We’re almost ready…

Packing for a long journey is a balancing act. Everything you want for comfort without too much weight. We are aiming for less than 30 lbs. before food and water. Not ultralight in comparison to others, but I must have soap and water.

These seem like the essentials without consideration of clothing, documents, and the contents of our pockets. We will also add fuel and Bic lighters after we arrive. There is no taking those on the plane. The REI Half Dome 2 Plus is a good two person tent, long enough for the tallest Clackett. For our ‘sleep system’ we have Big Agnes inflatable pads, which are comfortable but do have a tendency to leak; we think we have repaired all the holes in Tim’s. Trekology inflatable pillows and a tiny Flextailgear air pump are luxury items, but the weight penalty is not excessive. The cooking gear is mostly titanium. For our stove we have the MSR Pocket Rocket 2; amazingly small and only 4oz. A late item bought just a week ago – the Carson Scout binoculars; just 6oz.