Shelter

My shelter system consists of the following items:

Sleeping Bag

Pharaoh DF
Temperature: 25F or -7C
Material: 850 fill Down
Weight: 1285g

Tarp


Silponcho Tarp

254g, Seam sealed, doubles as a poncho.

Bivy


Snugpak Bivy

316g, Second protection against weather, I can use it by itself to see the sky on clear nights.

Sleeping Pad


Z-lite Small
264g, closed cell

Ground Sheet


Nylon 160 g


Pegs


4 MEC Millenium aluminum pegs (10g each)

Rope


550 Paracord 160g (doubles as survival/emergency rope)

DTTZ6RDC9Z7B

Photos of the Canadian Rockies

Photos of the Canadian Rockies

ICEtrekkers Diamond Grip

The ICEtrekkers Diamond Grip ($40) were one of the most useful pieces of gear I tested on my last trip. They are comfortable under asphalt and work very good on mixed terrain (rocks/ice). They provide great grip and they weight only 311 grams. They seem to be well built. It's the second pair I buy because I lost one of them. I highly recommend them for occasional hiking in slippery surfaces. They are going to be perfect for my thru-hike.

They fit running shoes perfectly but remember to buy the proper size for you shoes.

Build the Perfect Survival Kit

"Build the Perfect Survival Kit" by John D. McCann $10

It is a very good and complete book about all kinds of survival kits from the altoids-can size to truck sized and everything in between. The author reviews different products and recommends specific gear. If you are building a survival kit, you should read it.

Barrier Lake lookout

The best view of my last trip in the Trans Canada Trail

Silponcho

I bought a Silponcho tarp from MEC (73$ CAD) as main shelter for my PCT thru-hike. It is a tarp and a poncho. It is super versatile. It has 12 points of attachment. Its design is very clever. There is a review here. I'm excited to test it.

Weight	250g
Fabric	30-denier nylon
Attachment Type	Nylon tabs
Waterproof Treatment	Silicone-impregnated
Dimensions	2.4 x 1.5m
Packed Size	15 cm x 8cm
Seam Taped	No, but comes with a sealer for you to do it
Stuff Sack	Yes

It comes with a silicone seam sealer for the hood.

First Training Hike: Trans Canada Trail

To test my gear and my endurance, I recently hiked a segment of the Trans Canada Trail.

I hiked from Bragg Creek to Canmore. It was very difficult because I didn't take snowshoes. It was a training hike, so it had to be hard.

The Trans Canada Trail is beautiful.

I learned a lot about navigation in winter and its importance. I lost the trail 3 times in 5 days. It is not well marked for winter. When navigating in winter, you need to pay attention to every landmark that you can recognize on a map. The trail is easy to loose, the aren't many markers. The snow covers everything, and animal tracks can mislead you. I learned to observe the trees; they have no branches if they are bordering the trail. Whenever I lost the trail I just wondered where would I go if I were the trail. Often the lack of branches on the side of a tree indicated that the trail passed at its side.

Next year I'll try to get the Trans Canada Trail to sponsor me to thoroughly mark the trail. I know where marks are needed.

PCT permit

I'm excited because I received my PCT permit (http://www.pcta.org//planning/before_trip/permits/thru_permit_form.html)

For protection, I taped both sides of the permit with scotch.

The Pacific Crest Trail maps are ready!

I finished trimming the edges to be able to fit them inside Ziploc bags.

The maps alone weight 952 grams! Now I need to divide them for the trip.

You can get the free maps at: http://www.pctmap.net/