[pct-l] Weather Log

[m_factor at hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

I tried to make note of the weather in my journal when I did 700 miles of 
the PCT this year from Campo to Whitney.  Sometimes the observations were 
buried in my journal text.  After a couple of weeks, I tried to note the 
weather in the heading for each day.  Mostly, however, I noted the daytime 
weather.

I started the day before the ADZPCTKOP.  During the just more than two 
months I was on the trail, I had ice, snow, or rime ice in at least three 
different areas.  I had ice on my tent at Lake Morena.  Rime ice, fog, 
sleet, etc. on Fuller Ridge, and woke up one morning with my sleeping bag 
encrusted with ice just 9 miles north of Kennedy Meadows.

That being said, the weather, for the most part, was beautifully sunny.  I 
took one zero day in a hypothermia inducing deluge at Chihuahua Valley Road. 
  My partners and I stayed in our tents all day.  Those who wandered by were 
mostly wet through.  We were glad we hadn't hiked that day.  A bunch of us 
bailed off Fuller Ridge.  Some hikers ended up crossing the ridge in 
icy/snowy/wet/cold/slippery conditions.  Many of us elected to skip portions 
of the ridge and if possible come back to complete it in better conditions.  
The time my bag was encrusted in ice was on a beautiful night where I slept 
out under the stars.  Condensation paid a visit and I ended up packing an 
icy bag the next morning.  I pulled it out during my first break and it 
dried in minutes.

I think this years temps were somewhat below normal - even during the 
daytimes.  For the most part, that worked in our favor.

I was pretty comfortable having taken a 20 degree bag with me.  I didn't 
really need the silk liner I brought for added warmth on cold nights and bug 
protection on hot nights.  I never had any hot nights.

Overall, I was satisfied with my selection of gear for the 700 or so miles I 
hiked this year.

You can find my PCT journal and gear list, and lots of other random hike and 
travel stuff at my web site:

http://friends.backcountry.net/m_factor/

In any case, for the southern quarter of the trail, I would definitely be 
prepared to be comfortable into the 20s at night.  There were plenty of 
nights when it dropped below freezing.

Hope this helps...

Mara

>From: "Richard Hare" <richard@hare22.demon.co.uk>
>To: "PCT - list" <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
>Subject: [pct-l] Weather Log
>Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 09:44:04 -0000
>
>Hello
>
>Have any thru hikers kept a detailed log of weather conditions.  I've just
>been looking at some returners photos and they all look dry and Sunny 
>(still
>I surpose not many hikers would get their cameras out in the rain! Duh!!)
>I'm particularly interested in minimum temperatures at night so I can work
>out a strategy for having warmer gear at cooler parts of the trail and less
>gear at the warmer parts.
>
>Regards
>Rik

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