Aftermath - Gear in Review Part 2

Clearly this hunt consisted of two completely different phases: grinding up the mountain, working up a sweat, followed by hunkering down in a snow drift, in the howling wind, waiting for the rams to move.

To complete the picture the the climbing phase, I wore summer-weight hiking pants over top of the base layer, a mid-weight fleece jacket, and a set of KUIU Chugach rain gear. You don't need a lot of insulation when you are hiking, but you do need protection from the wind. A set of good rain gear can do the trick. I have no complaints about the KUIU rain gear, it has held water out during days of downpour in the fall, and kept the nastiest of winds out during this trip.

Despite all the claims of modern fabric and gear makers, I'm convinced that total waterproofness, and breathability are two mutually exclusive features, or at least largely incompatible. On opening day I pushed fairly hard to catch up with a hunter and his companion ahead of me. I managed, it turned out to be someone I knew, and we hiked to the saddle together. When I wanted to take my rain jacket off, I found that it had frozen to my fleece jacket! This proved to me a few things:

1. The insulation layer was working, the outside of my clothing got cold enough to freeze sweat.
2. The moisture transport to the outer layer was working (at least to a certain extent, because there was enough of it there to freeze two garments together. 
3. The breathability of the rain gear could be improved, something that KUIU claims to have accomplished with their new line of rain gear: Chugach NX. Unfortunately I won't be able to test that for a little while longer, with the price level of these high-tech garments I need to use them till they fall apart before thinking about getting a replacement.

That said, this rain gear has possibly become the most important part of my mountain gear, as an outer layer that keeps you absolutely dry (from rain) and keeps the wind from stripping away the heat from your insulation layers. It's not super quiet, but for chasing sheep in the krags, or rifle hunting elk in open, semi-alpine terrain I have never found that to be a problem.

To be continued...