Bag ?

[10-K]

Trying to finalize my bag selection...

What's the coldest temp you personally experienced on the PCT between May / September?

Barring a weather anomaly I'm guessing the coldest temps are in May and September so desert and WA state would be coldest?

[Malto]

May to sept...... I didn't have anything below upper 20s but there were many nights border to border in the thirties. I think most of the very cold temperatures are found in SoCal in march and April.

[10-K]

Reason I asked is because I was planning to take my MB 20* bag - weighs just over 2 lbs.

I've got a WM 35* bag (good for 30*, easy) that weighs 15.9 ozs on my scale. Could even put in a silk liner and come in less than the MB bag.

Decisions.

[postholer.com]

What's the coldest temp you personally experienced on the PCT between May / September?

It's not unusual to experience a 20 something degree night in the Sierra. All it takes is a moderate cold front passing through and it will get chilly. June 24th of last year near Hwy 4/Ebbets Pass was a perfect example.

May 2nd on Mt Laguna during my first hike, 2nd night on the trail was 22 degrees. I was using my home made quilt and damn near froze.

My frist experience on the PCT clearly dictated I carry my 15 degree Marmot Helium (2lbs). While I only zipped it up completely on a handful of nights, I'm glad I had it.

-postholer

[RedBeerd]

I was living in the Sierras from late May - September about 3 miles off the PCT. We had a few nights well under freezing and believe we hit the teens mid-late august. This was at 8000 feet.

I clearly remember 2-3 nights cowboy camping in my 25 degree down bag and waking up shivering cold even with all my layers on and I sleep warm.

[garlic08]

I had one night in the upper teens during a late snow storm in the Sierra. My 20F bag worked fine. If I'd had my Helium then I would have carried it the whole trip. The dampness in the WA Cascades was more of a factor than the cold--one early snowstorm and the temps were around freezing but it was a challenge after four days of heavy rain.

[handlebar]

I carried a 15* Mountain Hardware bag for the PCT because I didn't have the 20* WM Ultralight that many were using. I would carry my Ultralite and silk liner if I hike the PCT again. I had some temps in the mid 20s in the desert, the Sierras, and the N Cascades. Whether your WM 35* bag w/silk liner will work for you on PCT depends on what other gear you carry. For example, I was comfortable in my 0* Mountain Hardware bag on a recent winter trip where the temp reached -12*F because I had a silk liner and wore wool socks, lightweight long johns and my lightweight MH hooded down sweater over 200 wt Icebreaker long sleeve T shirt.

I'm not suggesting you carry all those for the entire PCT. If you use a bounce bucket, which I strongly recommend, you can have similar extra insulation for use when sleeping in temps colder than your bag rating then offload some of the extra to the bounce bucket in portions of the PCT with milder overnight temperatures.

I recommend a silk liner regardless of which bag you decide on. The liner protects the bag from your body oils and dirt which over time will reduce the down's insulation. It's quite easy to hand wash a silk liner on a town day. (I've found machine washing and drying of silk severely shortens it's useful life.) Washing a down bag during your thru would mean a very busy Nero or zero.

[Sasquatch!]

Last year I went with a WM Summerlite long with WM down pants, and a down jacket. I was cold a few nights when it got below freezing. The bag was too narrow for my build.

This year I am using a Marmot Helium long I snagged for $270. I wanted the new WM Terralite but its about $485.
The Helium is a 15 degree bag. The Terralite is a 25 degree bag. However, both have the same EN comfort rating or 28 degrees.

If you can afford it grab a terralite. It zips open completely like a quilt, is wide enough to allow all sorts of layering, and weighs less than 2lb

[SCRUB HIKER]

Personally, upper 20s. My water bottles only froze overnight three times, once in the Sierra, once in Northern Washington. Hiked May 5 to September 23. I thought Yogi's planning guide made way too much of the cold nighttime temps on the PCT. They're definitely cooler than the AT, but I had to wear a balaclava and extra layers a total of a dozen times max. Never wore or carried a warm hat. Make of that information what you will.

[Sly]

A 20* bag is just about perfect the entire distance.

