Cam Honan | Machu Picchu | Peru, 1996
With all the hullabaloo in the hiking community about Cheryl Strayed’s memoir, I couldn’t resist sneaking in at least one post with “Wild” in the title. 😉
Truth be told, this list is just a fun exercise to see how much my equipment changed between my two trips to Peru (1996 and 2014). The only connection to Ms. Strayed’s book is the fact that it was compiled in 1996, the same year that she did her section hike of the PCT.
In the 18 years between visits to the Peruvian Andes, my base pack weight dropped from 12.5 kg (27.4 lbs) to 4.79 kg (10.55 lbs)……….the equivalent of 2 gallons of water or 146 Snickers Bars!
(Note: This gear list was put together through a combination of old journal entries and memory).
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That was fun. My Big Three once weighed 17 pounds. When discussing getting lite with people whose entire base weight has never been 17 pounds we often have different frames of reference.
Very true. I think having carried a heavy back for an extended period, gives you a heightened appreciation of just how good it feels (physically & mentally) to carry a much lighter one.
I’d be interested to see Sheet 2, i.e. a list of what’s in your pack to get it down to 4.79 kgs. Impressively light! I’m about to walk 630 miles with a full pack, I’d be a happy gal if I could get mine down to 4.79!
Here’s a link to my 2014 Peruvian Andes gear list:
http://www.thehikinglife.com/journal/2014/11/cordillera-blanca-traverse-cbt-gear-list-peru-2014/
Best of luck on your upcoming hike!
Thanks for the link Cam. I’ll try to get mine down from its current 37 pounds / 17 kgs!! Though in the past a lot of that weight has been food and water on extended hikes with no access to either. I’m interested in how you find the quilt vs sleeping bag. I am *always* cold and whilst I love the idea of a lightweight quilt, I’m concerned about switching that for my very heavy sleeping bag. How do you find it warmth-wise?
If you get a quality quilt that suits your size, I think the difference in warmth is negligible. Check out the following link regarding why I generally prefer quilts:
http://www.thehikinglife.com/journal/2014/12/sleeping-bags-vs-quilts/
Thanks Cam, that’s really helpful. I think I’ll let my husband do the switch first and steal it on a cold night to test it out! Would love a lighter pack, carrying too much weight does make you miserable. But a cold night with no sleep makes me even more miserable! You have a great site, so much good stuff and info, love your glissade on PCT. I remember my first glissade, like you, I laughed like a child all the way down! It’s at 4.00 minutes into the video link on this page: http://multicolouredplanet.com/Grundlefly/Climbing_Mount_Lassen
Don’t watch the rest of the video or you’ll see this scared-of-heights girly climbing 10,000ft and shaking like a leaf all the way to the top! Happy hiking and thanks again! Gilly
I feel so much better after this post. I also hiked The Inca Trail in the 90’s (1995) and recently with my son in 2019. My base pack weight went from 5 lbs to 4 lbs over those 24 years, so I obviously knew how to pack UL back then as well. The difference was that my first porter was even fitter than my last one:)