and unfortunately water weighs what water weighs. It's not like I can buy or find light water, lol.
Is that so?
and unfortunately water weighs what water weighs. It's not like I can buy or find light water, lol.
Yup. I'm hoping to do the Pacific Crest Trail next year. Mexico to Canada. It's 2650 miles over 4.5-6 months, averaging about 20 miles a day. I can walk 20 miles a day. I can carry 20-25Kg of kit. But doing both of those at the same time, while in hot conditions, up a mountain, for days on end. My weight needs to come down!
At the moment my dry weight is 8.8Kg. Or at least it is for the start sections, before I add bear canisters, ice axe and crampons. The desert sections will also need 5-8 litres of water a day which adds significant weight. Add on to that enough food for up to 8 days at a time and the kit gets heavy.
At the moment I have a spreadsheet trying to work out my kit list etc, and I am slowly shedding the odd gram here and there, but there is only so much I can lose, and unfortunately water weighs what water weighs. It's not like I can buy or find light water, lol.
Once I get into the mountains I pick up the extra kit, but I can also carry a lot less water and just rely on the water filter and rivers. If I can get my average kit down to 15Kg I will be a happy man. Also trying to keep the GFs kit to under 10Kg.
As for camera kit, unfortunately the DSLR stays at home. Am going to buy a point and shoot or some sort of range finder (Nikon Evil when it comes out?) to keep the weight down without compromising image quality too much. Well excited by the idea of the trip though. Just need to battle through paperwork and visa fun first though.
Is that so?
Sounds awesome! I've actually been thinking about seeing if I can get into doing some trail maintenence on that in the next couple of years, maybe I'll make it next year for certain.
I see where your issue is now and yep, it's going to be a pain. I take it you're dropboxing a lot of your kit so at least that should keep the weight down a bit? What you using for bear canisters? Where I was working last summer (Maine on the AT) we just dumped the stuff in some canvas bags, about 15 ft off the ground going through the motions more than anything, grizzlies are supposed to be a lot nastier than the cute black bears we were dealing with though. From what I heard though a lot of the wild campsites in bear country have proper metal bins for you to use, although it seems the bears are getting smarter...
How about a m4/3 camera like the GF2? I think you'll be very disappointed by a P&S tbh but I know where you're coming from, even a 400D with 35 f/2 lens on was a pain when trying to pack it with a weeks worth of provisions.*
Anyway, good luck with sorting it all out, better start talking to yourself now just so you get the practice in, maybe start growing that beard too**.
*It's really annoying, I'm sure I had a photo (in fact I'm certain...) of the pile of food we would take up at the beginning of each weeks work, 4 days of food for 6-8 people doing trail work was a pretty impressive sight when dumped in a pile...
** The advantage of working at the end of the trail at the end of the season was seeing all the thru hikers coming through... If they were walking through town you would cross the street to avoid most of them at first glance. Also you'll probably be suprised how many Brits there are doing the trail if it's anything like the AT, met quite a few.
I've come across a fresh pile of bear turds (still steaming) in the woods before and it was a bit unnerving. Are you taking bear mace? People get mauled by bears and mountain lions every year.
I've come across a fresh pile of bear turds (still steaming) in the woods before and it was a bit unnerving. Are you taking bear mace? People get mauled by bears and mountain lions every year.
40L pack Lowe alpine crag ascent 1kgGolite Jam 0.840kg
Sleeping bag and mat 2kg PHD Designs Minimus Down Sleeping Bag 0.465Kg
1/2 man tent 2.5kg Terra Nova Laser Ultra 1 Tent 0.56kg
water 1L bottle + purification tablets, repellant spray, sunscreen, first aid kit ~2kg
stove and pan set 0.5kg
windshirt, fleece and waterproof layers, spare socks and underwear, hat. 3kg.
10Mp compact camera waterproof, SD cards. 0.5kg
Compass and maps, satmap GPS. 1kg
Dried food, dried fruit approx 0.5kg per day say 2kg
approx 15kg for three days, everything in the pack except sleeping mat.
Camera, compass and GPS in pockets
Me and my dad were trying to figure out if you could get light water, seeing as you can get heavy water. He tried working out the chemistry of it to see if you could make a light water isotope. I then realised it was a moot point seeing as all my water would be coming from streams along the way, and to turn that into light water I would need several hundred tonnes of chemistry/physics kit, lol.
If you do manage to get some trail maintenance work next year, you'll have to keep me updated. Would be cool to meet up.
Yeah, I'll be drop boxing a fair bit of kit, especially the section specific kit such as ice axes, crampons and bear canisters. I don't think I'll be sending on many resupply boxes of food though, as it would probably cost more to buy it here, dehydrate it then ship it over the US than it would to just pick it up along the trail. I might post on things like replacement shoes etc though.
For the bear canisters, I am hoping to get away with Ursacks for most of the trip as they are light. But for a 700mile section, including the John Muir trail, you need to use licensed canisters which are big and heavy! I have found somewhere that rents them out though, so that saves a bit of money. It think the brea problem is much like over on the east coast in that it is the Black Bears that cause much of the trouble as they are inquisitive and increasingly tame so get close to humans. The Grizzlies tend to keep themselves to themselves more, although if you do upset one will take your head off pretty easy.
Yeah, I haven't ruled out a m4/3rds camera. Some of the expensive pos cameras don't seem too bad and have full manual controls etc. I'm half tempted by the Fuji X100, but the price is too much and I would be scared of damaging it. I think ideally I want a Nikon Evil camera if/when they come out.
Hehe, I already have a head start on the beard, so no problem there. I am tempted by not trimming or shaving the whole trip and see how much of a hobo I can look like! Interesting that you say about lots of Brits on the AT. were these thru hikers? My main concern and the thing that might stand in my way is getting the US B2 visa. I would be interested to see how other Brits managed to convince the US embassy that they need a B2.
You are now under 11Kg.
You are now under 11Kg.
Is heavy water actually heavy?
If I do manage to get out there I definately will let you know, although the chance of being able to meet on the trail would be very slim.
I think food wise getting it in the states (and potentially mailing it on) is probably by far the best idea, there will probably be far more options for hikers than in most of the UK near the trail (get proper bits of dried fruit, it is epically nice!). Those sacks look interesting, although not sure about the idea of just tying them to a branch, in the air above bear height surely?
Interesting story from one of the guys I was working with over there, he mentioned that he accidently managed to sneak up on a black bear in a tree one day so decided to take a photo of it, he took the photo, with the subsequent noise, bear turned round due to it, saw him and promptly fell out the tree.
I'd definately go 4/3rds myself, after my parents getting what was supposed to be one of the best bridge cameras out at the moment (panasonic one) the PQ was appaling compared to a DSLR, I assume a 4/3rds camera would be a lot better, maybe a baby tripod as well, else you'll be kicking yourself if you don't take one.
There were a few British thru hikers, not sure what they did for visas unfortunately (although one is now a US citizen after marriage), there was also a "hoods in the woods"* leader from Manchester or somewhere as well.
*Inner city teen groups taken out to the countryside for a few days
Yup I'd agree, heavy sleeping bag and very heavy tent. Having said that some of the tents I saw people using I really wouldn't have wanted to sleep in... Some got wet when it rained...
I think it's 3000 calories and not 4000.
I need more meats and more variety in snacks. Any more suggestions?
Why not the Laser comp? I've been contemplating buying one for a while (no money...), it's lighter but I guess also smaller (I assume you're sharing)?
A few of the people I saw on the trail had just very light tarps and a hammock, I guess not as much potential use on your trail though due to the lack and type of trees in a lot of locations?