TK Adventures

Tag: pct2020

  • Tom’s PCT Gear!

    Tom’s PCT Gear!

    The Big Stuff

    ⛺ Tent

    There was a spreadsheet involved in the purchase of this tent. Ultimately wanted a free standing tent rather than a trekking pole tent and with two of us, a door either side is important. We have the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 (an older version than this latest, think ours is the 2018 version) and have been very happy with it on a few trips. Sure it’s not the lightest but it’s light enough, withstands storms and keeps bears out (maybe).

    ? Sleeping Quilt

    Yup, a quilt, not a ‘bag’. I find I get hot and sticky in a bag so tried a quilt instead and it’s great! I have the Enlightened Equipment Revelation Quilt 20°F with 850 down fill, 6’6″ (long) Length and 58″ (wide) width. It is quite literally a revelation and even Katie was a converted. She has the same but rated to 10°F.

    ? Sleeping Mattress

    The Thermarest NeoAir XLite is great, warm enough for me in most conditions and comfy enough. Of course there is the risk with a mattress that it gets a puncture but having tried the Thermarest Z Lite mattress, the xlite is so much better (the Z mattress eventually resulted in silver bits everywhere!)

    ? Bag

    After some research, I had decided on the Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60L for backing trips in general and it’s first outing was the Hebridean Way in May 2019 where it performed admirably and so it will be joining me for the PCT. Great accessible outer pockets and able to attach camera case and a Bottle Rocket to the shoulder straps.

    ? Fanny Pack

    ThruPack Summit Bum to keep handy items available.

    Footwear

    ? Shoes

    Initially I thought I would stock up on one style of shoe to keep me going through the hike (on average, hikers get through 5 pairs). In the end I’ve resisted doing that completely because some sections might call for different shoe styles, as you hike your feet tend to go up a size and different sections/times of year may call for different sock thickness.

    I’m planning on starting in a new pair of New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro v5 in a generous size 11 (I’m a size 9 in normal shoes, wear size 10 normally for running shoes). These have good cushioning and breathability for the desert. They also have room for foot size increase and larger socks without being too big in the first place. I’ve had good experiences with New Balance trail shoes in the past so am confident they will be great! I also have a pair of La Sportiva Mutants in a size up from what I normally wear. I’ve worn these shoes for the past few years for hiking and trail running and the grip on phenomenal so I think they may be a good choice for the High Sierras section where we will see snow and cross lots of rivers.

    I’ll decide on others shoes as they are needed based on experiences so far. The most popular shoe choice on the trail (based on survey link) are the X. I did try these out in the Outer Hebrides in May 2019 and did not find them a good option for me.

    I’ll decide on others shoes as they are needed based on experiences so far. The most popular shoe choice on the trail (based on survey link) are the X. I did try these out in the Outer Hebrides in May 2019 and did not find them a good option for me.

    ?Socks

    General approach, which I got from Andrew Skurka (link post) is to have a couple of hiking pairs on the go and cycle them each day, washing them if possible and drying when you stop or hang from your pack as you hike. I’ve found this is a good system, it always feels nice to put a ‘fresh’ pair of socks on half way through the day and if you can wash them, it helps the stinky situation (my feet tend to get pretty nasty smelling! ?)

    I’ve done long distance running for a few years and always used injinji socks which I’ve found to be excellent at preventing blisters. I think I would benefit from a bit more cushioning than injinji socks provide so I’m going to start the trail with two different options;

    1. Injini hiking liner sock paired with Darn Tough or Stance Socks
    2. Injinji hiking sock (most cushioned available)

    ?‍♂️ ‘On The Move’

    Base

    ? Layers

    ? Accessories

    ? Stop/Camp Clothing

    • Down Jacket: Mountain Equipment Skyline in eye catching bright orange!
    • Merino boxers – warm temp sleeping
    • Merino leggings – cold temp sleeping
    • Camp Footwear: Vivobarefoot sandals for around camp, give my shoes a chance to dry out and my feet a chance to breath

    ☔ Waterproof Gear

    • Jacket: REI Drypoint GTX Jacket. Gets great reviews and I’m happy to carry some weight and pay a bit more for a jacket that will do a good job of keeping me dry.
    • Bottoms: ULA Rain Kilt – yeh a ‘skirt’! I find I overheat in waterproof trousers so gonna give a rain skirt a go. Doubles as modesty protection whilst I’m washing all my other clothes in town from time to time!

