This Makes No Sense At All

There is one serious hiking issue that is unique to two people hiking together. This is the accidental passing. You think the other person is ahead when he/she is really behind. Your attempts to catch up only worsen the problem. I have seen this happen once to another couple in Europe, and on the isolated environs of the PCT it is much more serious. We are serious about safety and attempt to be prepared for any weather that might come up. However, our gear is split. The two of us together have everything we need,  but neither carries enough to get through a night on their own without problems. About all we each have is a space blanket and a sleeping bag. Consequently, we are quite careful not to get accidentally separated. If the person ahead is out of sight of the other, and has to go off the trail, they either leave their poles or their backpack on the trail, so they can't be accidentally passed. Believe me, in my hiking head-down mode, I can miss something two feet off the t...

The Dinsmores, and the pct-l forum report lots of rain. Fortunately the resupply points are five to seven days apart for strong hikers, so if everything is wet by the fifth day, just a day or two more till you reach civilization. I've already sent off my Stephenson's Warmlite to get endliners, which will reduce condensation in the front and back of the tent, should we ever be so foolish as to ever attempt such a trip again. I'm still investigating how to cook in the tent - seems risky at best. Even if we don't burn our shelter down, how much oxygen do two people need in a Warmlite, and how much is used up if you take 7 minutes to boil a liter of water in the tent? Maybe I should get one of those carbon monoxide warning devices, put it in the tent while we boil a pot of water.

A long time coming, but we finally reached the monument marking the Canada-US border. Our first segment of the trail was in 1989, but we have done the majority of it since 2004, in a couple of 200 to 300 mile trips each year. This year we decided we didn't know how long we could keep doing this, so did the last 470 miles in one 5 1/2 week trip. It's way too much stuff to put in a single blog post, so I'll just post from time to time on whatever comes to mind about the trip. One is that Washington weather is different, particularly northern Washington. If I lived up there I would have to rethink my gear for wet conditions. We had rain and snow, which we've experienced before, but never with days on end with no sun or wind to dry things out. Our waterproof socks made things comfortable as long as we could start the day with dry liners, but by the end of five days, all socks were wet, tent was wet, fleece was a little damp, down bag a little damp and we were a little we...