I finally received my backpack, pack cover and sleeping bag yesterday from ULA. The ladies at the postoffice know me by name now and curiously handed me the large but light box with my gear inside.

I carefully opened the box, without scissors this time (I almost put a hole in my tent) and took out the contents one by one. The sleeping bag is black despite the shiny silver version on the website, the pack cover blue, and my Catalyst the traditional green.

The backpack was packed flat at the bottom of the box and was so stiff I thought there had to be a piece of cardboard inside holding its shape. When I looked inside I realised the stiffness was actually two pieces of foam inside the back panel, which after searching a few forums discovered is in fact the frame.

Before

There are two mental stays (rods) in the foam to strengthen the frame and that’s basically it. What I didn’t like was the squareness of it all. When I put the pack on I had this big wide flat bit above my head which seemed unnecessary.

In a very non Rozanne fashion I took scissors to my brand new pack and trimmed the sides of the foam. It’s a small change but to me it’s made all the difference.

After

With a little over a month until I head off to Vancouver, Sarah advised I should get myself a second pair of shoes to start wearing in. Sarah only went through two pairs of shoes on her 2004 PCT hike, however I’ve heard different accounts from people going through 6-8 pairs over the 5 months. Today I went to the store where I purchased my first pair of Salomons online and actually tried on a different pair this time, another full size bigger than the ones I have.

New Salomon XR Crossmax 1 Vs Old Salomon XT Wings 2

The guy in the store wasn’t able to articulate what the major difference between the two shoes is, however for me the obvious advantages are the bigger size (UK 7.5 Vs UK 6.5), more toe room, seems slightly lighter and more breathable, and I’ll blend in when hiking through fluorescent grass and shrubbery.

I also went back to Krapmandu yesterday to spend the $170 odd I still had of store credit. I bought the most lame and inconsequential items I could, knowing that the quality and price are both questionable at best. Even with a 40% discount for being a Summit Club member I spent $145 on an ugly bucket hat, four stuff sacks of varying colour and size, wind and water resistant gloves, a nail clipper tool with a few extra gadgets and a waterproof passport holder. $145 with a 40% discount!!! The guy at the store was super nice though, I went in like a woman on a mission with a long list and a ‘let’s make this quick and painless attitude’. I still have $28.35 to spend there, perhaps on another stuff sack should I require it.

New items from Kathmandu.

And last but not least I got a full refund on my Aarn backpack – thank you Ben! My new backpack is waiting for me at the postoffice but sadly I have to wait until Monday to collect it!!

Today I took my beloved tent to be seam sealed by Franco from Tarptent. In addition to a personal setup demo, Franco also shared some of his hiking know-how from years exploring trails all over the world including some sections of the PCT.

I was madly typing notes on my iPhone as he spoke, realising how little I know about snow, bears, tents, stoves, tying knots, and long distance hiking in general. His knowledge inspired and frightened me. Part of the reason I’m not going to the kick off weekend is to get a head start of the pack, but also to avoid the mania of gear talk, snow hype and hundreds of seasoned hikers sharing seasoned hiker wisdom.

These were the notes I took:

– 15kg of weight on the end ropes (can also substitute for the stakes at each end of the tent)

– bright ties on zippers (helps you to locate the zips quickly and in the dark)

– chux (to wipe down the bottom of the tent and for condensation – plus Franco uses them to wipe himself down at the end of the day and as a towel)

– Stove: – uses 55ml of alcohol (metho) a day. Caldera Cone from Trail Design. Get a Caddy with it (no idea what this is) and a side winder?

He also talked up the Neo Air sleeping mat, told me that baking soda doubles as toothpaste and mosquito bite ointment, and to add extra virgin olive oil to soup or hot chocolate for added calories.

ULA Circuit

In addition to the 14 tents Franco owns, he also had a ULA Circuit backpack inside which I got to try on. I was surprised at how small it actually looked and decided that my gut instinct of buying the slightly bigger Catalyst version was right. I have since purchased the ULA Catalyst, pack cover and down sleeping bag from the ULA website this evening. Despite the insane shipping cost ($72.10) I’m feeling good about the purchase, especially since I saved $55 on the sleeping bag anyhow.

I now need to make some decisions on what cooking device I want to take. I told him I was considering a Jetboil, which he did in fact own, however he did recommend the Caldera Cone alcohol stoves. Apparently you save weight as you use up the fuel in contrast to the Jetboil. Mind you this comes from a man who knows how many grams 55ml of metho weighs, who only carries about a litre of water if he knows there’s a source close by and who uses chux wipes as a towel!

Caldera Stove

The homemade piece of foil is used to extinguish the flame and tip the excess fuel back into its bottle.

I hit an all time equipment low today after letting my old friend from the backpacking store talk me into purchasing a 47L pack for the PCT. The only thing more ludicrous than this is the fact I actually thought it would work. There are two major things wrong with this pack: 1. I couldn’t even fit my gear for the weekend in it, let alone food for 7 days, a bear canister, stove, tent etc etc. The second thing wrong are the front pockets. No only do they look absurd, they actually push against my chest which I could barely stand after walking with it for 5 minutes.

The 47L Aarn pack in question.

The only thing worse than buying the wrong pack, is not getting refunded for the pack. Oh sure I’ll get $370 worth of store credits. Just add them to the $150 store credits I have at Kathmandu. I’m going to start my own store selling credits to these places. I may just need to spend the week outside the store, offering to purchase people’s gear for them at a slightly discounted rate. It’s honestly ridiculous. So much for buying cheaper gear in the US. I’m now locked into purchasing substandard gear that’s made in China for about 5 times the price. Alas, anyone in the market for a 47L backpack?