Almost got all my gear for the hike in May (PCT d - 82)

With my new Osprey Aether 60
backpack

My new backpack arrived on Tuesday morning, so I went (walked!) to pick it up after work that day. I will be test driving it with extra weight inside over the next few weeks, trying to simulate hiking conditions, and getting used to the adjustments and fine tuning. There are lots of straps and loops and such. There are some that I'm not even sure of their purpose.

I put my sleep system (hammock/bug net/rain tarp) in the bottom of the pack, and added some extra bulk and weight to the top part to give it a better shape and more realistic weight. Then I tried it while walking to work. It wasn't bad - pretty comfortable. Since I'll be carrying it all 100 miles of the hike, I've got to get used to carrying it when I'm walking around town too.

Now, the only two things missing are my down quilt to keep me warm at night, and a DeLorme inReach Explorer GPS locator and communicator for use in an emergency and to help send our location on the trail to our friends and family back home who will be able to track us on a special website.

Between us, Birdie and I have pretty much everything else we need now. So, the challenge in the next 12 weeks will be to test ourselves and our kit as much as possible before we go, so that there as few bad surprises as possible, and we can enjoy the beautiful scenery (trees, trees, and more trees; and a few mountains, and lakes) of southern Oregon.