Originally Posted by staehpj1
We are debating about what sleeping bags to take for a June 9 departure from Jamestown for the transam. What kind of temps can we expect and where?
We all own 55 degree REI bags that work great for Summer camping. They work pretty well down to 40 if you pile all of your clothes on top of yourself in the bag. It is a real joy to carry only the tiny bags if it is warm enough. We all own some kind of warmer bag as well.
Would a pile liner add more weight than makes sense? Silk?
If there is just a chance of freezing a couple days out of the whole trip maybe an impromptu vapor barrier from trash bags bought locally? Or just get a room if it is colder only a few days?
How cold do we need to plan for and on which sections. It would be nice to have the minimum required for a given section and maybe have something warmer shipped if the place it would be needed was predictable enough. Or do we need to bike the bullet and carry a 30 degree bag?
Pete
I would say that, for most of the country, a very light bag will do nicely...especially for a June start. The place where you'll likely have problems will be in Colorado. West of Pueblo you start into real mountains where the summer temperatures can dip below freezing, depending on cold fronts. Wyoming and Montana are going to have similar temperatures, although not as extreme.
My suggestion would be to carry the 55 degree bag and look for a liner when you get to Pueblo. You could rent a car in Pueblo and drive up to Colorado Springs (about 45 mile north to the REI), if you can't find anything in Pueblo. That way you don't have to huck something of limited use for 2000 miles.
So that the whole trip wouldn't be wasted, you could also go visit Pike's Peak (hint: it's that mountain you see to your right and you've been seeing it since about Eads
). Worth the side trip. If you don't want to drive to the top, there's a cog railway in Manitou Springs that's worth the money too.