Journey to the PCT: Gear Decisions & Logistics

Over the past two weeks, my PCT prep has fallen into two main buckets: dialing in gear and rethinking where my husband might join me on the trail. Let’s get into it!

On the logistics front, we’ve made a bit of a pivot. In my last update, I mentioned that he might hike the first ~80 miles with me. After looking at the route more closely, we realized that section isn’t actually the most exciting stretch of the Washington PCT. So now we’re exploring a different plan: having him join for what’s considered one of the most beautiful sections in Washington, a ~65-mile stretch between Trout Lake and White Pass through the Goat Rocks Wilderness. The catch is that it’s a point-to-point hike, and both ends are in fairly remote areas. Trout Lake is about 1.5 hours from Portland, and White Pass is… kind of in the middle of nowhere.

Right now, the leading option is a shuttle service that would allow him to leave his car at one end and get a ride to the other. We’ve also looked into coordinating with “Trail Angels” (a network of generous hikers who help with rides), but that requires a bit more coordination and flexibility. If that falls through, we have a backup plan. Instead of joining mid-trail, he could meet me at the very end. Since you can’t technically cross into Canada on the PCT anymore, the final stretch becomes a 60-mile out-and-back from Hart’s Pass. This approach would not require any car movement or transfers, plus then we are only a few hours drive from home back in Vancouver.

There really seems to be a missed opportunity here in North America for a point to point car transfer service. When we hiked the Routeburn Trek in New Zealand in 2018, we used something like this: we picked up a lockbox in Queenstown, and then we left our key in it attached to the car on one end. We then hiked for 4 days and when we emerged from the woods, there was our rental car – voila! Someone had come and moved it for us so we didn’t have to hassle. Maybe not enough people do the PCT to justify this kind of service but honestly, I would be willing to do WAY more point to point hikes if it existed here.

The other major focus lately has been gear: specifically, coming to terms with the fact that I probably need to upgrade a lot of mine. I went to MEC to try things on and get a feel for what’s out there right now, and I’ve also been keeping an eye on seasonal sales. While summer backpacking gear is not on sale (and won’t be probably until the fall), winter layers are on discount and brands like Smartwool are having solid sales. I ended up picking up some new base layers and a couple of jackets, focusing on pieces that are warm, wind-resistant, but still breathable enough to hike in. We’ll see if I keep them for the season!

I’ve never paid much attention to materials before, but I’m finally understanding why people obsess over this stuff. Cotton might be comfortable, but “cotton kills” is a saying for a reason. For this kind of trip, it really does matter to invest in materials that dry quickly, regulate temperature, and hold up over time. Am I finally becoming a gear geek? Yikes.

Alongside that, I’ve been doing a full audit of my current setup. I weighed everything, and my base weight for tent/sleeping bag/pad and bag is sitting around 13–14 pounds. Not terrible, but definitely room for improvement. I think I’d like to get it down to 10 because I like to carry a lot of water and because I’m hiking solo, will need a lot of food for a week at a time. The biggest opportunities are pretty clear. My tent could be swapped to save a pound or two. My sleeping bag is overdue for an upgrade anyway (it’s been spilling down feathers on me for years) and from there I could shave off another pound and a half. But the biggest question mark is my backpack.

Right now, I’m using a 70L pack that weighs about six pounds. For this kind of trip, that’s… a lot. Many ultralight packs come in under two pounds, which means I could potentially drop four pounds just by upgrading that one piece of gear. And four pounds, when you’re carrying everything on your back for days on end, is not nothing.

I’ve resisted going “all in” on premium gear for years. I’ve always been more of a “use what you have” and “comfort over weight” kind of backpacker, especially for shorter trips. But for weeks and weeks of hiking I think it’s time to rip the bandaid off. And the truth is, I haven’t replaced most of my gear in over a decade. The technology has changed, my experience level has changed, and the way I approach these kinds of trips has changed too. So this feels like the right moment to invest: not just for this hike, but for many years of trips to come.

Beyond that, I’ve been doing the less visible prep work: joining PCT Facebook groups, reading through gear lists, talking to other hikers, and starting to line up logistics for the West Coast Trail—things like ferries and shuttles that need to be booked in advance. And with a busy month of travel ahead, I’m glad I’ve made some progress now, because I have a feeling the next time I check in, things are going to start feeling very real.