Warm Clothes?

[Palmer]

I'm curious to know how cold it gets on the PCT in a typical season. For instance, if I were to hike the AT starting in mid-March, I think I'd be fine with a set of long underwear (something like Patagonia Capilene 4), a substantial fleece top, and a shell (something like a Marmot Precip). Would that be enough to keep me warm on the PCT? I see pictures of hikers going through snow and wonder whether I need something warmer. I also wonder if down might be a better choice on the PCT given the relative lack of rainfall.
Thanks.

[Magnet_]

I'm curious to know how cold it gets on the PCT in a typical season. I also wonder if down might be a better choice on the PCT given the relative lack of rainfall.

I'm not familiar with typical temperatures but I did see a good number of lightweight down jackets last year and was envious. I personally had a heavyweight polyester long sleeve top, a wind jacket (3oz), a primaloft jacket (about 1" loft), and a soft shell jacket. In addition I had a t-shirt and long sleeve sun shirt. It was a pretty heavy combination and I ended up usually bouncing one of the jackets from town to town. Next time I think I'd take the heavyweight polyester top, the lightweight wind jacket, a down jacket and hardshell. I also had long underwear pants, light nylon pants, and hard shell rain pants and would probably take the same next time.

[girlscout]

as you probably know, the temperature extremes are very wide on the pct. the coldest it got for me was in washington, in late sept & early oct, where in addition to the rain, it stayed COLD all day, and sometimes got below freezing overnight. on a drizzly/cloudy day, it probably never got much warmer than the high 40s. all this is of course a very far cry from the conditions you'll face in the desert in may/june.

in addition to my regular hiking clothes, for most of the trip i had a marmot dryclime windshirt and also a go-lite synthetic puffy jacket. i think i wore the puffy jacket maybe once or twice on the entire hike, but i kept it with me at all times and mostly just used it as a pillow. it was nice to know that i had it if i needed it, and i always kept it as a last dry resort.

i also always had patagonia capilene long johns, which i only used as pajamas. i also had a balaclava for sleeping in. with my western mountaineering ultralight sleeping bag, i rarely got uncomfortably cold at night. maybe once or twice.

sometimes i carried warm gloves, other times i bounced them.

i only picked up rain gear for washington. i had a marmot precip and some rei rain pants, both of which i wore constantly when it was raining in washington.

i had to deal with rain prior to washington, of course, but generally speaking i found the thunderstorms in the sierra to be do-able without rain gear, as they came and went quickly, and it never really got all that cold. the storms were pretty predictable, so after learning from the first couple, i just always planned on walking straight thru them, and that worked fine for me. you're going to get soaked no matter what sort of rain gear you're wearing- the main thing is to be able to stay warm. in washington, i definitely needed the rain gear to stay warm.

[Lucky]

The tough part of putting together a gear list for the PCT is the cost/benefit decision you'll need to make about adding the weight of something you'll need but will only need infrequently.

It can get cold at any time on the PCT. My coldest day was in SoCal outside of Big Bear. In late June, it got down to 17 degrees in the Sierra. Stories abound of hikers getting hit with snow storms in April & May. A couple of years ago, it snowed on the "pack" at Barrel Springs which is in a desert section.

I carried gloves and a beanie (1 oz each), a WM Flight jacket, and a pair of wool sleep socks. I brought a light wind jacket but soon sent it home as I just didn't use it. I started with a poncho tarp but switched to a PreClip at Kennedy Meadows. I carried a WM Ultralite bag and loved it.

Next time, for SoCal I'll consider bringing a WM Flash vest (3.5 oz) a light Montane H2O wind/rain shirt (3.5 oz), a OR Balaclava (1.1 oz), OR PL 150 gloves (1.1 oz), and PossumDown sleep socks (2 oz). I'd switch to the Flight jacket )10.5) and O2 cycling rain jacket (5 oz) for the Sierra.

Lucky

[Wing It]

Keep in mind I started April 21st this year. Those who started in May ran into higher temps throughout the desert, from what I was told.

In general, it can get cold in the high desert from the beginning to about Wrightwood/Agua Dulce (aka the Saufley's). I used my down coat and long john bottoms a couple of times through here, particularly after the sun went down. From there to Kennedy Meadows, it was hot during the day and cool at night, but nothing that a long john top couldn't handle. By late May in Mojave, everyone was pretty much dying of the heat. I also shipped my tent ahead from the Saufley's to Kennedy Meadows, assuming that I could always dry out the next day if a freak rainstorm came through.

From Kennedy Meadows, it's best to carry some warm gear. It gets cold. It can snow, or rain, sometimes depending which valley you're in and your elevation. Overall, it did snow once in the Sierras for me in early June up at 11300 ft, and I just set up my tent early for the night. Never used my raingear, though I carried it. My windjacket and thermal shirt was essential at some points, and I used my down jacket when taking a break on a pass.

After South Lake Tahoe, you can easily send just about everything ahead again, including a tent if you're daring. Maybe keep the thermal top - I just carry mine out of habit. It's hot through northern California - really hot.

Oregon is low elevation, and stays warm if you're there early enough - which you should be.

By the time you reach Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier, you might want to consider getting your warm gear back. And by September, be carrying a rainjacket. You might only need a windshirt while you hike, but you will run into some rain at this point.

So, overall, I'd say my favorite piece of gear was a golite windjacket. I used it the entire trip. I also had a midweight thermal shirt, which I probably didn't need between Mojave and Kennedy Meadows, and from So. Lake Tahoe through, at least, Ashland. The down coat was invaluble, or some sort of jacket. But you only really need it when you get to elevation (Washington, the Sierras, the High Desert). The long john bottoms were pretty useful around those areas, too. And I never NEEDED a rainjacket until I hit Washington.

Of course, I was pretty lucky this year when it came to weather and timing . . .

[chai guy]

I wore long pants (ex officio) and a long shirt (thirft store cowboy shirt) along with a light weight synthetic fill jacket (mountain hardware) for 90% of my hike.

The jacket was used mostly in camp, I'd stop hiking and put that on to retain warmth, then I'd put it on the morning, break camp and keep it on until my first mile to stay warm.

During the Sierra leg, I sent the lightweight synthetic jacket home and traded it for a larger down jacket. I never really "needed" it, but like Girlscout, I mostly used it as a pillow.

I didn't take thermal underwear, but I next time I probably will, as it has a nice bang for the buck.

Other than that I had a thermal hat and gloves, which I used at least once in most sections. You loose a lot of heat through your head/hands/feet, so it's important to keep those covered before you start messing with other stuff.

Some people appeared to be carrying entire wardrobes out there!