This summer, I was asked to join Truckee-based guide service Tahoe Trips and Trails on an ultralight hike in the Sierra. Our goal was to show a couple of journalists how to do the seemingly impossible—how to go on a backpacking trip in the rain when we’re carrying less than 10 pounds of gear.
I showed up Saturday morning in the gear room of Tahoe Trips and Trails and met Ben Spillman, a journalist based out of Reno, who came equipped with a backpack full of what he thought was some really light gear. Tearing his pack apart was none other than ultralight backpacking guru and founder of Gossamer Gear, Glen Van Peski, who systematically was weighing and then sidelining most of Ben’s gear while presenting offerings of much lighter equipment. Glen has a streamlined pack shakedown system, but Ben asked me questions—somewhat incredulously at first—about whether this system actually works. San Francisco-based journalist Bill Fink came on the trip prepared to take whatever Glen handed him. I was there as evidence that these ultralight systems work for thousands of miles of hiking without killing their owners.
We were joined later by someone with a lot more miles than me, the super accomplished long distance backpacker currently tackling the first PCT winter traverse, Justin “Trauma” Lichter, fresh off a soccer game. Led by Jeff Baird from Tahoe Trips and Trails and his border collie, Baxter, our now ultralight crew of hikers set off to our trailhead.
We started at a trailhead off I-80 and climbed the backside of iconic Castle Peak. The moderate elevation gain didn’t seem to deter our party, though the weather kicked in and we all started grabbing our rain jackets. This route kept us above treeline through wildflower filled fields—well, what managed to still be around after a droughty spring. Trauma pointed out a rare flower growing along the bank of a beautiful creek.
To avoid the bugs, we decided to dry camp in a large flat spot above Warren Lake—an idea novel to our journalist friends. Trauma and I collected water for everyone in the group while Glen and Jeff instructed the reporters how to set up ultralight shelters. Given the weather, we all spent time in our respective tents sitting out the storm, but when it cleared, we gathered to cook our dinners.
In every good ultralight demonstration, there is usually a line like, “I pack ultralight gear so I can afford to carry a luxury item.” For most people, that luxury item is a nice camera or a book, but on this trip, I packed out a Pat’s Backcountry Beer kit and mixed up a Pale Ale and Black IPA for our guests! For those unfamiliar with Pat’s Backcountry Beer, his system is essentially dehydrated beer. Just add clean water, do a bit of mixing and shaking with some powders, and you’ve got beer. Glen presented us with chips and rehydrated salsa our first course, then whipped out some wine served in plastic wine glasses. Clearly, our goal was to show these journalists that just because we went ultralight didn’t mean that we weren’t going to have a good time.
The next day, we traveled up the backside of Basin peak and walked the prominent ridgeline to the base of Castle Peak. This was an awesome mile of exposed, above treeline ridgewalking on grass—not rock, like is common in California. I love this type of walking and the views of the Northern Sierra area were phenomenal. Despite the altitude getting to all the flatlanders, because our packs were light, the climb did not feel bad.
The ridge hooked us up with Castle Peak, which has three summits made of a composite rock (hence the name as each peak looks like a turret). The area around that peak is on crumblier rock than the rest of the trip, but the lower peak can be walked up easily. Trauma and I hopped over to the high Central Peak, which can be climbed via an easy technical face or chimney climb up the backside (which I accomplished, amazingly, in my Purple Rain Adventure Skirt).
The way down from Castle was steep and on loose dirt until we crossed the PCT at Castle Pass. From there, we continued on down via a cross country route that spit us out on a Forest Service road and at a trailhead, where one of Jeff and Patty’s employees was slated to pick us up with sandwiches—it doesn’t get any better than that for a hiker!
Jeff, Patty, and Trauma all live in Truckee and are super knowledgeable of the hikes in the area. Despite growing up not much more than an hour away, I felt lucky to have these locals show me the sites and share their knowledge of the natural history and human history of the area. Before coming out on this trip, my knowledge of hikes in the Truckee area was limited to the PCT-North and PCT-South. Now, I’ve got a new scenic, easy hike to share with others.
