[pct-l] 2013 Thru Hike Clothing

[Gary Wright]

On Jul 17, 2012, at 12:30 AM, mike Shoys wrote:
> my name is mike and i'm planning a 2013 thru-hike and am having trouble
> planning my clothing bag... i am thinking of getting smartwool midweight
> thermal top and bottoms with the 6oz. montbell down jacket for warmth. any
> thoughts? noting that i am a generally warm person, i wonder if the down
> jacket will be too warm and rarely usable... not sure. lived on the
> northern california coast my whole life with only several fair-weather
> trips to the mountains...

You have to figure out what is going to work for you but my recommendation
would be:

light-weight thermal tops/bottoms
-- if you are hiking, mid-weight will be too much and if you are in camp
   and are too cold you should be in your sleeping bag

light-weight wind/fleece jacket/shell (e.g. Marmot Dri-Clime jacket)
-- this helps in wind, cold, and damp weather and you don't have to
   worry about it getting damp from sweat or mother nature like you do
   with a down jacket

another fleece layer for the High Sierra and perhaps Northern Washington
-- I think these are the only areas where yet another layer would be
   nice to have.  A down jacket would work here also for warmth but
   isn't as flexible relative to inclement weather or while hiking

In addition to the clothing above, I carry:
- short sleeve shirt (what I hike in most often)
- long sleeve shirt (when it is colder out)
- hiking shorts
- light weight long pants if hikers shorts don't have zip off legs
- rain jacket/shell & pants (something very light)
- very light pair of running shorts (in camp instead of sweaty hiking
  shorts/underwear and in town while doing laundry)


I'm not an ultra-light hiker.  I think ultra-light folks would probably
combine the long-sleeve shirt with the 'thermal' tops and ditch the pants
and rely on the thermal bottoms + rain gear if necessary.


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