[pct-l] WM Highlite For a Thru Hike?

[david_tibor at yahoo.com (David Tibor)]

dunno about the WM Highlite, but I bought a WM
Alpinlite for my 2004 thru-hike, and there is no way i
could've loved this bag any more. i didn't get it
until idyllwild, and spent a few pretty cold days in
socal before getting it. i switched it out for a cheap
Kelty synthetic bag (Light Year) from Tahoe to
Ashland, and then got it back there. though you are
often high-up in the sierra, it's early summer when
you get there, so it's not that cold. it was MUCH
colder in early so cal and up in the san jacintos and
san bernardinos than in the high sierra.

from Tahoe to Ashland, i seriously pared down my
stuff. had no extra clothes, just shorts, t-shirt,
windshirt, (silnylon poncho just in case), and one
pair of socks. with a synthetic warmer bag, i didn't
care about getting it filthy. it's hot and predictably
dry in norcal. so no sleeping clothes.

PCT sleeping bag thoughts:

i bought a light dry-bag (with roll top closure) to
keep my down bag in. i tried not to overcompress my
down bag, and usually had plenty of room in my osprey
aether 60 to not pack it down too much (depended on
how much food i was carrying usually). when i slept in
my down bag, i always wore sleeping clothes - thin
polypro long johns and low socks, mostly just to keep
the bag clean. i often kept my sleeping clothes in the
drybag with the sleeping bag. when it's raining (like
it did a lot in oregon and washington) in 2004, you
really want to have dry clothes to get into at the end
of the day -  even in a rain jacket, everything's wet
underneath. you just keep hiking to stay damp and
warm. i'd set up my tarptent, get out of my wet
clothes and into my dry ones, keep the tarptent as dry
as possible inside (mop it up with a section of
packtowel or bandana), get in the sleeping clothes and
socks, and into the sleeping bag. dry and warm is good
when it's wet and cold outside.

so, i loved my WM bag. even during the coldest nights
of the trail (~26 degrees is the lowest I was aware
of), i was seriously toasty and happy.

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