It starts with a plan
So maybe you haven’t heard, but I am a bit of a planner. And by that I mean I get nearly as much satisfaction planning vacations, meetups, expeditions, and other this-would-be-better-with-a-plan type of activities as I do carrying out said activities. Perhaps you’re a bit more free-flowing and whimsical—the thought of planning, scheduling, setting a budget, and communicating an itinerary is exactly the type real-world crap you’re running away from. I hear you! I know that over-planning can lead to a rigid set of rules that take away from the beauty that is often found in those serendipitous moments of unplanned joy and rawness. That said, a 5 to 6-month trip over the course of 2,600+ miles will benefit from some level of preparation and intention.
Perhaps my plan is a bit too much, and yours is scaled back. Great, if that’s the case, you do you, hike your own hike, and plan your own plan. Feel free to pick parts of my plan that will suit your needs and bury the rest of it in a cat-hole (please make sure it’s at least 50 feet away from the trail)
Let's talk gear
I’m fortunate in that over the last 12 to 15 years I’ve accumulated the majority of the gear I will need on my PCT thru-hike. This will help with both the amount of money my thru-hike will cost, as well as the decision fatigue from choosing between the hundreds of options to make my journey a success. You may be in a similar position. If so, great, you can probably skip this section. For those of you just getting started, you’ve got some choices to make.
I suggest starting out by utilizing many of the wonderful resources that already exist today regarding your gear options. There are plenty of folks who are making their living by evaluating gear, putting it through the wringer, creating wonderful content about their experience, and then pointing you in the direction of where to make the purchase—often with affiliate commissions, to be clear.
Some of my favorite gear resources are:
- Homemade Wanderlust’s Youtube Gear reviews – As of this writing, Dixie(the channel host) has over 34 videos reviewing the full gamut of hiking and backpacking gear in her Hiking Gear playlist
- The Trek’s Pacific Crest Trail gear list – A comprehensive list of 100+ items that you can filter through to do some research on your own. It’s primarily just a list, not a breakdown of each of the items and how they compare to the other items in the list.
- Darwin on the Trail – Another popular YouTuber who vlogs his thru-hiking journies and also spends time evaluating and reviewing the gear he’s used on the trail. Check out the Playlists section of his channel to see the playlists on trail-specific gear, reviews, and other lists. You can spend hours devouring this content.
My Gear for the PCT
| Gear | Cost | Note | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
|
~$360 |
This is a brand new purchase for my 2020 PCT thru-hike. I've not done a multi-night backpack with it yet, but it's extremely light (2 lb. 6 oz.) and pretty easy to setup. It has plenty of room for 1 person, but you'll be cuddling if you put 2 people inside |
37 oz. |
|
|
~$160 |
My tried & true backpack that I've used for years. It's not the lightest and I may regret not having more carrying capacity, but I'm going to give it a go |
38.6 oz. |
|
|
Sleeping Bag - Stoic 20 degree |
~$240 |
This 850-fill down sleeping bag is no longer made. I've been using it for 6+ years and it's a great combo of lightweight(31.5 oz.), packs down small, and is truly comfortable. The compression stuff sack is an additional 5oz. |
31.5 oz. |
|
Total for Big 3 |
|
|
107.1 oz / 6.69 lb |
|
Sleeping Pad - Therm-a-rest NeoAir Xlite (Short) |
~$130 |
This lightweight pad is only 3/4 of my length. I'll be using my backpack or extra clothes for the area behind my knees and feet. I have a bigger, much-comfier, pad that weighs 32oz. If I don't find myself sleeping great with this setup, I'll ask my wife to send it out. |
8 oz. |
|
Stove - BRS 3000T |
$17 |
BRS-3000T. Tiny little pocket-stove for iso-butane canisters |
1 oz. |
|
Pot - Backcountry Titanium 750 mL |
$35 |
750 mL titanium pot with collapsible handles + lid + stuff sack + spork (total is 5 oz.). My pot is no longer sold but It's basically this pot from Toaks. |
5 oz. |
|
Water filter - Sawyer Squeeze |
|
|
|
|
Headlamp - Petzl Actik |
$30 |
300 lumens with many settings and red light |
3.2 oz. (w/batteries) |
|
Water storage - Cameblak 3L reservoir |
$35 |
Cameblak 3L reservoir |
8 oz. |
I’m working more and more towards the ultra-light philosophy of hiking. What that means is I’m willing to trade in comfort, convenience, and even a small element of perceived safety in order to keep the base weight—the weight of my pack and its contents minus food & water—of my pack as light as possible in an effort to allow me to hike faster, farther, and save some wear & tear on my body.
