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Re: [at-l] Parasols was Um_____ellas
DaRedhead@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 98-06-11 17:51:48 EDT, felton@bluenet.net writes:
>
> > ..last year I wished I had an
> > Um___ella (parasol),,,yes I was on the AT ..... it was raining and we were
> > hungry ... it was a drag to get out the food and make lunch in the
> > rain...I was thinking an umbrella would be the ticket....we also crossed
> > some balds where the sun was beating down and it would have come in
> > handy...I think I will carry my Umbrella next year...if I don't use it
>
> but, then there are "dining flys" and I was wondering why no one had mentioned
> them. My very first hike on the AT, with my brand new pack, was in the rain.
> It was a wonderful experience - but I wonder how wonderful it would have been
> had Toney not had the dining fly. Cause we got there, he set it up, we got
> the tent up, then we stripped and put on warm, dry clothes. We were under the
> dining fly. So we were dry, warm and had a place to "cook" dinner. Life was
> good, as we leaned back and enjoyed the pitter patter of rain. We weren't
> stuck in the tent all day (and night) - we had a "place". So why have I not
> heard about "dining flies" on this list, along with all the other stuff? Is
> my memory warped? Did I not survive that first AWESOME uphill simply because
> no matter how wet or tired I was, at the end we were just dry and tired?? So
> what about them dining flies?????? Talk to me, oh, yea experienced thru hikers
> :)
>
One word: Weight! Especially on the AT with its numerous shelters, few
will carry an additional 1- 1/2 lbs for the occasional evening rain.
When I hiked the John Muir and had daily afternoon thundershowers I used
my space blanket (the big red and silver kind, not hte light emergency
blanket kind) as a tarp. It worked. I don't know if we will do it on
the CDT. I've thought about it, but the weight adds up too quickly.
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