“Every ounce counts.” I tried to adopt this philosophy when packing and choosing what to bring and wear on the john Muir trail. I really wanted to limit the amount of clothing I brought on the trail, so I would be carrying less up the mountains. I knew with 24 days, I would have to try and do laundry in the backcountry. I also knew that it would be impossible to keep everything clean. With this I opted one set of clothes to hike in and one set of clothes to sleep in. Below is the summary of my clothing items.
1 Sun Hoodie
1 pair of Hiking pants
3 pairs of underwear
2 sports bras
2 pairs of hiking sock liners
2 pairs of hiking socks
1 sleep shirt
1 pair of sleep leggings
1 pair of sleep socks
1 beanie
1 puffy jacket
1 sweatshirt
1 raincoat
1 pair of rain pants
1 pair of sun gloves
1 pair of warm gloves
1 running hat
1 pair of sunglasses
1 croakie (for sunglasses)
1 pair of camp shoes
1 pair of hiking boots
1 bug net
Below, I go into details about why and how I choose each item, and if I were to make any changes.
Sun hoodie – I had seen in some JMT YouTube videos that hikers prefer sun hoodies. Even if you are wearing sunscreen, you will feel the full force of the sun on exposed skin, making you hotter, than if you have a lightweight material covering your skin. I also liked that with a sun hoodie, I would be using less sunscreen and therefore could carry less. So, this seemed like an easy choice for me. The one I choose was the Patagonia Capilene Cool Daily Hoodie – Women’s, mainly because I it was the lightest weight one available and Patagonia is an ethical brand. I would choose this Patagonia sun hoodie again. A size Large is 5.96 ounces.
Hiking pants – This was something that took me a while to decide on. I don’t like hiking in shorts because of chafing and my thighs tend to gobble the shorts up, causing me to keep pulling them down. I like hiking in leggings, but I didn’t know how well they would stand up to 24 days straight of wearing them. I decided on trying hiking pants. The pants that I settled on were Athleta’s Trekkie North Jogger (size 12 is 10.69 ounces). I would choose these again. They are made of ripstop material so when there is brush, you won’t get cut up. They also are loose enough to prevent most mosquitos from biting through the pants. They are thin enough to not feel extremely warm. The only time I was too hot with these was when I was in lower elevations in humid conditions. At those times, I wish I had some hiking shorts I could have changed into.
3 pairs of underwear – I brought three pairs of underwear (wore one pair, packed 2). Most people only brought 2. I brought 3 in case I was too lazy to wash my underwear each night or if it didn’t dry completely the next morning. I am glad I had 2 extras because of this. I had 2 pairs of ex officio and one pair of ice breakers. The ex officio’s were the best because they were more comfortable and dried faster. I got the full coverage kind so that I could wear them to swim in as well. Each pair only weighed 1 ounce.
2 sports bras – I brought 2 Brooks Dare Scoopback Bras that had medium support and were not racer back. I normally wear them hiking or on a walk. I don’t like wearing a racerback sports bra for long periods of time because the weight of my boobs starts to hurt the back of my neck. So these worked great. They dry fast which was great for swimming. I would wash them every other day. Size 38 C/D weighed 3.5 ounces.
2 pairs of hiking sock liners – This was my first time using toe sock liners. I still got blisters, but I do feel like they prevented more blisters from forming and kept my feet relatively clean. I have worn them on hikes since and would recommend them as a first line of defense against blisters. The brand I got was injinji. They are merino wool and dried overnight. Injinji Liner Crew Socks, size M, weigh 1.13 ounces per pair.
2 pairs of hiking socks – I used Darn Tough Hiker Quarter Cushion Socks – Women’s. I have used them before. I treated myself to two new pairs and they worked out well. I washed them every night after hiking and wore the other pair the next day. Sometimes they didn’t dry overnight so I would use a safety pin and hang them on my pack in the morning the next day. A size medium weighs 2.3 ounces per pair.
1 sleep shirt – I opted for my 150 merino wool long sleeve REI brand shirt (no longer available but the REI Co-op Merino 185 Long-Sleeve Base Layer Top – Women’s is very similar). I wanted merino wool to help avoid stink and keep me warm at night. My Smartwool 250 long sleeve is a little bit softer and warmer, but it is heavier than my REI one. I think with how warm my sleep set up was, I was just fine with the lighter REI shirt. I only wore this in my tent for the most part, to keep it clean. My size medium shirt was 7 ounces and the Smartwool shirt I did not bring was 8.5 ounces.
1 pair of sleep leggings – I opted for my REI Co-op Midweight Base Layer Tights – Women’s. They are polyester. My Smartwool base layer leggings I just didn’t think would be comfortable enough to sleep in and my REI ones were lighter in weight. Along with my sleep shirt, I only changed into my pjs when I was retiring in my tent for the night and would change out of them right when I woke up to try to keep them as clean as possible. The Smartwool 250 base layer bottoms were 8 ounces and the REI midweight base layer bottoms that I used were 6.42 ounces.
