My PCT Gear list
This is my gear list: https://lighterpack.com/r/ozo11d
Base weight was just over 8kg, which seems ok, but. You add 4 liters of water for the desert. Then a couple kg of food.
At some point my pack weight was 17kg, and if you think that’s not that much, think going uphill in 50 degrees Celsius when you yourself weigh 48kg. It’s not healthy.
Anyway, here is a picture of what my monster bag looked like at it’s worst. At some point in Mammoth, having packed it and realised it’s almost reached my height, I said I won’t go anywhere with a pack this big. So I stayed another zero day, threw away some of my stuff, cut my hair (don’t know why, it just made me feel lighter :D) and left the next day feeling much better.
The things I got rid of:
Pants - I really didn’t wear them that much. Shorts were enough.
Cork ball - it doesn’t weigh much, but it adds bulk.
Fairy lights - this was the thing I regretted most. But at that time it had to be done.
Kindle - I was too tired to read in the evenings. I could barely make it through 10 pages without falling asleep. So I decided phone is enough + switched to e-books that I could listen while I walked - life changer!
Shampoo bar - i didn’t want liquids to spill in my bag so I opted for a bar, but that was a mistake - it would never dry and just make a mess out of a zip lock. In the end I didn’t carry anything - motels either had shampoos or we just bought a big one to share every time in town. Or found one in a hiker box.
River crossing/camping shoes - did not work. Too complicated as camp shoes and the year was just to dry for rivers to exist. Took simple sandals on my next thru-hike and it worked much better. Crossed rivers in hiking shoes.
Rope for hanging a food sack - I transformed it into a small laundry line inside my tent. For the clothes to “air” or dry.
T-shirt - it was a “town” hemp t-shit. I gave it away together with pants to another hiker who needed them. Just as pants - didn’t really wear it that much.
As for the rest of stuff - I do think they are pretty essential. They just weren’t the lightest on the market, so it all depends on our budget.