Hike Gear

I mulled over gear just like most hikers do, but tried not to be too dogmatic about it, because I have seen successful hikers carrying all sorts of things I would never consider hauling 3000 miles. And while I certainly considered the weight of everything I loaded in to my pack, I also considered its quality (i.e., will it serve its purpose out on the trail) and more importantly whether I really needed it at all. Here is what I found about the gear I carried on this hike.

Pack & Poles
I started with a Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack that weighs a little over 1 pound with the foam sleeping pad inserted as cushioning in the back. I loved this pack but it was not up to demands of carrying heavy loads of food and water and the carbon stays quickly wore through the material holding them. I switched to the Mountainsmith Mountain Light pack I used on the PCT at Lima, but it was never comfortable despite all the straps and possible adjustments. At Rawlins I received a new ULA P2 pack I had ordered from Lima and used it the rest of the way. Only slightly heavier than the Mariposa it was much more durable and proved to be a great pack. Lots of through-hikers use them and I can see why. I walked with Komperdell titanium trekking poles and am absolutely convinced I would not have completed this hike without their assistance.

Sleeping System
I used a 14-ounce SilShelter that is erected with one trekking pole as support. I have used this tarp on two hikes and find it provides good protection from the weather as well as lots of room. I used a 2-pound 900 fill Marmot down bag for the first three weeks of the hike and then from Colorado to the border. In between I slept in my old synthetic 3-pound sleeping bag. I was cold a couple nights in the synthetic, but the down bag kept me toasty even when the overnight Colorado temperatures were freezing my water bottle. My friends made fun on my ultralight Gossamer Gear ground cover calling it “Glen’s tissue paper” but it made it all the way without springing any leaks other than the hole I accidentally punched in it with my ice axe. I carried a Bug Bivy, which provided what proved to be essential protection from mosquitoes that plagued me until the middle of August.

Water
In my estimation nothing is more important to maintaining your health while hiking than good clean water. For this reason I carried an MSR ceramic water filter even though it weighed more than a pound. As expected it was reliable and field cleanable, though the additional paper filter they added on the new model I bought clogged repeatedly so that I eventually took it off altogether rather than pay for replacements. I pumped into a one-gallon MSR bag that has 5000 miles on it without springing a leak, something that seemed to happen to everybody I know that was trying to use some plastic water container. I got giardia in the Wyoming desert, possibly from inadequate sanitation of the filter or having my hands come in contact with the filthy cow water found throughout that locale, but I still believe water filtration is essential.

Cooking
I cooked once a day with Esbit tablets on the platform they call a “stove.” It took about 10 minutes to boil a pint of water in my titanium pot and the tablet permitted a simmer for a couple minutes after that, so my cooked meals were designed around things I could pitch into a pot of boiled water and then let sit for a few minutes before eating. Esbit simplified resupply visits to town, and I found it to be reliable and convenient to use. I carried one spoon and a small knife.

Safety Gear
This was the stuff I hoped not to need and that was generally the case. I used the ace bandage to wrap a swollen ankle and put a few bandaids on my feet early on, but after that did not use the first aid kit. I carried DEET for two months, but the mosquitoes only got bad enough one time in Yellowstone that I dabbed it on my wrists and hat. The emergency whistle and fire starter did not get used. The duct tape came in handy from time to time and I used the sewing kit on the Gossamer Gear pack a couple times before replacing it. I carried the ice axe through Glacier and definitely needed it a couple of times, but the trekking poles were sufficient after that on treacherous snowfields. My tiny LED light worked fine for limited use until September when I added a headlamp that allowed me to arrive about dark where I had chosen to camp

Cleanliness
I brought a toothbrush (handle cut down of course) and floss, but no toothpaste. I carried Dr. Bronner’s soap to wash my hands, but switched to a small container of hand sanitizer after getting giardia.

Clothing
I gave up on carrying my weighty sandals early on and relied completely on running shoes. I went through 3 pairs of New Balances and 1 pair of Montrails on the hike, which is about what I expected. The poncho I carried for rain protection got a lot of use. The synthetic clothing I wore performed as expected, keeping me mostly warm and drying fairly quickly when wet. There was never any concern about being too hot as the weather was generally cool and cloudy. I hate gloves but it was so cold in Colorado that I bought a pair, but even then my hands were often cold when starting out in the morning. My brother gave me glove liners that helped considerably.

Technology
It took a while to get used to the PocketMail keyboard, but I got pretty proficient in typing in my journal at night. It worked fine for me, but I know a couple of other hikers had them fail. I paid extra for a waterproof protective cover that may have made a difference. My Olympus Stylus 4 megapixel digital camera handled trail conditions very well. The photos did not always turn out the way I expected, but that was usually in limited light conditions. Mailing memory cards back to the webmaster worked well, but I was using padded mailers. My friend Razzu lost one of his cards in the mail just using a standard envelope. I was somewhat resistant to using the GPS for navigation purposes, though I had fun GPSing the location I spent the night at for the journal. Eventually I figured out how to use the GPS well enough that it was helpful in finding the trail a few times.

Food
I had plenty of food in my resupply boxes, always arriving at the next stop with a little extra. Sure, I got tired of eating dried stuff all the time, but the reality was that while hiking I didn’t really care what I had to eat just so long as there was plenty of it. In town I would tend to eat fresh vegetables and dairy products, especially ice cream. Lots of people still insist that vegetarians cannot keep up their energy on long hikes like this, but my experience seems to disprove that. Besides, my diet paled before that of another 2005 CDT hiker, Doug Walsh, who stuck to a raw foods vegan diet.

© 2006 Mark C. Davis • Page Last Updated January 8, 2006