August 15, 2017 – When embarking on a new challenge, it can be really important to learn from those who came before us. That’s why I reached out to someone to help me with my hiking goals: Pacific Crest Trail Thru Hiker Sarah McCroy.

I love spending time outdoors, but I’m hardly a PCT expert like Sarah. She completed all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in September 2015, and continues to be an avid hiker, backpacker, backcountry skier, and trail runner. We’re also both members of The Mountaineers, an outdoor education nonprofit in Seattle, where she leads hikes and has contributed numerous blog posts about thru hiking. Her personal life motto is “never live vicariously.” I knew we would get along well before we even met.

Sarah graciously gave me an hour of her time, patiently going through my packing list. She was supportive yet firm, telling me my base weight for my pack – at 23.2 lbs. without food and water – was too much.

One thing I already knew – but that she strongly reiterated – is that the lighter your pack is, the faster you can move. With an ambitious goal of completing all 511 miles of the Washington State Pacific Crest Trail in 30 days, averaging 19 miles per day, dropping a few pounds of gear can help me move more quickly and efficiently. It also decreases the likelihood of injury, either from physically overextending or from a fall due to extra weight.

I’m grateful for Sarah’s sage advice. Based on her knowledge, I have decided to:

  • Leave the rain pants at home, knowing I may get wet but would probably get wet from sweat anyway.
  • Remove 2 carabiners and a light line for hanging stuff. I can use tree branches and bushes for drying, and Sarah convinced me that the only wildlife I need to be concerned about is rodents chewing through my pack to get at food, so I threw in many zip locks to keep it safe rather than planning to string it up high in the trees.
  • Swap out my regular first aid kit with a blister kit, drugs, and a few Band-Aids.
  • Take the top storage bag off my pack, since everything easily fits inside.
  • Forgo the luxury of a plastic cup for drinking, since I will be bringing a Jetboil stove and can drink straight from that.
  • Opt out of bringing a journal, pencil, and field first aid reference sheet. Everything can be recorded better on my phone as long as my battery-charging backup holds out.
  • Replace stuff sacks with zip locks, they’re just as effective, lighter weight, and waterproof.
  • Swap a heavy fleece jacket with light down jacket (I can’t believe I didn’t think of this).
  • Add a trowel for digging waste holes and an empty 1-liter plastic bottle to make the water filtering/hydrating process easier and as a back-up in case my hydration bladder springs a leak.
  • I also added a SPOT Gen3 GPS communications beacon so that people can now follow Courage and me on the trail.
  • Removed warm hat and gloves to start. I will have a mid-hike break at Snoqualmie Pass for two days and will re-adjust clothing choices based on the weather forecast for the Alpine Lakes and North Cascades regions at the time.

And voila! My pack is down 4 lbs.!

I could probably save another pound or so by moving to a smaller pack now that I’m carrying less stuff, but this would require a new purchase and I’m already used to and comfortable with the current pack. Old habits die hard – unless you have someone like Sarah to help you along the way!

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