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

[Gary Minetti]

John and Tina,

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. 

I agree with the previous comments about GPS. In terms of clothing and in my opinion, a short sleeve shirt, long underwear (tops and bottoms, ) a windshirt and a beanie will work, even in the High Sierra if you get very lucky with the weather.   However, if storms come through, for example between VVR and KM, all bets are off.  Your safety margin, should rain, mixed precipitation and wind come through while you are high and exposed is pretty thin with the gear you mentioned.  You may have to either hunker down in a reliable shelter and bag or have the strength and speed necessary to do the exposed miles and exit the trail.  

Us retired folks need to stick together and in that light, I would suggest reconsidering your gear and safety margin.

Best wishes on your trip.

Gman
Class of 2012

On Mar 12, 2014, at 11:08 AM, Daniel Zellman wrote:

> 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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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.
>    --Buddhist proverb
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