    ?Navigation

    I’ve no doubt there will be many on the PCT this year with only their phone for route checking and navigation. I believe you need a backup and that good old paper maps are superior in many ways to electronic maps, including giving a much larger view area at one time. So we will have both options;

    ?Electronics

    I want to capture memories and document the trip through photos and diaries so I have quite a bit of electronic gear. I can always dump some of it if i’m not using it all.

    • Go Pro Hero 8 Black – action shots and nice wide view, easy to get pics of Katie and I together
    • Sony RX100 IV – takes great photos, has zoom and can add filters
    • Google Pixel 2 – does take good pics but using mostly for trip diary, nav backup etc.
    • Zendure SuperMini 10000mAh power bank
    • Sandisk Extreme Rugged 1TB backup drive
    • BioLite HeadLamp 330
    • Accessories: Wall charger, cables, 3 batteries per camera, camera battery chargers, spare SD cards, Joby Gorilla tripod with GoPro adaptor.

    ?Camp Kitchen

    ? First Aid Kit!

    Lightweight Adventure Medical Kit, because it’s good to be prepared

    All The Gear…

    Lighterpack Breakdown

    Yup, I totally geeked out and weighed a load of stuff. ? It’s not uncommon.

    https://lighterpack.com/e/w9r5bd
  • PCT Prep: Winter Skills Training

    PCT Prep: Winter Skills Training

    It’s pretty much a certainty that we will encounter winter conditions and snow pack in the High Sierra’s (if not other areas) particularly as we are starting the trail mid March and therefore entering the mountains about a month earlier than is generally considered the best time to be doing so. By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail (Benjamin Franklin!) so we headed to the Cairngorms in Scotland for a Winter Skills Training with Cairngorm Adventure Guides.

    The weather forecast on Day 1 was clear in the morning, showers/snow later in the day and damn windy! We met our guide, Scott, and the rest of our 6 person group, and Scott talked to us about some of the essential skills for outdoor winter adventures. There was a lot to cover! Over the whole weekend we learnt about identifying and reducing avalanche risk, reading avalanche forecasts, how snow pack is analysed to produce the forecasts (and how you can use that yourself to assess risk), numerous ice axe skills, crampons skills, navigation skills and planning a day out taking all this, and the weather forecast, into account.

    Having covered some of this indoors we headed up to the Aviemore Ski area with a planned route in mind and practiced some simple navigation skills to get going. We soon found that we were at freezing level at around 600m, just as forecast, and so our first time putting crampons on in anger to safely walk up the frozen path.

    The higher we got, the windier it got and we soon learnt that it took gusts of about 75mph to knock us over! Throughout the day we stopped frequently to learn skills and put them into practice, everything from how to hold an ice axe, techniques for traversing or climbing slopes in crampons, and keeping a continual eye on the weather – was it doing what we expected, has anything changed that would change our plans? Importantly, we not only learnt how to avoid slipping but also how to ‘self-arrest’ – using your ice axe to stop yourself sliding down a slope should you need to. Emphasis on techniques to prevent this happening in the first place!

    DCIM100GOPROGOPR0002.JPG

    Despite only walking a few km, it had been a tiring day and we spent the evening relaxing back at the hostel, caught the end of the England Six Nations game (beating Scotland). Fish and chip dinner, I went for the tourist classic – battered black pudding followed by battered mars bar. ? After some homework – checking the weather and avalanche forecasts for Sunday, we got a good nights sleep ready for another day of training.

