[pct-l] a few questions

[chwillet at indiana.edu (Christopher Willett)]

I brought a Frogg Toggs anorak and used it primarily to keep warm in windy
conditions in the early morning and early evening.  I had 5 minutes of
rain in the Mojave, 2.5" of snow in Yosemite, a big downpour in Oregon,
and few days of mist in Washington.  Very little precip.  A windbreaker is 
okay, but my Frogg Toggs weighs less than my windbreaker.  Your choice.

I went into the Sierra on June 10 this year, which was about 2 weeks 
earlier than optimal.  There was still a lot of snow on and below the
passes and I 
crossed in trail runners.  No reason to bring boots, unless you go all the 
way and bring mountaineering boots.  You have no hope of keeping your 
feet dry, so go without GoreTex.  You're going to be spending 
a lot of time on snow and crossing creeks and rivers.  The GoreTex isn't 
going to help.  I spent a lot of time kicking steps, which takes some 
time in runners, but is very possible.

I brought a tarp and a separate sleep net.  I slept out most nights and 
liked having the sleep net separate from the tarp.  This way, I 
could use the netting without putting up the tarp. I needed the tarp 
on, perhaps, 4 nights and put it up probably around a dozen times.
Both the tarp and the netting came from Dancing Light (see 
www.trailquest.net).  I liked them both very much.  If you want to 
make your own, I think Henry Shires has the design for his original 
tarp tent somewhere at www.tarptent.com.

Lastly, enjoy.  It is a great trip.  You may be able to hike a larger 
stretch than you think you can.  Myself and atleast 2 others completed 
an entire PCT hike during an academic summer.  Birdie and myself 
hiked May 9 to August 21 and Will Tarantino hiked May 10 to August 16.

Chris

On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Rebecca Emily Selling wrote:

> Hi all,
>    I have a few questions to throw out.  I'm going to be hiking from about
> Agua Dulce to the Oregon border next summer (darn college got in the
> middle of a thru-hike) and I am wondering about appropriate apparel for
> that section.  My two main questions are: 1) Do you think a raincoat is
> necessary or could I get by with just a windbreaker? 2)I plan on hiking
> in running shoes for most of the time, but would you recommend hiking
> boots for the extra-snowy/mountainy sections?  i.e. the high sierra? 
> If not boots, how about gore-tex trail runners to avoid wet feet?  I'd
> prefer to just hike in running shoes for cost and wieght reasons, but
> if people have found that uncomfortable, I will think about bringing
> drier sturdier shoes.
> 
> Another question regards shelter.  I am planning on bringing just a
> tarp-tent.  Do you think I should bring bug netting for it for the
> sections I am doing?  Also, I would like to try my hand at making my own
> tarp-tent.  Does anyone have suggestions as to where to find a good design
> and where to get materials?  Thanks a million!
> Happy Trails :)
> Becky Selling
> 
> 
> 
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----------------------
Christopher Willett
Department of Mathematics
Indiana University
831 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN. 47405-7106
(812)-855-1883
chwillet@indiana.edu
mypage.iu.edu/~chwillet