[pct-l] Weather considerations anytime/ a must read

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good morning, Miner,

Amen to your comments.  This summer in Quincy, CA I met an intended
thru-hiker who was off the trail for resupply, and he was asking some locals
where he could buy a blanket.  When I questioned him about that he said he
had recently sent his down bag home after several uncomfortably warm nights,
and now he had only a sheet.   Surprise, surprise – he was freezing his butt
off.



So, let me understand this:  He’s too hot so he uses a sheet instead of a
bag for a net weight savings of maybe 1.5-2.0 lbs.  When that doesn’t work
he buys a big, bulky, not-nearly-as-warm blanket that probably weighs over 3
lbs.



He’ll probably survive, but with very probable and foreseeable adverse
conditions he could easily have had to spend a night – or nights – either
hiking or hopping around and running in place to keep warm.  Is that
ultra-lite or ultra …. something else?   You make the call.



Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye

http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09


On Sat, Aug 21, 2010 at 1:04 PM, Sean 'Miner' Nordeen <
sean at lifesadventures.net> wrote:

> >BUT, UL is having lightweight gear, not just leaving gear behind. I've
> seen
> >people (not usually thrus) leave tents/tarps behind, carry only a quart of
> >water in the desert, not have a rain jacket, etc.
>
> Unfortunately, when I hiked in 2009, I know of some thru-hikers who left
> the tarp/tent/rain jacket behind to save weight in various places and they
> got bit (one became almost hypothermic since everything they had was wet).
>  One person didn't learn their previous lessons with bad weather and got bit
> when they encountered rain in southern Oregon with no shelter.
>
>  It has nothing to do with being UL or not, but instead it's about making
> intelligent and rational decisions with some consideration given to the
> possible consequences.  I often carry a baseweight under 10lbs, but I'm
> always ready for bad weather (and I'll carry more weight if conditions
> warrant it).  However, there are plenty of people who lack the proper
> knowledge and experience and do UL backpacking wrong.  Unfortunately, these
> people are often the only exposure that others have to UL ideas and the
> impression left is UL is unsafe or uncomfortable.  But it doesn't have to
> be.
>
> -Miner
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Check my 2009 PCT Journal out at
> http://www.pct2009.lifesadventures.net/Journal.php
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