MinersLettuce

Originally Posted by MinersLettuce

I would like to know how to stay dry in the rain - myself and my gear. I recently hiked in the rain near Springer Mt. (just before Joachim hit.) I had a light pack, a North Face coated nylon raincoat with pit zips, and I found the coat too hot to wear - I was more wet with sweat than with rain. I ended up hiking with no coat and letting it rain on me. I wore a baseball cap which worked well at keeping the rain off my glasses. I saw other people with plastic ponchos, but they were also wet from sweat more than from the rain. I had the same experience when I hiked a pilgrim route in France - it was too hot under the poncho for me, so I just used it to cover my pack. Do pack covers really work?

Another thing I'd like to know: what do people eat? I'm interested in finding the cheapest, lightest, easiest to cook, and easiest to buy food along the trail. I'd also like to eat reasonably healthy things. Like the poster above, I'm also interested in the female perspective on how much food is enough, although I suspect it varies depending on the person. I once went backpacking with my sister. She's about 2" taller than me and 3 years younger. I carried more weight in my pack than she. I gave her more than half the food at each meal. When we returned home, we found that she had lost 5 pounds and I had gained 5 pounds.