[pct-l] PCT advice

[ninskyaroo at hotmail.com (Erin Reading)]

Hello!

I'm going to be thru-hiking the PCT in 2005, and I have a couple questions I 
would love for you guys to answer...

First, I'm about to order my sleeping bag from Feathered Friends, and I was 
wondering if it would be better to get the Quantum Pertex fabric, which is 
the lightest they have, or the Epic, which is heavier but much more 
waterproof and durable. I'm going to be hiking with my dog, who I'm sure 
will be walking and sleeping on it quite often also, so I'm not sure if the 
Quantum will hold up well enough.

Second, is the Katadyn Mini Filter an OK choice for a filter?

Third, I would love to have some dog advice...most of the books I read are 
far from helpful, being almost offensive. He will be two years old when we 
hike it and in extremely good shape. He climbs mountains about three to four 
times a week in the summer and two to three times in the winter and 
absolutely loves it...he can handle class 2 stuff fine and a little class 3. 
He has also done fine doing really long mileages with lots of elevation 
gain...like yesterday was like 20 miles with over 9000 ft total elevation 
gain and he did awesome. So, I'm not too worried about him being fit enough, 
but I'm not sure what to do about his feet, backpack, or food.  Where in the 
world do you get ultra-light hiking gear for dogs? What is the lightest and 
best food? Are boots enough, or does he need extra foot care? If anyone has 
hiked the PCT with their dog, I would love to correspond with you!!!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

-Erin B & Kosmic

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