Things to do Differently

Carry one of those bug screen that fits over sleeping bag. (Because we started later in the season, we had more problems with bugs in the early sections than it seems people do who start earlier. The San Gabriels were particularly bad. I (Amy) found it too hot to sleep in my bag, but the bugs were too bad to sleep without it. Most of the time, where we chose to sleep was not a good place to set up the tent and we prefer to sleep out under the stars.)

Carry more then one guidebook section-carry the next one too. We only carried the guidebook section that we were currently hiking. If you need to read up on something in the next section or are trying to meet anyone at the end of a section or early in the next one, it's really hard when you don't have the info in front of you.

Seriously consider ditching the stove. We liked our hot meals, but cooking was often a pain.

Carry an extra water filter in our packs. (no matter how new the one you are carrying is) We had one in our drift box. This was not the place for it, as we found out.

Order a smaller hip belt ahead of time that I could have had shipped to me. (Amy) Arc Teryx would not ship a new hip belt directly to me, but would only mail one to REI where someone would have to go pick it up. This was a big hassle.

Carry more film. Take a lot of pictures. That way, the odds are that you will have some good ones.

Take more pictures of people, of activities, etc. We knew this but we still got sucked into taking pictures of scenery which usually aren't as interesting because it's so hard to capture the grandure of what you are seeing. If your feet are in really really bad shape, take some close ups of those. People at home seem to be endlessly fascinated by pain and suffering. (Maybe it's just our friends and family)

Carry a supplemental pocket throw-away camera! We liked having the fully adjustable camera and having the ability to meter on faces and things in order to get decent shots, (not like this always worked) but a lot of times, it was a huge hassle to get the camera out and take a picture, so we just didn't bother a lot of times. Having one of those little cameras in our pockets would have been great.

Resupply more on the trail! Although it's more expensive, we wasted a ton of money on uneaten food, either because we bought too much or because we got sick of what we bought. Most places, with the exception of one or two spots had a good selection of things even for vegetarians. Also, packing up all those boxes was an absolute pain. Then, the expense of mailing them is also another factor. We agree with people who feel that resupplying as much as possible on the trail is the way to go.

That's all we can think of right now. I'm sure there were a lot more things...

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