Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I wasn't quite sure where to post it.
Well, after reading many trail journals, gear lists, etc about the JMT from the same time we will be on it (July/August), I've noticed almost all of these people bring (and use, almost daily) a down jacket, in addition to what I was planning on bringing. I was planning on a long base layer top and bottom (mostly to sleep in), a very thin/light fleece jacket, a wind/rain layer, liner style gloves and a hat. I thought that would be enough since it will be July, but I'm beginning to wonder if we might need extra to keep warm. We will be spending a bit of time at camp every night as we are tackling the trail pretty slowly, so we won't be jumping into our sleeping bags as soon as we set up. The problem is we definitely did not budget in backpacking weight down jackets, which are pretty darn expensive for our very low budget...about $150 each.
So I guess my question really is, is there another way to keep warm out there without carrying a bunch of additional heavy layers? Would another light fleece do the trick? I guess it depends on the individual, but what would you do? I've already looked on GearTrader and there seems to not be any light down jackets in our budget