[pct-l] Wind River report

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I just backpacked in the Wind River area. Wow, amazing. The most  
beautiful place I have ever been. Met some CDT thru-hikers and hiked  
with them. What fun! We foraged for mushrooms along the way. So many  
mushrooms--puffball, porcini, agaricus. I ate them until I was stuffed.

Some info that may be of use to some of you:
- Dri ducks rain jacket was awesome. My first trip with adequate rain  
gear. I was afraid to bring the dri ducks pants. Thought they  
wouldn't last. Shorts did just as well as rain pants would have. You  
can always dry off your legs.

- Wool shirt rather than synthetic smells so much better. But it's  
hot. Maybe a wool short sleeved would be better and just wear a  
"desert shirt" over it when sleeves are needed.

- I brought homemade pemmican. It was hard to choke down by itself. I  
ate bites combined with sundried tomatoes to get it down. Provided me  
with lasting energy, though. One day I cooked it as a stew base with  
dehydrated yams and a huge pile of wild mushrooms. That was the best  
backpacking meal I ever had. Tasted like real food.

- I wore real hiking shoes, not my usual sandals. Everybody raves  
about Keens being wide enough. They are wide enough. However, I'm  
going to lose my big toenail. I guess there's a seam inside and  
combined with the seam of my socks I got a black toenail. I ended up  
wearing only liner socks at one point but that was too loose. Then  
turned my regular sock upside down so there was no seam. Then found  
toe socks in my pack. Those were the answer. No seams on those.

- Someone asked what happens if you get cold. On the PCT I sent home  
most of my warm layers when I got to Cascade Locks (August 1). Then  
the weather suddenly turned and it was about 40 degrees during the  
day and rainy. What happens? You have to walk fast as you can all the  
time. You can't stop to sit and eat or you will get hypothermia and  
your hands will stop working. Since you are walking all the time, you  
have to eat portable food. In camp at night you can finally get warm.  
I don't recommend it at all because it brings down your mood  
terribly. On another trip I had to resort to wearing my foam pad and  
ground sheet to keep warm..

- GPS is probably wise in the Winds. There are trails not on the map  
and the trails on the map sometimes don't match reality. The PCT is  
not like that. You don't need a GPS to hike the PCT. You might need  
navigational aids in high snow conditions but otherwise you can hike  
the PCT fairly brain dead. I did it and I'm still alive.