[at-l] Rain gear

[mathews at uga.edu (Doug Mathews)]

Probably not much to add to all of this...I always hate to follow 
Shue...she has such a way with words....

When I started my hike  I had a pack cover, marmot rain pants and rain 
jacket.  Both were over kill, but I did not know better and my MUCH better 
half bought them for me for a present.  She had gone to a local outfitter 
and that is what they recommended.

I soon ditched the pack cover and kept a couple of large trash 
bags(multi-use and no weight) which I would use one when I needed it to 
cover my pack.  I did keep the rain pants, but I bought a Go-Lite rain 
jacket which was much lighter and did the job nicely.  I kept the pants and 
the Go-Lite the whole way & used them when I'd wash clothes as a cover up 
since  I did not carry a change of clothes.
I also used the rain gear in case it got cool and I needed more warming, 
even in the summer.  One afternoon in late July I was on Franconia Ridge 
when a gosh awful storm hit and it got cold an I was soaked before I could 
get my rain gear on.  I hiked the mile down to Greenleaf Hut (took me over 
45 minutes) and was very thankful I had kept my rain pants and top.  That 
night it snowed down there after midnight!

I cannot imagine how it might have felt had I not had the rain gear.  Given 
the circumstances that day, garbage bags might have helped, but not as much 
as the rain pants and jacket.

I carried them also on my bike ride & found them to be invaluable then 
too.  It amazing what weather you can hit in this US at all times of the year.

Doug