AT-> PCT Gear Transition

[dudeijuststarted]

I'm planning for a 2017 PCT Thru Hike. I ask the PCT experts: Which of the following gear will NOT be advisable on the PCT?

- ULA Circuit
- Marmot Flathead 25 Degree Down Sleeping Bag w/ liner
- Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
- MSR Windboiler Stove

This is basically my AT gear and I don't mind carrying it again, but don't want to die from having the wrong shelter in the desert / Sierras and haven't quite figured out where a bear canister is recommended / required. Trying to save money and use what I already own. Any / all advice is much appreciated.

Fusion

[Dogwood]

If you did the AT already lots of cross over gear can be used. Kits and hiking style/philosophy, which go together, are personal choices; I see nothing in your list that stands out as a definite no go. I'm sure you'll get plenty of opinions though. One of, if not the best most comprehensive TC trail prep guides sold at a very reasonable price, especially considering the amount of pertinent well researched often updated info they contain, written by a very experienced multi TC LD hiker are Yogi's Guidebooks. IMO, Yogi sets the highest standard for TC prep Guidebooks. For a more terse Down and Dirty PCT Guide info check out Mags PCT info. Really no need to rehash what has been opined more times than can be recalled.

[SCRUB HIKER]

Sounds good to me. A Circuit can hold a bear canister, and a 25-degree bag + liner + full shelter like the Fly Creek will cover you for the whole trail on a normal-ish schedule. Can't comment on the stove but if it boils water and isn't an alcohol stove it'll be good (alcohol stoves sometimes fall under campfire bans).

One area you might want to consider getting new gear, depending on what you carried on the AT, is clothing, because you want to have your skin covered as much as possible in the hot direct desert heat of California. On the AT you can hike in a pair of compression shorts and nothing else all summer but you'd turn into a human tortilla chip if you did that on the PCT. I wore shorts compared to long pants and I was fine, but if you look at pictures of PCT thru-hikers you'll notice lots of long-sleeve button-down shirts and hats that shade the neck, and there's a reason for that ...

What almost everyone does with bear canisters is gets them shipped to Kennedy Meadows (mile 702) even though they're not technically required until 40 miles later. Then they send them home, or back to wherever they rented them from, when they get to either Sonora Pass (mile 1018, town of Bridgeport or the northern Kennedy Meadows resort) or Echo Lake (1094, town of South Lake Tahoe or the PO at Echo Lake) (I'm using mileages from my hike, they might have changed a little by now).

As Dogwood suggested, Yogi's guide is pretty useful for answering planning questions and also being a solid town directory / secret water source pointer-outer. Some blowhard named Scrub is all over that book (I like that I'm referred to as a "PCT Legend and Veteran" in that link).

[Dogwood]

Some blowhard named Scrub is all over that book (I like that I'm referred to as a "PCT Legend and Veteran" in that link).

LOL. Ohh, so you're that blowhard Scrub.

[dudeijuststarted]

Some blowhard named Scrub is all over that book (I like that I'm referred to as a "PCT Legend and Veteran" in that link).

(....I think I found the right forum)

I received Yogi's guide this week. It only took a day to arrive and has Jackie's name on the shipping label. Respect to that. I live in the SF valley and should be able to test out desert-ish gear around the foothills in the coming year. Stopped by Tahoe on my move out here, didn't know the PCT ran through it so that was a pleasant surprise.

Excellent advice from the both of you, thanks alot.

[Miner]

I live in the SF valley and should be able to test out desert-ish gear around the foothills in the coming year. Stopped by Tahoe on my move out here, didn't know the PCT ran through it so that was a pleasant surprise.

Tahoe is a great area to hike in. Consider hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail after the PCT. Trails don't get any easier then a true loop where you finish where you started. So are you in Florida now or you just moved from there?

Back to the OP question, I used a Circuit and found it too big for my gear most of the trail and thought about swapping for my smaller back at Tahoe, but ended up carrying it the whole way. It fits a bear can and can carry a lot of water. Any stove can work, just make sure it doesn't shoot flames out the side as many spots along the PCT are a tinderbox waiting to go up. Though not the lightest sleeping system, as long as your sleeping system can handle 20F, your good for the whole trail. When I did thru-hiked the PCT, I had a low in the low 20's in N.Washington with a significant wind adding to it. I was recently camping in the Sierra Nevada along the PCT over this past Labor day weekend and had a low of 25F; but I had accidentally brought my 40F quilt. With clothing and some creative usage of gear, I never was cold enough I couldn't fall asleep, though I did re-shift every drop of the down to the very top every time I got up to answer nature's call. Despite surviving, I really wished I had my 20F quilt. A SUL hiker I know, once told me I was doing it wrong if I didn't sleep with all my clothes most nights and didn't have to do crunches in my sleeping bag to generate warmth at least one night on a trip. Apparently, I did it right that trip. I hope to go back to doing it wrong for future trips.

My own personal claim to fame was I use to be in Yogi's book before I was booted in favor of Scrub Hiker.

[lonehiker]

I'm planning for a 2017 PCT Thru Hike. I ask the PCT experts: Which of the following gear will NOT be advisable on the PCT?

- ULA Circuit
- Marmot Flathead 25 Degree Down Sleeping Bag w/ liner
- Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2
- MSR Windboiler Stove

This is basically my AT gear and I don't mind carrying it again, but don't want to die from having the wrong shelter in the desert / Sierras and haven't quite figured out where a bear canister is recommended / required. Trying to save money and use what I already own. Any / all advice is much appreciated.

Fusion

All the gear on that list will work just fine on the PCT.

[fiddlehead]

A few thoughts on the gear for PCT:
It rarely rains in southern california. So, you don't even need a ten. Perhaps some plastic or cuban for emergencies.
But it might be cold, so keep the good bag. (San Jacinto, Baden Powell)
Same with raingear, just have some lightweight garbage bag or something similar.

You DO want to have a hat of somekind as there is little shade.
Maybe sunscreen too.

Once you hit Kennedy meadows though, you should probably have: a tarptent or tent, rainjacket, ice ax (dependent on year's snow level of course), (pays to know how to use one), maybe slightly heavier long johns, glacier glasses (?), and maybe GPS if heavy snow year with the trail on there. Bear canister.

Good luck and have fun.
It's a great trail.

[Team Pancho]

Looks good to me 8)