[pct-l] Weather for Kick Off

[Sean Nordeen]

It has nothing to do with the shelters,  So no, you don't have your
answer.  Its called not much practice setting those shelters up.  I went
walking around the campground at 7am on Saturday while the wind was still
blowing to check out the thru-hiker camp.  Most of the shelters that had
problems were improperly setup.  Ironically, I saw more tarps setup
properly then the more tent like shelters.

Some of those lightweight shelters need a little more skill in getting them
tensioned right compared to a self standing tent.  Not a problem to someone
who practiced.  It is a huge issue to someone who never even set it up
before.  I drove some of those hikers down to the kickoff.  From talking
with them, I know for a fact that many never even tried their shelter
before starting.  Before I hiked, I took my gear out in Thanksgiving on a
10,000ft ridge line and camped in high winds with snow blowing horizontal.
I was quite satisfied with my tarp setup after that and had no fears for
what the PCT would throw at me.  Few hikers bother to try stuff out in bad
weather.

And you apparently didn't hear about the hiker sleeping in the men's
restroom after the storm that we have to step around to go in.  He was
sound asleep after 7:30, even with all the noise we were making.

-Miner

>Many of the tarp tent type structure didn't hold up!  They blew around Lake
>Morena and many people were drying their sleeping bags and other gear in the
>bathrooms and other buildings.  I've always wondered how some of these super
>ultra-lite hikers get along in inclement weather.  I guess I have my answer.