Steve's Approximate Location

PNT - Early Planning

The new year's blues - back to work, dieting, and rain. Here in the lower mainland of BC (Vancouver), winter is marked with grey clouds, rain, some more rain and upwards of 15ft of snow on the mountains. While snow on the mountains means endless skiing and snowshoeing adventures, for a guy that loves the heat, stopping by a lake and taking in the sights (while perfectly warm) and prefers mosquitos and horseflies over cold hands and frostbite, winter puts a bit of a damper on my mood. What a perfect time to begin planning my 2016 PNT section hike.

Okay, so here are the basic bones of the plan (at this point in time):

• Hike for ~500 miles - about 30 days
• Minimize travel spending in the USA - the Loonie (Canadian dollar) is not doing so swell at the moment ($1CDN = $0.6USD)
• Hike a section of the PNT that is characterized as mostly trail - as a National Scenic Trail in it's infancy (officially) the official route of the PNT currently puts to use a good amount of forestry and municipal roads
• Select a location that both I (live in Vancouver BC) and Greg (Portland OR) can easily access (both ends)
• Select a section with some amazing views and representative of the overall trail
• Hike in July

So, the plan as of now is to hike eastbound (most hike westbound) from the intersection of the PNT and the  PCT to Bonners Ferry Idaho. This section is about 500  miles (~30days), is representative of the overall trail and is easily accessible by both Greg and I. We have penciled in July as the most appropriate time to hit the trail and have figured out access to both ends (the western end - a friend from Seattle will drop me off; Greg's wife will drop him off | the eastern end - Greg's wife will pick us both up and drop me off somewhere from which I will catch public transit back to Vancouver).

With the plan in it's early stages I have ordered a trail guide book, a data book (key mileage points), a town guide, a gps file and have downloaded maps from the PNTA website. Next steps - figure out rough mileage, resupply points, permits, and revisit my gear setup (I have ambitions to buy a leather cowboy hat for hiking - more to come). Overall, I'm getting very excited.

Gear List - September 2015

To better understand my current pack weight I recently purchased an electronic kitchen scale and weighed everything in my backpack, including my back pack. The results, informative but slightly shocking. I definitely thought I had a lower base weight (granted I included fuel in the below weights) than what I measured. Either way, a great starting point to fine-tune my gear list for next years 2016 PNT thru-hike.

My base weight (including fuel) came in at 17.7lbs* (283.3oz) or 7.5kg* (7,527.9g) without a bear canister and 20.5lbs* (327.2oz) or 8.7kg* (8,770.9g) with a bear canister.

* Note: 3.6lbs (1,622g) are associated with the backpack (includes raincover)


The total weight of gear worn measured in at 5.9lbs (94.5oz) or 2.2kg (2,176g).

Gear tables follow (yellow highlight= not carried together)

Table 1                Gear - Packed

Gear Class	Category	Manufacturer	Product Name	Weight
				Ounces	Grams
Backpack	Backpack	Boreas	Lost Coast 60 (Black)	54.5	1,545
	Pack Cover	Boreas	Pack Cover	2.7	75
Shelter	Shelter	Tarptent [Carbon Fiber Poles (5.6oz/161g), 7 DAC Pegs (2.9oz/81g), Peg Stuff Sac (0.1oz/2g), TYVEK Ground Sheet (7.3oz/207g), Tent (33.9oz/962g), Tent Stuff Sack (0.7oz/21g)	Double Rainbow	50.7	1,438
Sleeping	Sleeping Bag	Big Agnus	Lost Ranger (15) -9C Sleeping Bag System	42	1,191
	Sleeping Pad	Term-a-rest	Neoair Xlite Sleeping Pad (Unisex) – includes stuff sack	12.4	351
	Compression Sack	Outdoor Research	Ultralight Compression Sack (Unisex)	3.0	84
Clothing Packed	Hard Shell	Arc’teryx	Zeta LT Hybrid Jacket Men’s	15.5	441
	Insulated Down	Mont-bell	Superior Down Jacket Men’s (9oz/257g) and Stuff Sack (0.3oz/9g)	9.3	266
		Toque – No-name (Blue and Black)		2.2	62
	Socks	Darn Tough	Light Hiker Micro Crew Socks	20	59
	Gloves	Mec	WindStopper	1.9	55
	Leggings	PEARL iZUMi	ELITE Thermal Leg Warmer (set)	5.5	152
Cooking, Eating and Drinking	Stove	Jetboil	Sol [myset-up: Pot (4.7oz/135g), Lid (0.7oz/18g), Cozy (1oz/28g), Burner (3.6oz/102g), Fuel (Jetpower 7oz/199g), Cleaning Rag (0.5oz/16g)	17.5	498
	Spork	Snow Peak	Titanium Spork	0.6	16
	Hydration Bag	Platypus	Big Zip LP Hydration System	5.5	156
	Water Purification	Aquamira	Water Treatment Part A & B	2.5	71
		Sawayer	Squeeze Water Filtration System [includes: Sawyer Mini Filter (2.1oz/60g), Sayer Cleaning Plunger (1.2oz/33g), Sawyer Squeeze Bag (0.8oz/22g)} + Ziploc bag (0.4oz/16g)	4.6	132
	Water Bottle	Nalgene	Everyday Wide-Mouth Loop-Top Water Bottle	6.2	176
	Stuff Sack	Outdoor Research	Ultralight Ditty Sack	0.9	27
	Bear Canister	Garcia Machine	Backpacker’s Cache	44.8	1,270
Gadgets	Multi-tool	Leatherman	Micra Multi-tool	1.7	49
	Cell Phone	IPhone	5s	4.0	112
	Headphone	Apple	EarPods with remote and mic	0.3	10
	Sunglasses Stuff Sack	Ryders		0.2	7
	Portable speaker	GSI	X-mini II Collapsible Speaker	2.9	82
	Headlamp	Petzl	Tikka Plus 2 (includes 2 AAA batteries)	2.9	80
	Bug spray	Ben’s	30 Wilderness Insect Repellent Pump Spray	1.3	36.9
	First Aid Kit	DIY  - everything I need in a Ziploc bag (includes toothbrush, toothpaste and lip balm)		3.8	107
	Bug Net (Head)	Random non-name		0.7	21
	Camp shoes	Random no-name flip-flops (not thong style)		6.9	195
	Ignition	Light My Fire	Swedish FireSteel 2.0	0.9	27
	Can opener			0.2	6

Table 1                Gear – Worn/Carried

Category	Manufacturer	Product Name	Weight
			Ounces	Grams
Boots	Keen	Durand WP	42	1,191
Socks	Darn Tough	Light Hiker Micro Crew Socks	20	59
Boxers	Nike	Pro Combat	2.5	71
Top	MEC	T1 Short-Sleeved Crew (Men’s) Black	4.3	122
Bottom	Brooks	Sherpa IV Shorts 7”	4.4	125
Head Wear	Buff	Black	1.3	37
Sunglasses	Ryders	Hilroy (prescription)	0.8	23
Hiking poles	Black Diamond	Trail Ergo Cork	19.2	548