[pct-l] Sunscreen on the Trail

[David Thibault]

Ditto on the long pants, long sleeves, and hat.
I found that one area I had an issue with sunburn was in So Cal,  because
of my hiking poles the tops of my hands were pretty exposed

Used lots of suncreen but still started to burn because parts of the hands
were always facing the sun.  I used a bandana to help cover the hands and
the problem was solved.

In the Sierras I noticed a bit of burn on my face from the snow
reflection.  I just wasn't thinking about sunscreen at the time until I
started to notice the burn. I carried a very small bottle the whole way and
never ran out.  Again I was covered pretty well and tend not ot burn that
much.


As for Deet, I carried a few small individual packets of bug repelent and
once I started to encounter them in force I then picked up some repellent
at my next resupply.  I don't remember them being that bad until after
Kennedy Meadows.

I don't like the feel of Deet on the skin so I usually just buy the areosol
cans with Deet and spray my clothes and hands.  I use a bug net for the
face.  I also treated my clothes at Kennedy Meadows with Permethrin that I
shipped there but I noticed its effects started to wane after a few weeks -
especially the pants which got wet a lot with the stream crossings.

The concentrated deet in liquid form doesn't cover clothes well as it soaks
in in big drops so I use the areosol cans to get a more effective
coverage.  YMMV

Day-Late


>Sunscreen will be needed more in the High Sierra than anywhere else
>on the PCT. There's way more solar radiation up there. You can
>actually sit there and feel it burning into you. I think you can even
>hear your skin crackling. Once you get to Nor Cal and northward, you
>have a lot more shade from trees.
>
>That said, I used almost no sunscreen the entire way. I prefer long
>pants and shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. Sunscreen/lip balm with
>sunblock was only necessary for me in the High Sierra, mostly because
>it radiates off the snow and burns the inside of my lips (from
<breathing with my mouth open in the thin air).