PCT 2015 Hangers?

[Chop]

Thanks for the nice words on the site.

Low tops have been fine for me in pretty much all conditions. In the winter I use a mid shoe from keen.... That is slightly more bootlike. Scree and talus.... I haven't come across much on the long distance hikes. In NH, there is at least one of the 4000' peaks that is climbing up scree , I believe it is Owls Head. At any rate, low tops were fine for me on that particular time, granted it was a short section.

++1 on the gaiters for the PCT. I waited till about half way into the trail before getting my Dirty Girls, and regretted not starting with them. Having only hiked on the east coast prior to the PCT, I wasn't aware of them. Now, I use them on all hikes.

Specifically, on the PCT, they keep your feet much cleaner and keep the majority of stuff out. I pull my socks and shoes off at 2nd breakfast, lunch and mid afternoon breaks and let things dry out as well. The difference in foot color at the end of the day with and without the dirty girls was significant. Don't be afraid to use a 1/4 cup or more of your water to clean your feet at the end of the day.

You'll see a lot of beat up, blistered feet on the PCT. And probably more this year in particular as mentioned above.

+1 on the injiji toe socks as well. They stopped my between the toe blistering that had been a challenge on the whole AT. I alternated between two of their midweight pairs for 2300 miles. Incredibly tough socks, but the specific version isn't made any more. I believe the versions that have less cotton in them are longer lasting. I have a couple pairs of ToeSocks brand that I am trying this year on the Arizona Trail. Hoping they have some life in them.

[Montexan]

My high is only a 6" boot, but it's still a heavier leather Danner. I used Hike Goo with great success in completely water-logged conditions.

Most of the thru-hikers I met had the dirty girl or OR gaiters on. Converted me. I previously only used them snowshoeing.

[enyapjr]

I'm dreaming about the PCT in 2015. Which of you other HF'ers are thinking along these lines?

I'll be back out there again this year after having to get off the trail last year due to injury.
Will start at Tehachapi Pass (or possibly Walker Pass depending on both water & Sierra snow conditions) in mid May.
Hope to see you & Ratatouille (& maybe Hemlock again) out on the trail!

Happy trails!!!
Jim (PITA)

[steveflinn]

Yeah, it's gonna be 2016 for me. Health stuff. Gonna be waiting HARD for next April.

[H2Oboy007]

Hammock Forums member twotreez is out on the trail right now. He started the trail on Tuesday May 28th.
His blog is 'TWO FEET WIDE'.

He hasn't written much yet, but I'm sure he'd be stoked to get support from Hammock Forums!

[steveflinn]

thanks for the link.

[Montexan]

The trail angel (hippie commune?) from today (May 17th) is awesome. How unbelievably generous of those folk.

[kayak4water]

I dragged my bridge hammock on the PCT this year beginning March 27 from Campo to May 24 mile 813. Don't expect to hang much on the southern Cal part of the trail. Sure, you can hang at Barrel Springs, Hauser Canyon above the poison oak, and Coon Creek Campground, The San Jacintos, the State park in Idyllwild, northbound from Big Bear City, Little Jimmy Spring campground, Silverwood Lake, before Wrightwood, NoBo 15 mi from Walker Pass. Most nights in the southern deserts, I cowboy camped with the stars above me on top of my NeoAir. People have written that we can hang across dry washes from roots--I never did once, because the air blowing down is COLD! And if you camp with other hikers, which you may enjoy just not to be alone, you'll likely ground camp.

Take it from me, in the southern deserts, it was so much easier just to unroll the ground cloth and Neoair and go to sleep after walking 10-20 miles. Give yourself a comfortable ground option before you totally leave the ground after Kennedy Meadows.

FYI, if you can walk the southern deserts in maximum bloom, it will be the walk of your life! It was for me!

[steveflinn]

Thanks for this. I've been wondering if the "you can hammock all the way" folks were both accurate and practical - particularly in light of the number of folks who say they are hammockers. My thought is to carry a small ridgerest as far as Kennedy Meadows, then swap that out for my nanobuginator and seatosummit bugjacket (i did try using the buginator as a bug poncho but it proved too awkward and weird - even for the trail).

[Jammer817]

I'll be doing a couple hundred miles of it in Oregon in my DH Darien