At times I plan on hiking only with the bare essentials. This means I won’t have backups, spares, or those creature comforts of home that I often take on a shorter 2-3 backpacking trip.
The remainder of my PCT gear:
- Clothing
- Altra Lone-Peak trail runners – I’ve used hiking shoes or trail runners for the last several years, I don’t need the ankle support that boots provide
- 2 pair of Darn Tough crew-length, hiking socks
- Wigwam sock liners – helps with blisters and hot-spots
- Nike running shorts with built-in underwear liner
- Columbia Silver Ridge Lite shirt—probably a button-down long-sleeve shirt from Columbia
- Glove liners – lightweight glove to provide minimal protection from cold and chafing on the hands
- Buff – I’ve not used a lightweight buff before, but I’ve heard many people recommend them for all sorts of uses—keeping dust off the face, a rag to take a “bath”, a moist bandana to keep the head cool
- Trucker hat
- Down puffy jacket – my 10-year old First Ascent 850-fill puffy
- Rain shell – Mountain Hardwear rain shell
- Hiking gear
- Carbon Trekking poles
- Sunglasses
- Headlamp
My thru-hike budget
Identifying the needed funds, acquiring them, and then not blowing it all on hotels, eating out, and beers while in town, seems to be one of the more difficult elements to doing a thru-hike. I’ve done some research and determined the following budget should be adequate for my PCT hike. It may vary, and I may indulge in some things while on the trail that I think I can easily resist (hotels with showers, fast food, BEER!). Time will tell.
That said, I’ve broken down my spending into the following categories.
Travel – $450
- Flights to and from the trail – $450 (I’ll actually be able to use reward points instead of paying out of pocket, but this is the approx. amount for flights from Colorado to San Diego, and from Washington back to Denver.
Gear replacement – $300
- I’ll most likely need to replace my shoes twice, and possibly lose or break other gear while on trail – $300
On-trail food & lodging expenses – $2,850
- On-the-trail food is the food I’ll be eating while hiking. Through some online research, as well as previous trips, I estimate my food will be ~$5/meal. If I can average, overall, 18/miles/day including days when I don’t hike any miles—called a “Zero”—or days when I don’t hike more than a couple of miles—called a “Nearo” in hiker-speak—then I should be on the trail for ~5 months, or 150 days. 150 days * 3 meals * $5/meal = $2,250 in on-the-trail food costs.
- Restaurants & hotels. This is where each person will vary wildly from one to the next on the amount spent. I hope to keep this amount to a reasonable level by limiting how often I am exposed to the opportunity to frivolously throw away my money. If I plan on stopping in a town and splitting a hotel room every 2 weeks or so, and I’m able to keep each town trip to $20-40 by splitting a hotel costs and another $30 in restaurants, then I should average about $120 per month for this category. $120 per month * 5 months = $600 for restaurants & hotels.
Total Costs – $3,600
Most articles I’ve read on the topic say to estimate between $4,000 and $8,000 for hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. I can definitely see that. My budget might be too conservative and I may end up spending significantly more than that during my thru-hike attempt. This is my best guess without having yet stepped onto the trail. I will track my spending while I’m out and about and be posting the details of my PCT thru-hike costs here on the blog.
A plan is just your best guess, don’t make it more than that
While I truly value and appreciate having a rock-solid plan, I know that there’s only so much I’ll be able to know prior to my hike. It can become all too easy to justify spending an obscene amount of time trying to get the details completely right and to fool yourself into a belief that you can be fully prepared for your adventure. Here’s the deal, you’re never going to be fully prepared. Give yourself a reasonable chance of making your dream happen by giving it some intention and thought, but be wary of falling into the trap of analysis paralysis.
Many a procrastinator tries to get their plans perfected before putting even one foot onto the path—if this is you, Stop. You’ve done enough research, you’ve given yourself the knowledge and enough doo-dads to get out there and go; you’re smart, you will figure out the rest when you need to.
Go out there and enjoy your hike! Quit pushing it off for Someday!
What's Next?
- Look into how, when, and where to do my re-supply (food and other trail consumables)
- Snag my permits in
NovemberOctober, 29th! - Purchase food and prepare the re-supply boxes
- Get out and hike with my gear and test my systems
Comments build community!
- Are you an over-planner whose desire for perfection can lead to procrastination?
- Do you have any gear tips or suggestions?