Making My List and Checking It Twice

I've made my list and I'm checking it twice ... wait a minute it's not Christmas.  It may not be Christmas but it is just a few days away from hitting the trail.  When planning for our trip I had my own gear list in mind but my gear is specific to Alaska backpacking.  Is backpacking different in the lower 48?  The answer to that is YES, but not by much.  

Alaskan Bear on the Prow

For example, in the lower 48 there is concern about ticks, snakes, and bears.  Of course, we have bears in Alaska too but generally hanging food bags are not a concern.  On our trails there are bear boxes to put your smelly items in.  To be prepared I will be bringing the necessary items to hang our food.  

PCT Bear Bag Hanging Method

Just so Alaska and I won't forget anything I made us a gear list. Since we are hiking together some of the items that would normally be carried by just one we were able to split and not duplicate. For example, Alaska is in charge of the cook stove and water filter, I'm responsible for the tent. Below is our list.  You can see that I have put in notes as to those things we didn't want to duplicate and who would be responsible for it.  Also reading through our list you see that I am thorough, I included our Mail Drop Supply List and our Route To Do's.

This is a long list and you are probably saying, "No way" you can't fit that all in a pack and it be under 100 lbs.  I have to disagree and I will show you how I organize and make it all fit in my pack.  All of these items can be separated into 2 major categories; the Essentials and the Almost Essentials.  

Essentials: tent, sleeping bag, pad, backpack, clothing, footwear, water, guides/maps, stuff sacks, hygiene, and first aid.  Everything else on the list are almost essentials.  Here is what is looks like in stuff sacks.   

This first picture features my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, tent poles, and my beloved pillow.   

This group includes my hygiene items, clothes, hiker goo for my feet, bug net, 

head lamp, and first aid kit.

  

Finally is my camp shoes and water bottles

Believe it or not I stacked in all into my bag and here is the final product.

Packed and ready to go! Almost.  I discovered when I did one final gear check I was missing a trekking pole.  So off to REI to get new trekking poles.  Even though they are on the Almost Essential list I wouldn't do the trip without them. What's the total weight you maybe asking? Well according to my scale, 35 lbs.  I will report the official weight when we check into the airport and you can check out the pic on Instagram - Trail Gals.