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Gear Review - Clothing

According to the PCTA, the Pacific Crest Trail travels through three national monuments, five state parks, seven national parks, 24 national forests and 47 wilderness areas. It traverses deserts, forests, mountains, and snow. You reach an elevation of 13,153 feet at Forester Pass and go nearly to sea level at Cascade Locks. Temperatures on the trip will range from 0°-110° Fahrenheit and include everything from scalding heat to downpours to a couple feet of snow. And, lest we forget, swarms of mosquitos and wind storms make regular appearances. One's clothing is, thus, incredibly important. Here's what I had for the duration of the trail.

Daily

Everything here is highly recommended. The Hiking Shirts and Pants are designed to be lightweight, dry quickly, protect you from the sun and mosquitos, and provide airflow in the desert. By Oregon the pants had worn out in the bottom, so it was replaced with just the shorts portion of an old pair of REI convertible pants. Been using the ExOfficio boxers for years both in the outdoors and when I travel, they are perfect.

Socks

I started out with SmartWool lightweight running socks and then switched to the KEEN socks when they arrived. Neither survived more than a couple weeks. Seemed like every other town stop I was trying a different brand of socks and none of them were surviving the sweat, grime, and dirt of the desert. Finally, I caved and bought two pairs of Darn Toughs. Do it. They are thicker and warmer than the lightweight socks, but they will last. I only had a single pair develop a hole and the company replaces their socks with no questions asked. Because they are thicker, they do take a while to dry, so I had four pairs through Washington (rain, rain, rain) opposed to my usual two pairs.

Insulating

Again, everything here is highly recommended. In parts of California it was too warm for my sleeping bag, so many nights I just put on my underwear and slept that way (after a Wet Wipes bath). The long underwear became my nightly wear in Oregon and Washington thanks to the colder and wetter than average conditions. Nothing like getting out of your wet hiking clothes and sliding into dry wool before bed.

The gloves were probably used only two or three times in California, so I tossed the old pair I had into a hiker box early on. However, I bought a new pair in Oregon and was grateful for them in Washington with all of the cold mornings and snow towards the end.

Rain/Snow

I started the hike with just a poncho, but thanks to our first rain storm being rather windy, I decided to get a lightweight jacket in Big Bear Lake. For Washington though, I was really grateful for my Arc'teryx jacket. I have owned (and abused) it for years and it is an excellent piece of gear. The rain pants did not join me until Washington either. Would have been nice to have them for parts of Oregon when we got drenched for a couple days, but I survived without it.

Overall

I did quite a bit of research into gear in the months before my trip and have had decades of experience in the outdoors before then. I know how my body responds to sun, heat, cold, wind, and wet quite well. Everyone is a bit different though. Amelia is so pale that she burns in no time in direct sun. I can survive in dry, cold, and wet just fine but if you combine heat and humidity you will see me wither. Do a bit of research about outdoor clothing (desert/winter, synthetics/cotton, layering) and experiment with what works for you beforehand.

Additional Links

Andrew Skurka's Clothing System in Alaska
Amelia's PCT Clothing