PCT can be done with a SUL setup comfortably if you take advantage of the dry season. If you start late and cover less mileage than average (like myself), it can get pretty miserable as you are finishing up the trail. I never finished the PCT and I would say that getting the logistics down would make the difference between a thru-hike and a section-hike. The temperature varies quite a bit going from very hot and shadeless areas to below freezing temperatures up in Washington.

In "Yogi's PCT Handbook" Warner Springs Monty talks about it. At the time he had done 14,000 miles and the PCT under 5 lbs. He says it worked but "was a great circus act" and he was often cold. On a subsequent thru-hike his base weight was closer to 9 pounds. He said "the extreme comfort even compared to the the warmth and comfort of a heavy system was incredible."

Needless to say, SUL is only for those with sufficient experience and the cost/benefits of SUL related to overall comfort won't pan out for most thru-hikers.

while I think it could be done (has been done), I think for most folks adding a couple of pounds to that 5# base weight would make for a much more comfortable and safe thru hike)

IF I had to do a thru on 5#'s- I'd probably start w/ a Katabatic Pallisade quilt (17 oz) on top of a GG night light and 1/8"' thinlight (my back hurts just thinking about it :)- (6oz), a cuben solo trailstar over top (9 oz w/ guys/stakes), polycro ground cloth (1 oz), ti pot/esbit stove/spoon/water bottles (5 oz), misc (1st aid, maps, toiletries, etc) (4 oz), clothing - exlight jacket, xtra socks, hat/gloves, rain jacket (18 oz), all in a slightly worked over Ohm (20 oz) - 5#

if I were to actually plan for a thru hike I'm sure it would be much closer to 8#'s :)

One thing not mentioned about many thru-hikes is the frequency of in town supplies. Often once every 5-7 days. If one were re-supply less often, lets say every 14 days, a more robust pack would probably be used by most, and SUL is thrown out the window.

To me, frequent trips into towns changes the aura of a hike. Not saying it is good or bad, or to minimize a thru hike of the long trails, but it is a different type of hike.

I'd love to go SUL, but my toiletries would hold me back, and I'm not giving those up. As others have kind of been saying, it helps to be fast since that means having to carry less food, water, and other consumables, thus needing less of a pack to carry it all.

I think the PCT would be possible with SUL load but it really comes down to timing and weather. You don't have as much of a margin as you do with presumably more insulation / better rain gear.

Francis Tapon yo-yo'd the CDT and his pack was in the six to seven pound range. And that was several years ago. His gear list is here.

I am sure it can be done but I do agree with the other posters. Nick made a good point about the nature of a thru hike. It would be very different if you needed only to resupply once every two weeks. The food weight would be much heavier and the loss of town stops could be viewed either as a blessing or a curse, depending on how much you enjoy the foray into town.

Dirk

Edited by dirk9827 on 10/10/2011 23:45:08 MDT.

I think a few people come close to SUL on the PCT, but in all honesty, it's not really necessary.

First of all, you end up carrying a lot of water in So Cal so even if your packweight is really low, you don't feel it that much. You can shave your water carried from 12lbs to 6lbs with a little effort toward optimized water management. Yeah, I know if you have 6lbs of water on top of only 5lbs of gear that's even better, but after a point, you really don't notice, which leads to the next point...

Secondly, you end up getting so strong it hardly matters anymore. A long hike becomes your life and you become so strong it doesn't penalize you to add extra things to improve your life.

I added soap and shampoo so that when I got anywhere with a shower I could wash up, including any campgrounds on the trail I wasn't planning to stay at. This also meant carrying a few quarters (gasp!).

I added a skirt to wear in town because I learned quickly enough that it really sucks to have nothing at all to wear while your clothes are in the wash. I had to fashion an outfit from my bivy sack and windbreaker before I started carrying a skirt. That's fine if I'm going to sit in the laundromat, but what if I want to do some shopping while my clothes are washing?

The skirt was nice because I could wear it over my pants and keep vicious mosquitoes from biting my knees and butt.

I also added an extra large can of deet. Vicious mosquitoes deserve a complete fogging of my whole body, not a wimpy little smear.

I also added a cotton T-shirt. Cotton works great in summer. It also keeps vicious mosquitoes from biting my shoulders. Cotton t-shirts are easy to find in an emergency, which is how I came to obtain mine. (A mosquito emergency.)

I added a paperback book. When you're alone, having something to read at the end of the day really improves your morale.

I carried a musical instrument. I think if I did it again, I'd carry a different, much heavier musical instrument. Something quieter to help pass the time and make me take longer rests.

"Secondly, you end up getting so strong it hardly matters anymore. A long hike becomes your life and you become so strong it doesn't penalize you to add extra things to improve your life."

Well said Piper.

I haven't done a thru-hike, but cycling through Europe recently (after crossing Australian and most of Africa), Stephen and I started to add some things to our panniers. Our time schedule was more relaxed, and we were so rediculously fit that adding a little bit of weight really didn't matter. We both had an extra shirt and shorts and shoes (rather than just our cycling boots and thongs), and we often had a couple of books each, and splurged on fresh food items. It made the trip a lot more enjoyable. Sure we could have gone SUL on the trikes but we only had to average 70-90km per day through Europe so there was no point, we wouldn't have gained much enjoyment from being SUL, especially as we are kind of masochists and if our load was that light we'd be champing at the bit after only 70-90km in a day (and we still were most days!).

However, if the goal was some kind of record, then SUL it would be for sure.

@Clint: 1.4lbs per day is a little light when considering consecutive days a thru-hiker puts in. The appetite increase dramatically, 2 to 2.5 lbs of food a day could be consumed and certain individuals would still be hungry, considering the miles per day some put in. That works out to an extra 6 to 11 lbs of food for that same 10 day stretch

I had a 5lb base weight when I got rid of my cold weather stuff this last april when I was doing the A.T.... While having such a light pack was nice, I soon realized that adding a few pounds of comfort made the trip much more enjoyable, and 8lbs instead of 5lbs isn't really a big deal... unless of course your trying to break some speed record or something and every ounce truly does count... but for doing 20 or 30 mile days it didn't matter.