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I am hiking the PCT in late June early July (SOBO) 2012.
After looking at hundreds of gear lists and websites there is still one question
I can't seem to answer. I am generally a cold person (fingers and toes mostly);
is there any gear that stands out to the typically cold hiker?
I know
that I will be facing the cold and I am mentally prepared for that, I am just
looking for some suggestions so I can wrap up my gear list and get ready to go :)...My goal
is ultralight..
I hiked in the White Mountains in November (winter conditions) and loved my Patagonia puffball jacket. It goes below your rear end and it kept me warm at night...I slept in it. It crunches up into a small ball, but it is SO warm! I felt like I was wearing a down quilt and was amazed the next morning when I awoke to sunshine...I usually do not sleep that soundly on the trail.
Are you talking about being cold while hiking or being cold while in camp at night? I am only asking because during my thru-hike, even on days when it was very very cold, I usually found myself extremely hot and stripped down to only the most minimal layers (shorts and short-sleeved shirt) due to the amount of body heat that hiking creates. At night in camp I stayed warm by keeping myself in my sleeping bag (with a large wool hat on) while cooking dinner and breakfast. The only times I was really, really cold were the moments just after breakfast/right before dinner when I was setting up camp. My fingers and toes usually went numb from cold... but after hiking or crawling in my bag and bitching it out for like 15 minutes I always warmed up.
Thyroid meds solved my cold hand and toe problem - I too now hike down to about the 20s without gloves. in camp, I would still need gloves at that temp.
I love my possumdown gloves, which seem impossibly light and which could be worn walking.
http://www.possumdown.co.nz/Products...ar_Accessories
Goosefeet are for siting in camp and wearing while sleeping. I don't own these, but I will.
https://goosefeetgear.com/products/1-down-socks
sorry that i can't offer any suggestions here (i was anything but ultralight, haha)... but i was wondering if you had any website recommendations for PCT planning? or trail journals? anything, really.
i've browsed through the BPL forums, but is there any website that's PCT oriented like whiteblaze is AT oriented?
thanks for any input. :)
Mittens (not gloves), Warm Hat, Scarf.
Your momma was right, when you toes are cold put on a hat. A large percentage of your body's heat loss is through your head and neck. Your body shuts down extremities (hands and feet) to preserve core temperature. Take a balacava, it will protect your head and neck. Add a hat and mittens (mittens are more efficient than gloves). As soon as you feel you hands or feet going cold put on the hat/balacava. Sleep in balacava and mittens.
My GF loves her down jacket with hood. When you get a jacket where you have to wear a hat you still loose a lot of body heat through your neck. also your core temp has a lot to do with extremity temp.
As far as "hiking gloves" go this advice only works if you use hiking poles. try mountain biking gloves. They are made to have durable insides and made to with stand windy cold conditions on top. They are designed to hold handle bars, similar to holding poles.
As far as socks My GF goes up a 1/2 boot size in winter so She can hear thicker wool socks.
Dont skimp on sleeping bag warmth, OR sleeping pad warmth.
also one thing to consider on the PCT that doesnt matter as much on the AT is altitude. you need thicker insulation to trap the same amount of air at altitude. so a few more ounces of down will make up for it at night.
fleece or wool gloves or mittens work when wet, but water proof gloves only work UNTILL then get wet.
I carried a couple of Grabber hand warmers, large size, with me on my last hike. Great for sleeping with, and you can put them any where. I've placed them on top of my head under my toboggan, between my thighs to hit the major arteries and over my heart. Helps warm you up fast when you crawl in your sleeping bag at night. I never used all three places at once, usually just one worked fine all night long.
I hike the Sierra almost exclusively. My baseweight is 12 lbs. The one thing I could not sacrifice was a warmer bag. I tried an ultralight bag and was cold at night. The temps in the Sierra routinely can be 30degrees even in the summer. I use a Western Mountaineering Versalight and am never cold.
http://postholer.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 This site has helped a lot!
**Sorry for the late reply!!