[pct-l] get some tyvek!

[david_tibor at yahoo.com (David Tibor)]

this is old news to the list, but in case there are
new people lurking:

a tyvek groundsheet is the one thing i wish i had from
the start, and i was stoked to get in idyllwild
(thanks chipper and jeff!).

i didn't have a ground sheet for my tarptent when i
started, and had never been much of a "sleep under the
stars" backpacker, but that quickly changed in socal.
i slept on top of my tarptent for a number of days
(only had a 3/4 length z-rest), but that's not too
good for it.

so i got a piece of tyvek in Idyllwild, cut to fit
under my tarptent floor, and used it to sleep out on
under the stars every night until kennedy meadows. the
tarptent made a great pillow. there's no sense setting
up the tarptent in socal - you'll quickly get used to
sleeping out under the stars. it's also great for
breaks - just throw down the tyvek, put your z-rest on
it, and get your afternoon siesta on.

two tips:
if you wash it ahead of time, on cold with no soap, it
gets more pliable and less plasticky-crinkly-noisy,
but also picks up seeds and stickers easily. just try
to avoid putting it down in dry grassy areas, and
always keep the same side down.

definitely use a permanent marker and write "PCT Hiker
to Town" and "PCT Hiker to Trail" on it in big
letters. it's a great hitch-hiking sign, and helped me
quickly get rides in a number of places.

the same piece of tyvek lasted from Idyllwild (mile
180) to the canadian border (mile 2650) - i retired it
 to a trash can in my Manning Park hotel room.


		
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