[pct-l] California Section L-Donner to Sierra City

[joph at piedmontbsa.org (JoPH)]

Seeing all the rain in So. Cal, I thought I'd add my 2 cents re No. Cal. My
husband and I hiked Donner to Sierra City Sat and Sunday. We went to sleep
in fire haze near the trail head Fri. night-- hiked on glorious windswept
ridges Saturday and slept atop one Sat. night. Listened to the wind howl all
night and then the rain started (we were at 8200 feet). Woke up in the rain
and hiked in to the trailhead at highway 49 by mid afternoon, just ahead of
when the rain went from gentle mist/rain to downpour. Friends took us back
to our car at Donner Summit, which we found under several inches of snow! So
we were very happy to do this last No. Cal section just in the nick of time
(fair-weather hikers-we). The mountains were glorious in yellow, brown and
red and of course, the never ending green of the firs and pines.

Just one question though-- part of this trip was to give our rain gear,
Frogg Toggs, a go to see how they would do. Now, all I've read on this list
serve is good stuff about Frogg Toggs, and I have to tell you, if we weren't
planning to come in Sunday, we would have been in trouble. The Frogg Toggs
failed miserably. We were both soaked from the waste down and in the arms.
Has anyone else had this experience or any advice to offer on products that
do work! We used the Frogg Toggs in So. Cal for a two week section trip in
the spring and they seemed to be o.k. for the brief periods of rain we had,
but not for all-day rain-- it just seeped through.

BTW--I too am interested in Winter section hikes in So. Cal. Also interested
in coordinating transportation (car at either end etc). Anyone interested in
this can contact me off list.

Thanks, Jo