We knew a lot about preparing for and undertaking short-term (less than 2 week) backpacking trips before we set out on the PCT. But, we quickly learned many more tricks that made life as thru-hikers easier for us. Here are some of our favorite “hacks” from the PCT. They apply to wilderness trips in general.
Use Talenti sorbet jars for cold soaking:
Cold-soaked couscous for lunch 
Overnight oats for breakfast
Light, durable, and practically free.
Use plastic bags for waterproofing:
Garbage bags work great for sleeping pads, dog poop bags work great for hands, Ziploc bags work great for electronics. When the weather turned rainy in Washington, we looked for easy to find, cheap, and lightweight options to keep ourselves and our belongings dry.
Store tent, footprint, & rainfly separately during periods of rain:
When we had two rainy weeks in Washington, we quickly learned to store our tent, footprint, and rainfly separately while hiking. One morning we rolled the three together after a rainy night. That night we realized that our soaking-wet rainfly got our tent wet. We have Therm-a-Rest Z-lite sleeping pads, which are foam and soak up water. It was really important for us to keep our tent dry in order to keep our sleeping pads dry in order to keep our sleeping bags dry.
After that, we kept our tent in a gallon-sized Ziplock bag to keep it as dry as possible while hiking. We kept our somewhat-dry footprint in a dog poop bag because that’s what we had on hand. We rolled our wet rainfly and poles together, put them in the tent bag, and kept them on the outside of Tim’s pack, so they wouldn’t get anything else wet.
When in doubt, leave it out:
This became our motto on the PCT. It is better to be slightly under-prepared 10% of the time (e.g. a little bit wet on a rainy day in the desert) than over-prepared 90% of the time (e.g. carrying a book you never read).
There’s always room for whiskey:
“When in doubt, leave it out” doesn’t apply to alcohol.
Wear dry clothes or pajamas at night to stay warm:
When it gets cold, moisture is your enemy. Despite keeping our weights as low as possible, we liked to carry base layers for sleeping. On cold nights these kept us warm, on hot nights they captured some of the moisture that would have otherwise made our sleeping bags filthy quicker. (Side note: Renee’s trail name “Blue Man” came from her bright blue base layer)
Sewing is easier and cheaper than replacing when there are no stores around:
Tim was either really fat, or he needed to use a sit-pad, but whatever the cause he had never-ending troubles forming holes in his pants. Also, his shoes kept ripping to shreds. By the end of the trail, he had become a sewing expert.
Fanny packs:
They fit everything — Snacks, phone, credit card, whatever you may need. And they look pretty cool too!
