by By Washington state, I was pretty much down everything I needed and nothing I didn’t. Water purification still wasn’t quite right, and the weather was getting wetter, so it was time to tent up, and go back to Aqua Mira. At first I wasn’t quite sure I had made the right decision ditching the bivy – it had faired well in the few storms along the trail, and was very comfortable for the 200 or grams it weighed, however I also know from experience that it is not good for prolonged storms as it simply doesn’t breath well enough and I end up a little sticky by the third night. Washington rained, it rained a lot, and during an 8 hour thunder storm which comprised part of 8 days of very wet weather, i was very glad for the space and water tight tent.
Backpack
- Osprey Aether 65
- Sleeping Bag
- Marmot Sawtooth 15F Bag
- Sleeping Mat
- Thermarest NeoAir Lite
- Shelter
Rab Survival Zone Bivi, Rain Poncho- Marmot EOS 1p
- Stove
- JetBoil Sol with larger pot
- Cookware
- Titanium Utensil, Foldable Camping Knife, Small sponge for wiping clean
- Water Treatment
- AquaMira
and Steripen Freedom - Navigation
- Halfmiles PCT maps, PCT App and PDFs on iPad Mini
- Entertainment
- iPhone
- Clothing
- Icebreaker underpants 2x, Medium Thickness Woolen Socks 2x, Sherpa Shorts, treated with Permethrin, Icebreaker Merino T-Shirt, Rab Thermals, Patagonia Fleece Pullover, Arc’teryx Alpha SL Soft-shell Rain, Hat
- Footwear
- Asics GT-2000
- First Aid
- Medical Tape; Small bottle of iodine; Assorted Elastoplast 10x; Medium adhesive dressing; large non-adhesive dressings 2x; Gauze Bandage 2x.
- Hygiene and Care
- 99% DEET Lotion; Ibuprofen Capsules, 400Mg, lots; Toothbrush; Toothpaste; Dental Sticks; Sunblock;
The steripen broke, the water sensor started malfunctioning and I couldn’t depend on it. After crater lake I found I wasn’t carrying water, but would drink about 1-2 liters at a time every few miles, so i went back to just Aqua-Mira which works really well in that situation.
The weather in Washington is notoriously wet, so I decided a full tent would be better, the Bivi proved itself in short storms that lasted one or two days. After 3 days of using a bivi things start to get damp through perspiration. In severe storms tents have enough room to cook and sit up. This proved to be a great move in the end as the last two weeks were seriously stormy compared to the rest of the trip.