1 pair of sleep socks – I had some random fuzzy socks that I wear around the house during winter that were actually pretty light weight and decided to use those as my sleep socks. I only wore these in my tent, so they stayed clean. The sleep socks were 2 ounces total.
1 beanie – I just brought a Carhart beanie that I have had for a while. I wore it to bed since my sleeping quilt didn’t have a hood and would wear it when it would get cold at night and in the mornings. Really a must for the JMT. The beanie was 2.9 ounces.
1 puffy – I ended up buying a new (on sale) puffy because I wanted one with a hood for warmth if I needed to wear it to bed. I also wanted something lighter than my cheap amazon one that I wear in Chicago fall and spring. I ended up with the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Shadow Insulated Hoodie – Women’s since it was on sale at REI and was synthetic, meaning if it got wet, it could still keep me warm. I really liked my puffy a lot. Wore it every night and every morning. Size large was 11.29 ounces.
1 sweatshirt – I brought a microgrid hoodie, I did wear it a couple of times instead of the puffy because it was comfy, but I could probably have gone without it. They say you pack your fears, and freezing at night while trying to sleep was one of mine and I am glad I had it. I had the Burgeon Highlander Hoodie – Men’s size medium and it weighed 8.54 ounces.
1 raincoat – It actually never rained on me once in the 24 days that I was on trial. I still brought my raincoat that I have had for years that is REI brand with Gore-Tex. I still wore it when the wind was making it cold. Definitely glad I brought it. The REI Co-op Drypoint GTX Jacket – Women’s size large was 9.77 ounces.
1 pair of sun gloves – These saved my hands. I highly recommend! When using hiking poles, the backs of your hands really get exposed to the sun. These helped me use less sunscreen and helped me use less. They were fingerless so I did get some tan lines. They also helped prevent blisters from holding my trekking poles. I will continue hiking with sun gloves. Outdoor Research ActiveIce Sun Gloves are only 0.6 ounces.
1 pair of warm gloves – I brought my Outdoor Research Flurry Sensor Gloves – Women’s. These definitely were useful on cold mornings and evenings. I wore them the morning going up Mt. Whitney. I think there were even a couple of nights I fell asleep with them on. I have cold hands and feet and they helped me out. They only weighed 2 ounces. The touch screen fingers didn’t work too well, but I have never had a pair that did.
1 running hat – Running hats tend to dry faster, are cooler, and are light weight. Everything I needed to keep the sun off my face. The hat I used was from athlete. I chose white so that it would be cooler. My Athleta Ultra Light Run Cap 3.0 was 1.59 ounces.
1 pair of gaiters – everyone had dirty girl gaiters on the trail. They come in fun patterns and work really well. The lacing bits on my boots did wear some holes in them but they kept all the gravel out of my shoes and helped prevent blisters. When I was done with the trail, I fixed the holes with a denim patch so that they are extra sturdy above the shoe lace bit. You can also super glue the Velcro to your shoe to help keep that in place. Would definitely use again on the JMT. My Dirty Girl Gaiters (in Hot Mess Dark) were only 1.6 ounces.
Sunglasses – Necessary. I used a pair of goodr because they are low cost yet very durable. I brought a microfiber pouch for them but I didn’t use it. Bag and sunglasses were 1 ounce.
Croakie – I tend to lose things, so I had a cheap amazon croakie for my sunglasses, I wore it over my hood of my sun hoodie to keep the hood up. Worked great and got many compliments!
Camp shoes – I tried to find a really light pair of sandals that still had a good tread on the bottom that I could use as stream crossing shoes if needed. I opted for a pair of xero sandals since they were only 8 ounces total. They worked out pretty well. I don’t think they are worth the full price though as they were pretty flimsy. I wore them around camp, and only once to cross through a stream. Xero Shoes Z-Trail EV Sandals – Women’s size 9 were 8.9 ounces together.
Hiking boots – I know many people prefer trail runners instead of hiking boots. It really is a personal preference. I prefer hiking boots when I know the terrain is going to be rocky because they give you ankle support to prevent an injury. I did run into a couple of PCTers who got injured from twisting their ankle from wearing trail runners. I also prefer Gore-Tex hiking boots which most people do not like. If you have sweaty feet, this is not for you. I cannot stand wearing wet socks. My hiking boots never let in water during any stream crossing and my feet remained dry and happy. If water were to have gotten in my boots, then yes, the Gore-Tex would be annoying because it would take forever for them to dry out. But I was happy with my shoes. After about 1 week though, my feet did begin to swell and my baby toes started to rub in the toe box, causing blisters. But since the hike when I have worn my boots, I don’t have this problem anymore. I do wish though I went with a high boot that has a wider toe box. Each X ULTRA 3 MID GORE-TEX boot was 15.6 ounces.
Last, but not least – a bug net. I did not use it the first week or so. But them the bugs came out if I camped at lower elevations. There were a couple of nights where I had to wear it while eating dinner. It worked and I am thankful I had one. The only bug bites I got were on my butt when going to the bathroom. I had the Sea to Summit Mosquito Head Net with Insect Shield which weighed 1.3 ounces.
