[pct-l] Do we need a GPS unit and coats

[Daniel Zellman]

I agree with Gary. Team no Hurries made it more than 2,000 miles (from
Campo to past Trout Lake) last year without any electronic devices other
than our cameras and headlamps -- used Halfmile's paper maps, the
Wilderness Press Guidebooks, and Yogi's guide, and never once got seriously
lost. (At most we wandered off trail for maybe an hour or two a couple of
times, but it pretty quickly became pretty obvious that we were off track.

The PCT is NOT back country hiking ... or anything even remotely resembling
that. It's a very well-marked and well-trodden trail which crosses lots of
roads and other easily-identifiable landmarks. Also, on average we saw
anywhere from two to 20 (or more) other hikers every day -- a combination
of other thru-hikers, day/section hikers, weekend warriors, etc. -- most of
whom were carrying GPS or iPhones or the like. The longest we went without
seeing anyone at all was maybe 24 or 36 hours, and that only happened once
or twice the entire time, so there's pretty much always help within a day
or two at most.

I'm sure others have very different views, but that was our experience....

-dz


On Wed, Mar 12, 2014 at 10:49 AM, <gary_schenk at verizon.net> wrote:

>  IMO, you don't need GPS, especially if you don't know how to use it. July
> is monsoon season in the Sierra Nevada, it can ran for a week at a time.
>
> Enjoy your hike!
>
> Gary
>
>
> On 03/11/14, John Herrin wrote:
>
> My wife and I will be backpacking SoBo on the PCT from near Ashland OR to
> Kennedy Meadows South CA (approx 1030 mi). We are starting on July 7,
> hoping to end late Sept.
>
> I own an older GPS unit that we used on the JMT in 2010. Truthfully I've
> never figured out how to properly operate it and likewise only used it to
> track altitude and daily mileage. So my question is, do we really need a
> GPS for this stretch of the trail. I have the most recent HalfMile Maps,
> Yogi's handbook and the Wilderness Press Pacific Crest Trail guide for
> Northern CA (Tuolumne to OR Border).
>
> Also while I'm posting, I am a fairly hot person, that is I rarely get cold
> (I live in Chicago). We have backpacked all over Colorado, Wyoming,
> Montana, Washington St, and CA. I usually just bring my Marmot windshirt,
> no down jacket or rain coat. I wear a t-shirt and shorts (with the zip off
> legs) and have long underwear tops and bottoms in my pack if needed. My
> wife brings along a Patagonia UL down hoody (she gets colder than me). We
> both bring lightweight gloves and beanies.
>
> Do I really need anything warmer? Should we bring lightweight rain gear?
> Frogg Toggs? Maybe a couple of ponchos. We are trying hard to keep our pack
> weights down and I hate bringing stuff we don't need/use. We are also
> retired and don't have a lot of money to spend on gear we don't really
> need.
>
> Thoughts?
> Thanks, John and Tina Herrin
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