I have been wanting to write down my reflections on our gear for SoCal and the changes we made, as well as what worked well.

Overall I think we started off on the right foot. We did need to make a few minor changes but I’m pretty impressed at how close we got considering SoCal is pretty atypical of our usual trips and some gear was new with limited shakedown (changes were made since we have a larger family and Secret is growing).

Packs

Our bags were suitable for SoCal. But we will be changing them for the Sierras.

My pack is a little tight on volume (40L) but I had initially bought that for a different purpose (hiking in the Canadian Rockies) before Lil Flier was born. While adjusting and gathering our gear for the PCT initially everything fit, but I made some last minute adjustments and ended up having more gear volume so I had to lash our shelter on the top of my pack.

For the Sierras I will replace my pack with a Nunatak Bears Ears. I have over half of my internal volume taken up by our dry gear (kids sleep systems, my dry gear), so I can’t feasibly slide a bear can into the main compartment like I would if I had a single quilt in there. With kids I also don’t want to carry an empty bear can on top because that means I’d have to repack it every day, and it would also have to be lashed on top of my pack which would cause issues when using the umbrella and would displace the tent that’s up there.

Natashas pack is the one she bought in around 2015 after our JMT thru. It’s tired. She looked at packs before we left but didn’t settle on a new one. She strongly dislikes carrying a bear can inside the pack and would have similar challenges if she strapped a bear can on top. Natasha also has a Nunatak Bears Ears coming for the Sierras.

For both of us, having better weight distribution is important as we carry bear cans. So the Bears Ears will hopefully address that.

Shelter

Umbrella

We quickly realized the reflective sun umbrella is way more effective in this heat than our red one so we bought one in Julian. We liked it so much we tried ordering another to Cajon Pass but it got lost so we eventually were able to get a replacement sent to KMS. Which is too late but we at least got it. The red umbrella is still worth it but the silver ones work so much better.

Having two umbrellas is better as well. One for adult with Lil Flier and one for the other adult and possibly Secret. We will carry three umbrella out of KMS and evaluate if it’s worth it or if we should do something with the red one.

Umbrellas are so useful. We used ours in sun, snow and rain so far. I was convinced before but remain a fan.

Tent

Our tent works well. The linelocs were slipping so I double looped them and now they are solid. The floor held up and has had a bunch of holes patched but that’s expected. The bug netting works but I wish I had it sewn fully on with the ability to collect it off the ground for snow rather than have it fully removable. Sometimes the way it’s attached leaves gaps if the pitch isn’t perfect.

It’s actually easy enough to find sites for the tent to fit. That was rarely an issue.

Condensation in the shelter is solved by opening the door fully but that lets bugs in. You can also unzip the door partially near the top and if bug pressure isn’t too bad that gives enough ventilation without letting them in. If it’s windy enough the door can stay closed fully and there’s enough air exchange, but also I would not expect much bug pressure in those conditions.

We moved to using a single pole in the middle of the shelter (actually two poles coupled but as a single unit vertically). This is much better in high winds and lighter. Having a pole in the middle wasn’t an issue with the kids.

Food storage

We used smelly bags, kept those in the tent and those worked great. We had no incidents with animals even in high conflict areas like the hot springs by Deep Creek.

We did not use the bear hang kit.

We did use our silicone hang bags just as additional food storage for longer food carries. But an extra smelly bag would have been sufficient.

We had to replace our smelly bags in Tehachapi due to failed zippers and holes. We could have risked it but wanted new ones for the inside of our bear cans in the Sierras. I also bought black small smelly bags for our used TP for the Sierras.

Sleep system

Overall okay.

Secret wanted to use a foam CCF pad. I hadn’t thought of this at home – I thought we tried one before but we only tried the Prolite when he was transitioning to using a quilt a couple years ago. He tried Part City’s CCF pad and liked it, so she got a new pad in Serenity OASIS.

I’m okay with my inflatable pad but will try a CCF pad for the Sierras for simplicity and to reduce weight.

