Here’s the list:
What I hiked in:
A lot of my layers were for camp/sleeping. Hiking keeps you warm! Sleeping doesn’t. This is what I actually wore for the different parts of my hike:
For the desert:
(with star rating, out of 5)
Long-sleeve lightweight wool blend shirt (Rab MeCo) *****
Sun protection. Wool stinks less than polyester.
Old running shorts (nylon) *****
Buff *****
ExOfficio lace waist-band bikini cut underpants *****
Single ply- Sports bra ( from Target’s little girls’ section) ****
No Nonsense men’s trouser socks (100% nylon) *****
Salomon XR Mission trail runners ***
Outdoor research lightweight running gaiters ***
Baseball hat (old) ****
Sarong (very thin cotton – for the extra sunny parts)*****
Earrings (a million stars! Dangling from my ears!)
I don’t like wearing sunscreen – I prefer to layer. On the extra sunny parts I looked like this:
For the Sierras:
I switched from shorts to Columbia Hiking pants (mosquitoes + sun protection). Mosquitoes could bite through my shirt, so I kept my windshirt and a head-net handy for breaks. The sleeves and pants were usually enough to keep the mosquitoes off while I was hiking. I absolutely hated these pants, and after losing 11 lbs they didn’t fit at all, but they were the ones I had. It looked like this:
For the bicycle section (or, the unofficial fire detour bicycle route):
I didn’t switch gear much for this section, aside from the bicycle itself. But, I did switch to a pair of men’s XL bike shorts (free), with my running shorts over to look less silly (they sagged in, uh, awkward places). Plus, helmet.
For Washington:
I had picked up a long-sleeve button up shirt made out of acrylic in the “free” bin at Laundromat in California. I wore this over a nylon spaghetti strap tank top and ditched the bra. (Ahhh.) Part of the reason for the switch was the added warmth, and part of it was because my wool shirt was beginning to disintegrate. I kept the wool shirt for pajamas and went back to my running shorts. I ended up wearing my windshirt while I was hiking quite a bit in this section.
In the rain:
It rained on us once in California – we just set up our tarp and took a nap until it was over. We were a little less lucky in Washington and hiked through several days straight of rain. The only thing extra that I “wore” was my umbrella. If it was really cold, I’d put on my windshirt, hat and gloves. I preferred to hike in shorts because skin dries faster than everything else. My feet were cold and wet, like everybody else’s. If you hike fast enough and long enough, they usually warm up…
What I would do differently:
I would have brought more dangly earrings, and possibly stopped wearing a bra much earlier in my hike. Also, I ended up really liking the button-up, so perhaps I would wear a lighter-weight button up through the other sections instead of the wool shirt. Finally, I would have worn different pants in the Sierras. I’ve been hiking in the Columbia Just Right Straight Leg pants lately and they’re pretty great.