Similarly, I think we may have been able to convert a few new people to ultralight hiking that weekend. Heavyweight backpackers often worry that without all their extra gear, they won’t be able to stay dry and warm when the weather turns gnarly. But even though we took Ben and Bill out on a cold and wet summer day, we all stayed relatively dry and happy. It turns out a rainy backpacking trip may just be the best way to teach others than ultralight gear works just as well—if not better—than heavy gear, even in less than optimal conditions.
Thanks for the write up! I’m wondering if there is more detail from this section: “Tearing his pack apart was none other than ultralight backpacking guru and founder of Gossamer Gear, Glen Van Peski, who systematically was weighing and then sidelining most of Ben’s gear while presenting offerings of much lighter equipment. ”
So… what happened?!?!? What did the reporter bring? What got left behind? What gear was added in as a lighter alternative??? I believe documenting this process would be very helpful for some of us that are just getting into lighter weight camping.
Thanks!
Bruce
Thanks for the comment. Ben has a great write-up of this experience from his perspective over at the Reno Gazette: http://www.rgj.com/story/life/outdoors/recreation/2014/07/23/tissues-tent-toss-em-ultralight-hikers-strip/13048645/ Just off the top of my head, I believe Glen let Ben keep his down jacket, and almost everything else was traded in for something lighter!
Snorkel,
I’ve thru-hiked the AT, ridden my bicycle across the country and on both adventures, I believe I went too fast. I biked from Oregon to NJ in 31 days and did the AT in four months. I didn’t stop much. I think I missed something in moving fast.
Therefore, what was the point of doing the AT faster than anyone ever did it before?
I’m curious as to what was your rationale in speeding along the trail?
Bert “Shadow” Nemcik, AT02
So what raingear was everyone using?
I’ve hiked trails faster and hiked trails slower and have gained something from going at both speeds. There are many lessons the trail has to teach us, and some of those can be achieved by going slowly, and sometimes the lessons it teaches us can be found by testing our limits. My second AT hike, I decided to test my limits, and I learned to love the trail in a new way. A hiker could walk the AT 10 times and still not capture all the trail has to offer. I just think by walking the AT fast, I learned one of the many ways to appreciate this wonderful treasure.
Good question! Everyone was wearing a windshirt and then we all had different rain layers. I was wearing a NW Alpine Eyebright jacket. I think Trauma was wearing a Montbell Versalite. Glen was probably wearing a Zpacks jacket. I also often carry the Montbell UL trekking umbrella in the rain.
Hi Liz,
Along with the rain shell, do you find it necessary to carry a pack cover, or does the umbrella keep the pack dry enough? How about shell pants? I’ve been using a Go-Lite poncho and I really like that it doubles as a pack cover. But the sleeves are short and I usually wear long sleeved wool, so my arms get wet/cold (and smelly:). Not to mention it can practically be a parachute on windy passes if I don’t synch it down well. The weight savings is tough to argue against though. I don’t do the shell pants, but in heavy rain, that translates to pretty soggy feet (I’m still a boot wearer…can’t seem to make the jump to lighter footwear yet…I’m trying:). I’m guessing you just roll with the damp feet and wear shoes that dry quickly? Great article!!
Hi Adam, Thanks for writing in. I hiked the PCT with a poncho of similar design and have had the same problem as you. I find that using a poncho can make it hard to get in and out of my pack if I need snacks or another warm layer. That being said, the poncho does keep the pack dry which minimizes the amount of extra water weight you have to carry. I usually just use a garbage bag liner inside my pack to keep all my gear dry and let my pack get wet. The umbrella helps a little bit, but that’s mostly to make me feel better about the rain :). During most 3 season hikes, I use a silnylon rain skirt and if it’s really wet, add on some MLD Lightsnow event gaiters. I do roll with lightweight shoes and have found that whatever fabric they are using in the newest model of the Altra Lone Peaks and Altra Superiors dry pretty quickly. The weight savings on a poncho is great, but rain is among my least favorite things, and for me, form and functionality is worth a few extra ounces.