[pct-l] cold weather clothes

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

> Which sections of the trail will we need our cold weather
> clothes?? 

I only have experience in the sierras and the southern cascades, so I 
can only speak to those sections.  I guess the answer to your 
question mainly depends on what you consider "cold".  There are 
basically two types of gear that I can think of that would be 
impacted by "cold" weather:
1.  sleeping bag
2.  clothing

As far as sleeping goes, expect it to get down to the 20's at night 
in the seirra, so bring a bag that will keep you warm at that temp.

As far as clothing goes, it depends on how comfortable you want to be 
and how much risk you are willing to undertake.  It has been known to 
snow in every month of the year in the Sierra, so the temps *can* be 
that low while hiking.  however, its usually warmer than that during 
the day.  in addition, much of the "high sierra" is above 10,000 ft 
which is often chilly but sunny.

In 2002, I hiked the high sierra with only a t-shirt, a patagonia 
capiline zip-tee, shorts, and a thin rain jacket/pant.  I was never 
cold while hiking during the day, but the mornings and late evenings 
were uncomfortable but not dangerous.  I undertook some risk going 
this light; if the weather took a turn for the worse, I would have 
had to bail and possibly worse.  this is an extreme example of 'going 
lght".

In 1998, I was a bit more prudent when hiking the same section.  That 
year, I carried a t-shirt, a capiline zip-tee, a fleece jacket, 
capiline bottoms, a parka and rain pants.  I was plenty warm that 
year, but also lucky because it rained 10 out of 12 days, which gave 
my rain pants and parka lots of use.

One suggestion is to throw an extra fleece or parka in your drift 
box.  If you decide you are too cold, you can always start carrying 
it.

Also, be sure to get people's opinion of the Mojave and the Northern 
Cascades.

peace,
dude

_________________________________________________________________
    http://fastmail.ca/ - Fast Secure Web Email for Canadians