We are within a couple of days of leaving for the coast and the West Coast Trail. Time to pack.
We lay out the food for 8 days in our 3D spreadsheet across the floor. Add all the assorted items from the buffet pile and the stash in the fridge. We discuss how to bag it and it makes sense to us to use four bags, each with 2 days worth of food in it. The logic behind this is when we cook supper, we would prefer to dig through two days worth of food ingredients than 8 days. Less chance of error. We fill up the four bags, plus a small bag that will be our “lunch” bag. The total weight of all the bags is 18 lbs without Murray’s’ beloved servings of bread for each day.
We have been laying out our gear across the living room floor. It is all there, so now it is time to test pack it. Before we start, the living room looks like this….
Backpacking gear laid out
We pack slowly, highlighting the packing list each time we put a few items in our packs. I rearrange the bottom of my pack to see if I can squish it down more. It seems to work better if I put my sleeping bag in its stuff sack and cinch it into a small bundle. We both get a base laid down and then add the heavy food bags. We both are shocked at how much room the food bags take. We continue to pack until everything (except our hiking clothes) is off the floor and in our bags.
We do a test weigh – I hold my breath. Ouch! My bag weighs 32 lbs and Mur’s is 47 lbs and these weights are less water bottles. Fortunately, they are within the range we were hoping for.
Packed backpacks
We are almost ready to leave on our adventure. Just a few car camping items to tick off. West Coast Trail, here we come!