Backpacking over Prez Day

I'm going backpacking over Prez Day weekend. I hope to god it does not rain! I really want to go.

I'm so excited to be going, I just packed my stuff. I wanted to see how much my gear weighs. I'll be hiking with a local ultralight guru and I don't want to be laughed at.

I am missing my rain pants and my bivy sack since they have not yet come in the mail. But I packed my two-person tarp and bug bivy and all the rest of my gear, minus food and water. I weighed it on the bathroom scale. It's about 14lbs. Not bad, considering that 4lbs of that is my backpack.

I have asked Tony for a Gossamer Gear pack for my birthday. They are on sale. Then my pack weight will be even lower. My Osprey pack is really nice, but now that I've gotten the quantity of stuff I down to a tiny minimum, the pack is too big.

Yesterday I made an attempt to salvage my old Jannd pack. I weighed it on the bathroom scale with all my stuff in it. Only 12lbs, but the 12lbs feel awful. The problem I had hiking the PCT was never the weight of the water. It was the poor fit of the pack. It just doesn't ride right on me. No amount of ultralight will help.

I have too many sleep systems. I have a tarp, bivy, bug bivy and tent. But I want a choice to sleep outside or inside. Part of the fun of camping is the camping part and I want to make the most of it and be able to cowboy camp if I want, bugs or no.

Big luxury in my pack: sun shower. My plan for the PCT is to spend less time in hotels. Now that I'm poor, hobo showers and stealth camping will be my new way of life. I'll test it out on Prez Day. A quick shower at the end of the day might improve warmth when I sleep, too.