[Mags]

Don't know the temps, but it snowed for just outside of Wrighthood heading north. That was in May!

[garlic08]

Don't know the temps, but it snowed for just outside of Wrighthood heading north. That was in May!

I remember the locals in Wrightwood saying they always get a May snow.

[colorado_rob]

Reason I asked is because I was planning to take my MB 20* bag - weighs just over 2 lbs.

I've got a WM 35* bag (good for 30*, easy) that weighs 15.9 ozs on my scale. Could even put in a silk liner and come in less than the MB bag.

Decisions.

Just one opinion, I'd go with this setup, keep the liner for a while, then ship it home (and potentially get it back very late in WA, depending on how fast you get there). This assumes you are using a tent or at least a tarp?

My modus operandi is to save weight and carry a bag for long hikes that is slightly inadequate for the coldest of nights, realizing that there will only be a handful of nights where I might have to simply wear all my warm clothing to bed. Your WM bag and liner really should be fine down to close to 20 or so, especially if you are prudent on campsite location on the colder nights, like try to find some overhang/tree/whatever to shield you from the frigid night sky. The biggest heat loss in the west comes from radiative heat loss to a clear night sky. I realize trees and other cover might be hard to come by, but even cozying up against a large rock or whatever helps reduce your sky exposure. It's all about the clear nights in the west. cloudy/overcast nights are much warmer for sleeping. This gets more and more important at higher altitude, of course, but by the time you get to serious altitudes, it will be June+. Go with what you have.

[colorado_rob]

And snow has absolutely nothing to do with sleeping warm. Snow happens in the west (at altitude) when it's in the 30's and even 40's that time of year. Snow, schmow.

[Miner]

I had a few nights below freezing in SoCal in spring and I had temps drop to around 20F in Northern Washington in late September. When I was camping at Dolly's Vista by Glacier Peak, I had to wear my hiking clothes over the baselayers I normally slept in and had my rain jacket laying over my hips. That was the only time I had to resort to sleeping in anything other then my baselayers inside my optimistically rated 1st generation GoLite (2008) 20F quilt at 19oz (should have been rated at high 20's in my opinion) while inside my lightweight bivy sack. Even with the snow that I had at the border wasn't that cold.

In a related note, my coldest day hiking before the last week on the trail near Canada, was just after Wrightwood in SoCal on June 3.

[fredmugs]

Last August I did 200 miles from Goat Rocks to Stevens Pass. The first night out of Snoqualmie I thought it was going to snow but it didn't. Very cold and windy. It did snow right after I finished my section.

[Transient Being]

What about using a tent to increase warmth at night? I have a summerlite 32° bag. But if I get in my lightheart solo tent wouldnt that raise temp a few degrees? Im not sure about using a non-free standing tent on the PCT, ive never been out west. Just trying to see if this setup would be feasible.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

[SCRUB HIKER]

What about using a tent to increase warmth at night? I have a summerlite 32° bag. But if I get in my lightheart solo tent wouldnt that raise temp a few degrees? Im not sure about using a non-free standing tent on the PCT, ive never been out west. Just trying to see if this setup would be feasible.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

Thousands of PCTers and JMTers, yours truly included, use/used a non-freestanding tent. Yes, tents keep you warmer and most people pitch their tent when it's cold at night regardless of rain/bugs, but a sleeping bag provides vastly more warmth per ounce than a tent does. It's much better to focus on sleeping bag selection than tent selection if you're concerned about warmth.

[brian039]

Low 20's in the San Jacinto's and Sierra. I carried a 20* bag the whole way. It gets to be a little overkill in for a short while in NorCal but not worth the trouble of switching out bags.

[Sasquatch!]

What about using a tent to increase warmth at night? I have a summerlite 32° bag. But if I get in my lightheart solo tent wouldnt that raise temp a few degrees? Im not sure about using a non-free standing tent on the PCT, ive never been out west. Just trying to see if this setup would be feasible.

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

A tent will def help keep you warmer. The Summerlite is warm enough for most nights with a down jacket, etc.
I carried a free standing tent and it certainly made setup quicker and easier.