After footwear and the backpack, the next heaviest item is shelter. For much of the Mexican border to Kennedy Meadows I relied upon Tyvek building wrap. Tyvek is now being used to replace tar paper on new home wall construction. It is breathable and waterproof like Goretex but vastly cheaper. Since it comes in 8 foot wide 300 foot long rolls you will be better off talking a builder out of an 8 foot by 7 foot long piece of scrap from where he had to cut out a window or door. Also, a hardware store in Big Bear is now carrying small pieces for PCT hikers since they have had so many requests. That's hiker friendly!. On clear nights you sleep on the doubled Tyvek; on rainy or snowy nights you fold the 8 foot width in half and sleep sandwiched inside the 7 foot length. A piece this size weighs about 8 ounces and will last for about 100 nights. The printed side should always be facing the outside ground or sky. The biggest drawback is the noise the fiberglass laminate makes when you turn over. It also lets more wind in than a bivy sack and doesn't add the 10 degrees F to a sleeping bag's warmth that a bivy sack does. However, it is a good light alternative in the deserts at less than 4000 feet.

Above 4000 feet in the Sierra and up to the Oregon border I was extremely comfortable in an Outdoor Research Advanced Goretex bivy sack. It's pricey at about $250 and heavier at almost two pounds with two fiberglass poles. But it is bombproof, water tight and breathable and does add 10 degrees F to your sleeping bag rating, which allows for a lighter sleeping bag. I usually leave the sleeping bag in the bivy sack and upon reaching camp for the night or a lunch I put the two in the sun with the bivy sack zipped up and let them cook. Any condensation evaporates; I have never had a wet sleeping bag in 2700 miles. This is very important with down which loses its warmth when wet. The bivy sack even worked beautifully in a snow storm in the Paria River Canyon in Utah. Usually I dispense with the two fiberglass poles which brings the weight down to about 24 ounces. The bivy sack comes with mosquito netting and allows for three positions: closed for heavy weather, wide open for starry nights, half open for dew or drizzle. It is a little claustrophobic when closed. The longest I could stand being cooped up inside in heavy weather was 12 hours.

Oregon and Washington tend to be very buggy and very wet; a tent is absolutely necessary to protect your mental health. I found a marvelous, light two-person tent with two full-length side doors, a mostly netting body with a light weight coated nylon fly with room under the fly for two back packs out of the rain. It comes with one fiberglass shock corded pole and is tall enough to sit up inside out of the bugs and/or rain. It weighs 3 pounds even and is almost free standing. It adds about 5 degrees F to your sleeping bag's warmth and is called the Peak 1 and is made by Coleman at about $90. On most nights I leave the rain fly off and can drift off to sleep watching the sky show; the visibility approaches 90%. On buggy days I can sit inside in my Thermarest chair, safe from the hungry whines, cook dinner outside the door under the rain fly, and eat inside, all without getting up. It is about 60 square feet under the tent and about 80 square feet under the rain fly.

Tidebe@earthlink.net