[pct-l] New outfitter on Mt. Laguna

[Jon Smith]

There is a new outfitter on Mt. Laguna: Laguna Mountain Sport and Supply, about 150 yards south of the Mt. Laguna store/lodge on Sunrise Highway. The owner is a guy named Dave (if I remember correctly), a former SEAL instructor who, unsurprisingly, seems to know a lot about every conceivable outdoor activity, from SCUBA to cross-country skiing. I had come up Laguna in 35 degree rain and 35 mph wind a couple of weeks ago (Dec. 29) when the trail was a river of slush; I had a good Arc'teryx raincoat on and my core was bone dry (thankfully) but not much else. I staggered in borderline hypothermic. Dave offered me a cup of hot chocolate, let me stand in front of the woodstove, called over to the lodge to make sure they had a room, gave my gear a once-over and gently (as in, managing not to imply I'd been an idiot) made a couple of suggestions (waterproof Black Diamond gloves, which I got to replace my soaked, merely windproof MEC ones; surprisingly cheap Helly Hansen rain pants, which I didn't get--I have rain pants at home but didn't bring them--but I should have because I got soaked again from the waist down a few days later, this time in wet snow on Combs barreling through the overgrown part on the way down). "Hike wet, sleep dry" really works best above about 45-50 degrees F, I think. I had on a wicking shirt, midweight polypro, and down sweater under the raincoat, plus a fleece hat under the hood--and because of the wet nylon pants and gloves (and shoes and socks, but that's a given) was still WAY too cold. And that's with the warming effect of going uphill, pretty fast, with a pack full of food to last me to the Palms to Pines. I live in Canada, so I'm not a stranger to cold; I just didn't expect my SoCal vacation to come in the middle of quite such a cold snap. But that's the point, isn't it? 

I don't have contact info for the store--he opened just before Christmas and didn't have business cards printed yet--but it might be nice if some folks in the SoCal PCT community made contact in the next couple of months to give him some tips on what to stock for hikers when the season starts. He's got good gear, not junk, and I think a lot of people might be looking for that as they discover the limits of their starter gear the first few days of their hike. 

Devil