[pct-l] Pictures from my hike last May near Big Bear

[david woods]

I do not intend to insult you or denigrate your accomplishments in any way
but I can play Southern California Ned here for a moment (no offense Ned)
and say I am not sure an umbrella is appropriate cold weather/rain gear in
an area where high winds are more common than not....unless you have one of
the new cast iron models. I think Switchback is selling those with a sky
hook option.

p 10, 2011 at 4:56 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> Yes, I agree. People should prepare for rain and snow on the PCT in So Cal!
> That was my whole point. Whenever someone asks about the 700 miles of desert
> I always try to get that whole idea out of their heads. I was so worked up
> about the desert I was afraid I'd broil to death and die of dehydration. And
> I'm a Southern California life-long resident! When I got out there and saw
> that it wasn't desert, I almost felt cheated.
>
> Anyway, my umbrella was packed but must have fallen out of its pocket on
> the drive in. I didn't notice until too late. I believe in NOT relying
> solely upon gear to solve all your problems but instead to cultivate a
> McGuyver sense of creativity. I was happy I was able to solve my problem
> well using the tools I had. Other people would have laid down and froze to
> death or called for a helicopter. I simply fashioned a rain shawl and kept
> moving. You get wet in the rain anyway. What worried me more than not having
> my umbrella was not being able to keep my tent standing up in the 55mph
> winds.
>
> Diane
>
> On Sep 10, 2011, at 1:40 PM, david woods wrote:
>
>  Very nice and well captioned pictures. They really tell the story of your
>> hike.
>>
>> Given your prior PCT hiking I was surprised that you were caught out with
>> no
>> cold/wet weather gear. Hopefully future hikers will take note of your
>> experience.
>>
>> When my son and I attempted the trail in late April of 2005 several people
>> and been pulled off the trail around Mount Laguna with hypothermia and
>> John
>> Donovan had died after getting lost in a snow storm on San Jacinto the
>> week
>> before we started.
>>
>> People, especially those coming to SoCal from wetter and cooler climates
>> often seem to assume that "desert" means warm and dry. Much/most of the
>> trail in Socal while semi or just plain arid is above 5000 feet (as high
>> as
>> 9000) and before mid-June/July can be both wet and/or very cold and/or
>> very
>> windy. At the risk of being pedantic I will say that most years it is
>> probably not prudent to leave the border at Campo in those months without
>> at
>> least a rain jacket. Some long pants and a down or synthetic jacket of
>> some
>> sort and even a pair of gloves is not a bad idea either. Hypothermia can
>> ruin your day.
>>
>> Be prepared.
>>
>
>