[pct-l] Importance of Rain Gear

[Gail Van Velzer]

I am in total agreement with Barry Teschlog!  Raingear is absolutely 
necessary, no matter where you are on the PCT.  It can rain at any time and 
it's the mild temps that cause the hypothermia!  With so many lightweight 
and waterproof materials out there, there's no reason one can't carry a few 
ounces of raingear.  Skip the alcohol and bring a rain jacket!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry Teschlog" <tokencivilian at yahoo.com>
To: "PCT L" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 10:12 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Importance of Rain Gear


Today is one of those days here in the Pacific Northwest that is a reminder 
of why reliable rain gear and an effective means to keep ones gear dry is 
needed anywhere and anytime on a PCT thru hike.

In a news story I read yesterday talking about the rain event we're having, 
the daily record for rain in Seattle for today is ~0.56", while the second 
highest total on the day is only 0.06". It's rained only 13 times on this 
date in Seattle since records began. Historically, this is one of the driest 
times of year in Washington. A person might be tempted to skip the rain gear 
to save weight (hmmm...heard this one before in the context of So Cal at the 
start of a thru hike?)


The forecast today is for 0.5" to 1.5" of rain, in the lowlands.....it 
started last night and is predicted to last all day, into tonight and to 
only drop to spotty tomorrow, again, here in the lowlands. Up on the trail, 
the forecast is for mostly rainy through tomorrow. On the radar, it's lots 
of green and yellow down here in the lowlands, but mostly yellow, orange and 
red up over the PCT, indicating heavy rain up there currently. Overnight 
lows at Snoqualmie are predicted to be the upper 40's tonight, hardly super 
cold, but if a person had inadequate shelter and rain gear, such that they 
and their sleeping bag / insulating layers get wet, there's a possibility of 
hypothermia, even at this relatively mild temperature. Thursday night is 
predicted to be about the same temps.

The biggest blessing of this rain is that it'll certainly help the 
firefighting efforts east of the mountains...although as heavy as it is, 
it'll also certainly cause mudslides in the freshly burned areas, and 
hopefully won't kick off local dry lightning.
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