    The weather forecast wasn’t good on Sunday, rain, cold and even more wind! We met at a cafe near the ski centre and went over some map knowledge and some exercises before heading up to the ski centre. We stayed lower and explored the ski slopes (which were not open for skiing!), using some fencing where snow had collected to practice more techniques without crampons and some more techniques with the ice axe for cutting steps into a slope. The weather had not been quite as bad as forecast to begin with, but the rain soon fell and the wind picked up, particularly whilst walking along a ridge. It was hard work to walk against, we were wet and cold so we practices some navigation whilst heading back down to the ski centre for a hot drink and debrief.

    Another evening reading and relaxing at the hostel, and couldn’t believe my ears when I overheard someone else in the lounge say they were hiking the PCT this year! What are the chances? Lovely to meet a fellow PCT 2020 hiker (Cam Hikes) and an enjoyable evening chatting everything PCT with her! ?

    We woke Monday morning to an inch or so of snow in Aviemore and it was still coming down as we enjoyed a cracking breakfast at the Mountain Cafe. We had time for a fun Wintery walk in the snow, with the sun poking through before heading back to Inverness for our flight home.

    We were both really happy that we had done the winter training and learnt so much. We definitely feel better prepared to make good decisions during planning and whilst out on the hills, trails and mountains.

    ?Top 5 takeaway’s from the weekend

    ? Katie

    1. Wind: 60mph is pretty hard work, 75mph literally blows me away. ?
    2. My walking pace for a flat 100m is 72 steps.
    3. 4 D’s for Planning & Navigating – .Direction, Description, Distance, Duration.
    4. Have everything you need throughout the day, to hand and tied on. Pack everything else in the correct order and in familiar packaging.
    5. Have an ‘Ouch Pouch’ ready to go at the top of your bag, full first aid the bottom.

    ?‍♂️ Tom

    1. Avalanche Risk Assessment – Angle, Aspect, Altitude, 100m run off, 30 degrees.
    2. Basics of ice axe arrest – how to try and stop sliding if shit hits the fan.
    3. More importantly, techniques for preventing situations that require an ice axe arrest in the first place!
    4. Don’t just use tech maps (phone, watch) when you aren’t sure where you are, verify where you think you are with them regularly, before you aren’t sure!
    5. I’ve put myself in some silly situations not knowing how to plan a winter outing bearing in mind weather and avalanche risk! Been lucky so far, make better choices in future!

    Bonus: I need new gloves. ?

    #PCT2020 #failingtoprepareispreparingtofail #ScottishWinter #Winter

  • What is the Pacific Crest Trail?

    What is the Pacific Crest Trail?

    The PCT is a national trail in the USA which stretches 2650 miles between the Mexico and Canada borders. On average it takes about 5 to 6 months to hike and mid April is considered peak time to set off from the southern terminus, heading north. If you are hiking south from the northern terminus (the less popular option), due to weather differences between southern California and Washington, a later start is more common.

    There are a whole host of other resources available online that will tell you all about the PCT, I won’t regurgitate it all here!

    A few fun facts

    Altitude Gain: 489,418 ft
    Altitude Loss: 488,411 ft
    Highest Point: 13,153 ft (Forrester Pass)
    States: 3; California, Oregon, Washington
    National Forests: 25
    National Parks: 7
    Steps: ~6,000,000 ?!
    Bear Sighting: 73% chance
    Rattlesnake Sighting: 92% chance

    Links to other info

    The PCT Association – all the information you could wish for!

    Halfway Anywhere 2019 PCT Survey – Interesting stats from 2019 thru-hikers of the PCT (and past years), not to mention other great info and resources.

    Map!

    Here is a fun illustrated map of the PCT by Nate Padavick who very kindly said I could use his work here. Check out his site for more loveliness!

    Fun Illustrated map of the PCT by Nate Padavick – check out his site!

    See you on the trail…

    #PCT #PCT2020 #thruhiking #adventure