PCT

[Evan Chartier]

Hey guys!
So Ive been hiking the PCT for a week now taking it really slow. I am heading off from Scissors Crossing tomorrow and I should be at Warner Springs by Sat. Its been going GREAT and I hope to hitch back to the kick off party. Wanted to note a few things…
GG Gorilla pack- this guy is great. Tough and carrys really well.
My hands got really burned. Picked up some sun gloves in Idylwild. I would suggest these for anyone hiking the PCT. I wear long sleeves, but they did not cover the back of my hands. Hopefully these will help.
Cuben Tarp- great and light. Held up in 40+ MPH winds with 12 stakes and set really low. Had a Henry Shires tarp tent fail in the same winds. The hexamid also held up. Overall, the group I camped with said my cuben tarp was the strongest in the wind.
MYOG cuben quilt- holding up just wonderfully. Very warm. Never overheated.
GG trekking poles- awesome. Work great so far, no issues.
I will probably ditch the montbell wind shirt I have. I tend to just put on my golite virga rain jacket and never use the windshirt.
I am sure more random things will come. Thanks to all who helped me get here.
Evan

[Mark McLauchlin]

Hey

All sounds positive, and you are having a great time.

ps, we like images :)

Cheers, take care out there

Mark

[Evan Chartier]

Yeah man everything is so great!
Cant seem to find a computer with SD slot for some pics…
Anyone know where there is one on the trail? How do you post pics from here?
Let me know and I'll do it :)
Thanks for the tip
Evan

[EndoftheTrail]

Howdy Evan!

A while ago, Ryan Jordan described the MontBell wind shirt as sauna fabric. It doesn't breathe (MontBell never marketed it as breathable). May as well wrap oneself in saran wrap…

Curious, which tarptent were you using?

Glad you are enjoying your hike thus far and your gear is working out for you.

[Link .]

He is not using a tarptent he is using the BPL nano tarp from a few years ago.

[EndoftheTrail]

"Had a Henry Shires tarp tent fail in the same winds."

Anna, true that. I was just curious about his past negative experience with his tarptent — as he wrote above.

[Link .]

Benjamin,
He was referring to a woman that was camped that night on the trail and was using a contrail that blew down in 40+mph winds twice that night while his nano tarp was fine.

[Dirk Rabdau]

Without knowing specifics, I suspect the culprit to be the UL tent stakes shipped with Henry's fine tents. The tent itself should be able to easily withstand those winds – the stakes in the wrong soil are in my opinion, useless. I like carry a much more substantial stake, weight penalty be damned.

I think that tents often get a bad wrap when the stakes are really the issue.

Dirk

[Evan Chartier]

Thanks for clearing that up Anna. The Montbell wind shirt is great, I just havent been using it. I figure anything I havent used the last 100 miles probably wont be used in the next 1000. And if I do need it, I can always get it sent back out. Seems redundant with the golite rain jacket.
Dirk, the stakes she was using (which were sent out with the tarptent) seem to be the easton aluminum stakes. I was using a mix of MSR needle aluminum stakes and some very light ti stakes…I would think that hers would stand up to the winds better than mine, however that was not the case. Maybe because she had far fewer stakes, the tension was greater on each individual one?
Evan

[Evan Chartier]

Tim why dont you have your PM set up? Shoot me a PM so we can keep in touch…
calling on TIM!!!
Evan

[Dirk Rabdau]

Evan –

Hmm, it seems to be the experience of many that the shorter Easton stakes do not hold in the wind as well as the longer model.

I found the link to the test! I carried the longer Easton stakes with me for this very reason. Did much better in Southern California, where stake length seemed to be critical compared to other parts of the trail where the soil composition was different (less sand).

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/tent_stakes.html

I suspect you are correct, with fewer stake points, stress on each peg becomes greater.

I remember it being really, really windy toward Pioneer Mail Picnic Area. I mean, it was blowing sideways out there. That may have been the worst wind experienced on the entire trail. There wasn't much in the way of wind protection, either.

Best of luck during your great adventure. Say hello to the fine folks Drakesbad Ranch in Lassen National Park. It was one of the great unexpected moments of joy for me. They treat thru-hikers really, really well. Much better than we deserved!

Dirk

[Evan Chartier]

Dirk,
ah Im not sure which she was using but according to your experience probably the short ones, thus the loose hold. If there is wind again I will try throwing my stakes on her tarptent, if I see her again. Pioneer Mail was crazy windy, probably always is if you had the same deal. There were about 2 days there where it was almost blowing me over!
Ive been on here too much! Stuck in WS till the PO opens…bah
Evan

[Nick Gatel]

Evan,

Good job!!

Use some sunscreen for a while, and you will get tanned hands, and then not need "sun" gloves.

How did you get gloves in Idlywild, when you just got to Warner Springs?