The quilts are working fine as expected. These aren’t too new. Our down double quilt is fairly new to us but we have some experience with it.

Secret tends to roll out of his bed. So I use food bags or packs to block him in. This works well. I need to work out how to do this in the Sierras when we don’t have food bags in the tent.

Clothing

Good!

The kids Senchi was disappointing. The pocket fell apart after literally three days of it being worn just in bed and I needed to sew it back on. I would prefer buying AD garments from a different company.

Our AD clothes from ULSUS are awesome.

My airmesh hoody is awesome.

Our day clothes worked out. My running shorts failed but they already have a tonne of mileage on them before the PCT and the biggest issue (worn out crotch) only really happened in the last hundred miles or so. I bought a replacement pair in Vegas and will wear those for the Sierras.

Secrets trucker hat wore out and became uncomfortable so we replaced with a soft running hat in Vegas.

Lil Fliers hat is great. I wish the chin strap did more. We lost the original one in Hikertown but were happy to replace it with the same type (but this time fish design instead of rocket ships!).

Sun Screen

We started with sun screen sticks, but those ran out quickly. Then we used liquid physical (zinc) sunscreen but that rubbed off Lil Fliers face and she got burned easily.

In Idyllwild we were given the suggestion to use surfing sun screen. It’s zinc based but a thick cream and meant not to rub off. We got this delivered to Big Bear Lake and it’s worked awesome. It comes in a small metal tin. The tin likely would have lasted all of SoCal. We still have some left and will replace with a new tin in KMS.

Shoes

Secrets trail runners are awesome. We replaced those in Tehachapi.

My Lone Peak 8 wore out quickly. Tears on the uppers. Non vibrant sole wore out quickly. I got new pair of 9+ in Serenity OASIS and they are wearing better. Hopefully they hold up for all of the Sierras. I don’t like how microspikes fit though. They slide to the side.

Party City just got a new pair of Cascadias in Vegas.

Child Carrier

The carrier we brought for Lil Flier got sent home quickly. Didn’t wear as comfortable as when we used a carrier like it when we thru hiked the GDT with Secret (then called Toothless)

We used my MYOG carrier that I brought for Secret for Lil Flier. That worked well. But we needed a carrier for both kids. Secret’s carrier is just for high consequence terrain and for emergencies. We got a Trail Magik in Big Bear Lake and have been using that for Lil Flier since.

The Trail Magik is okay. I’m disappointed with it in general though. 

• It’s comically overbuilt. It weighs much more than my MYOG one. And despite that it looks cheap.
• The fabric is rough and thick/hard to fold. This can’t be that comfortable for the kid. The silicone impregnated fabric on my MYOG one is smooth and conforms to the child’s body. Much nicer feel.
• The straps are wide. The way they attach with buckles is clumsy and I found they are uncomfortable (large webbing pressing down on top of straps) and pull up on the load lifters in a way that the load lifters aren’t meant to be. I prefer my method of clipping to the load lifters with a G hook.
• There isn’t any head support. Naps have no head support. I like a nap hood for situations where I might want to constrain the babies head a bit too so the baby doesn’t lean back – this isn’t all the time but sometimes you just need to balance and a leaning back baby isn’t fun
• It’s bulky.

What’s nice about the trail magik is that we found a way to use it as a stand alone carrier in town.

Kitchen

Our BRS stove works the same as our old snow peak. It’s been pretty good.

We started with cold soak for breakfast but have moved away from that to add variety and to improve efficiency in the morning. We had a silicone lid for the pot that lasted until Big Bear Lake – it tore. We replaced it but haven’t used the new lid since. I should bounce that ahead to avoid carrying it.

We still have two pots. One for gluten free food and one for others. We have been able to find gluten free dinners so the large pot has been only used. Secret often eats a tuna pouch or something anyway. Maybe we can send the smaller pot ahead to save some weight.

I still prefer bars. We have been going no cook for breakfast. That actually works well. Secret liked pepperoni and likes yogurts. Anything with protein gives us a good start.