Columbia desert shirt
• Nike polyester t-shirt
• Nike sports bra
• Superfit Hero shorts
• Purple Rain hiking skirt
• Brooks Cascadia 12 trail runners
• Injinji lightweight toe socks
• Dirty Girl gaiters
• Black Diamond trekking poles (with duct tape wrapped around one and leuko tape wrapped around the other)

So that’s my gear list! One final note: I’ve never done a thru-hike before, so I wouldn’t call this list a recommendation for someone who is prepping for a future thru-hike. I will review this list at the end of my hike and make comments about what I thought of all my gear, and will then publish a list that could be reasonably called a recommendation.

For now this is just what I’m starting with, at the beginning, hoping for the best.