The Gear For Section Hike on PCT in SoCal

We've been sick.  We went to visit our daughter and her family in Las Vegas and caught a virus that laid us out for a few days.   Dehydration mostly from all the rapidly exiting body fluids.  Mark also caught the grand baby's cold and now has as a cough. 

We thought about canceling our hiking plans, but decided to go ahead and give it a try.  We are currently in a Best Western hotel in Brawley, CA.   Sometime tomorrow we will hit the trail.

Our packs are ready, even if our bodies are weak. 

Mark's pack without food or water weighs 14 lbs 15 oz.  And the clothes he's wearing and his hiking poles together weigh 4 lbs 3 oz.  For a total skin out weight of  19 lbs 2 oz.

My pack comes in at 14 lbs 10 oz.  And I'm wearing and carrying 4 lbs 2 oz. For a total skin out weight of 18 lbs 13 oz.

Neither of us are in the truly ultra lightweight category, but we did bring our pack weights down a few pounds each from our Sierra hiking trips.  We need to be able to carry more weight in water, so we lightened our shoes, changed our cooking system and jettisoned a few unnecessary items, like my Kindle.  We were diligent to weigh everything we were thinking of bringing to be able to make choices knowing the actual weight.  It all made a difference. 

For those of you who are gear junkies  here's what we have:

Mark: ULA Catalyst backpack, BA copper spur ul2, (tent body and rain fly), Western Mountaineering 20 degree down bag, exped  synmat sleeping pad, Go lite umbrella, sawyer filter and 2- 2 liter sawyer bags, 3 liter platypus bottle,  extra 1 liter plastic bottle, snow peak gigalite stove,  small can propane, snow peak titanium cup,  plastic spoon, phone and charger, in reach locator device,  zpole ultra distance Black Diamond hiking poles, Asolo agent shoes, dirty girl gaitors, Columbia convertible pants, ex-officio long sleeved shirt, ex officio underwear (2),  smart wool thin running socks, darn tough light hiker socks (2), frog togg rain gear, terramar silk pants and shirt, light polar fleece jacket, polar fleece beanie and thin gloves, leather man squirt, lighter, ChapStick, zip ties, some duct tape, small foam sit pad, tiny camp towel, sunglasses and reading glasses, kitchen garbage bag, straw hat, 2 white handkerchiefs, flip flops, back up inhaler for Tj

Tj: Deuter ACT lite 40 + 10 pack, poles, stakes and footprint for tent,  ex ped synmat pad, western mountaineering 15 degree down bag, Go lite umbrella, canon point and shoot camera and extra batteries, 3 liter platypus bottle and 2 2 liter sawyer bags, plastic half liter bottle, trowel, TP, *first aid/ emergency pack, comb, underarm deoderant toothpaste, toothbrushes, coconut oil, sunscreen, chapstick, diva cup, Dr. Bronner's soap, notebook, tiny Bible, pencil, small guidebook by Erik the Black, tiny thermometer, Fosters beer can for my drinking/eating cup, plastic spoon, Columbia convertible pants, ex officio long sleeved shirt, ex officio unmentionables (2) wrightsock cool mesh socks, darn tough light hiker socks,  smart wool medium weight socks, thin liner socks (I couldn't decide on socks for desert environment!), Brooks Cascadia trail running shoes, leki hiking poles, dirty girl gaiters, buff, bandana, 2 white handkerchiefs, my beat up hiking hat with clip, Sierra design rain jacket and pants, poly pro pants, smart wool top, polar fleece beanie, isotoner gloves, surgical gloves, 2 oz pink t- shirt, cheap Costco down jacket, kitchen garbage bag for pack cover, small foam sit pad, inhalers, sunglasses and reading glasses, flip flops, watch

*in a quart ziploc we have small amounts of the following: imodium, anti nausea pills, aleve, benedryl, vicodin, flexeril, exedrin, ativan, baby aspirin, crazy glue, moleskin, blister pack, sports tape, tribiotics, hydrocortizone, space blanket, esbit tab, water purifying tabs, storm proof matches, steri strips, assorted bandaids

Its amazing all that stuff, plus food for about 3 days and water for 1 to 1.5 days,  fit in these 2 packs. What's even more amazing is that we think we can carry it!