[pct-l] Sleeping bag help, please

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

The nice thing about that section is it's fairly flat for a lot of  
the way. I highly suggest you take the lake-blessed alternate route  
and do not stick to the PCT. There will be a junction with a trail to  
Twin Lakes. Take that. It's so much prettier and if you are slowing  
your boyfriend down, he'll be much happier taking rest breaks next to  
picturesque lakes than sitting under a tree on a featureless, dusty  
dirt road. It is just as level as the main PCT, too.

I've found a 20 degree down bag to be perfectly adequate almost all  
the time. I can extend it's range a tiny bit by adding a lightweight  
bivy sack (I have the Equinox bivy). A bivy sack is not a little  
tent, it's just a nylon bag and weighs very little (way less than a  
silk liner that's for sure). I can extend the range by sleeping in my  
rain pants and down jacket, too. And if I want real super toasty warm  
luxury, I bring two sleeping bags. The 2nd one is a Jacks-R-Better 45  
degree wearable quilt. Having such a huge pile of down on top of me  
is wonderful and doesn't add that much weight.

Something in the 20-15 degree range ought to work out just fine.

Diane

On May 28, 2012, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> I
> am contemplating investing in a good down bag that would be more  
> suitable
> to average Yukon conditions but also useful for my PCT section  
> hike--maybe
> a 15 F (-10 C) bag.  Would something like this be total overkill for
> Northern California in July, or just right for a cold sleeper?