This is a photo of me and my Packless Pack. I designed this configuration for my Pacific Crest Trail hike in 2001. The details for the whys and hows can be found at my website homepage. Scroll down until you see the appropriate link.
I hiked over 800 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail with Rainmaker July -September in 2000. This hike began at Sonora Pass and finished at Crater Lake. It was Rainmaker's second section, having completed the first thousand miles the previous year. He invited me to come along for the mid section. I was given my trail name during the winter while in a chat room, but it was during this hike I really earned it. Brawny was born.
I love trail life. In order to complete the PCT with Rainmaker the following year, I needed to complete the first 1000 miles first.
So, the next spring in April I got on a plane, armed with my Whitney Permit, trail guide and data book, a host of other things, and began at the Mexican border. I did the first thousand miles, re hiked another 80 or so miles up to Echo Lake, hitch hiked into South Lake Tahoe where I caught a bus to Reno, Nevada.
Rainmaker flew in to Reno, we rented a car, and eventually got back on trail at our tag point at Crater Lake. Brenda and Ralph, wonderful people we'd met the year before, were instrumental in these logistics working out.
Trail people have trail angels, a wonderful group of selfless people who have a vision for the quest. Sometimes we quest for the unknown . They help us in unexpected gifts. Perhaps they are missives for the trail gods themselves. I haven't figured that out yet.
Anyways, once back on the trail from Crater Lake, we spent a couple more months crossing Oregon and Washington state, until finally just 89 miles from the Canadian border, September 11, 2001 happened. We were in Stehican at the time. The border was closed, all flights suspended.
At any rate, we continued onward, crossed the border and completed our Pacific Crest Trail hikes, the entire 2,658 mile National Scenic Trail.
My journals for that hike can also be found on the website address listed above. I have a gear list there as well.
My ultralight systems, gear choices and ultralight philosphy can be directly traced to these experiences on the Pacific Crest Trail, a truly life changing experience.
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