[Dirk Rabdau]

Evan –

If you are both going back to Kick Off there will likely be vendors onsite who can sell you longer stakes. I am pretty sure they could be found. If you need any help procuring such stakes, let me know, and I can send some ahead to the post office in Idyllwild.

But yes, I do recall nearly being blown off the trail in that area. Fortunately, it was only stormy a handful of times along the trail beyond that. Have fun! Warner springs is great. And do try to time your trip so that the Paradise cafe is open when you pass….I think I spent upwards of five hours there dodging the hot sun!

Dirk

[Steve Cain]

Evan: I'll be coming to the KO. I'll have a car if you need a lift to town for supplies.

[Evan Chartier]

Thanks guys-
Nick- good idea. I do like the gloves though…I was able to get them when a friend gave me a lift through Idyllwild. Spent the night there before continuing on past scissors, and picked up the gloves.
Dirk- Ill let her know about the stakes. She is going to kick off. We tried to time for the paradise cafe, but they were still closed. Seems they closed for good on Easter,according to rumour. They havent been open since, even when they were supposed to be. Bummer!
Steve- Thanks for the offer! See you are kick off :)

[drowning in spam]

I still don't think it was the stakes. I'm pretty sure none of them ever moved. When I helped her repitch her tarp, all I did was stand the pole back up and tighten the guy lines. I think it would've helped tremendously if all the stake out points were used, especially the line that goes to the peak since I think that'd helped remove any slack that occurs during the night…and it always happened towards the end of the night. I believe that the stretching in the fabric is what allowed the trekking pole to fall over. Unfortunately the ground between Warner Springs and Hwy 74 is so hard that she probably won't be able to set up her tarp…I totally pretzeled a y-stake on my last night out, which of course was that night I saw the kitty.

Dude, that's really going to suck if Paradise Cafe is really closed. I'm headed out there this Friday and resuming my hike on Saturday morning.

[drowning in spam]

You need either a usb cable or one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820223088

I've had that card reader for a couple years and thinks it works well, although the card may need to be reseated after travelling with it.

Or get a couple cards and mail them home occasionally to have someone else post the pictures for you. You should check out my album. I love that Google uses the gps data in my pictures to show where they were taken.

[Dirk Rabdau]

The Paradise Cafe is closed? Eh gawd, that is a huge blow. Between water, pop and beer, I drank an afternoon away there while escaping the blazing sun. Tell me it ain't so….

Eugene – good info regarding the stakes. The ground is pretty tough there, I do recall. And if all the tieouts aren't used, that does make it harder. I don't recall if I wrecked a stake in that area or not, but honestly, I imagine that it would be very easy to do so.

Best of luck on your trip. Happy trails to you on your great adventure!

Dirk

[drowning in spam]

I'll check the cafe on Friday afternoon. It doesn't look good though…the number they had in a note in their window has been disconnected. I got that number last week.

[Steve Cain]

Well, I met up with Evan at the ADZPCTKO and he now has no excuse. I gave him a USB card reader so that he can post all of his pictures!

[Evan Chartier]

Hoosierdaddy your the best!
I actually just got a new card 4gb yay!!
the 1gb card I am going to send back to my mom so that she can put some stuff up online (pictures and what not.)
Anyway…
Whats been going on the last few weeks?!
So much I cant even say! After the kick off I decided to volunteer for a few days with a trail crew. Ended up hiking 90 miles in 2-2.5 days to meet up with them and worked with them for 3 weeks! It was an amazing experience, I love them all. Just got back on the trail yesterday and made it to wrightwood this morning so I am in the library now. Seems that I am still at the front of the pack? Dont know how that happened. Lots of cool people out here! I cannot write here how meaningful this experience has been…
I got accepted to college too! whoo hooo!!
Ok, about gear…
Had the tarp (cuben BPL nano tarp) out another few times. 2 nights with high winds. Several sierra designs tents had issues on the trail crew our first night when the winds were almost knocking us over, however my tarp worked wonderfully. Sliced through all that wind! Last night we had sideways snow and winds, which I didnt even feel under that tarp. I cant say enough about it.
Pack: GG Gorilla Still really great, managed to tear one of the side straps off of it by pulling too hard and sewed it on with floss, awesome pack though. Hiking out with the trail crew I must have had 50 pounds in it with a McCloud ? and shovel and hammers. Like a charm!
GG LT4 poles- managed to break one, although any pole would have broken with that happened. Slipped off a rock down 8 feet and it snapped. Got a new upper section but now the locking mechanism ripped off the lower section and is stuck in the top part? Ill have to call GG today to see what I can do…
What else?
I guess I just dont know where to go with everything that has been happening.
Oh, the quilt! Its awesome! Keeps me warm through the night :) no venting issues (cuben quilt MYOG)
Man…dunno what else to say! I miss being on here all the time and knowing what is going on. Guess I better get back on the trail! I know I know…pictures…I promise Ill put some up soon!!!
Evan

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