[pct-l] Hiker Preparedness

[Brian Lewis]

Wes wrote: "It would be so interesting to hear from Joe and other PCT
veterans regarding the lack of preparedness they witnessed in others on the
trail, or perhaps their own lack of preparedness."
I don't know what the threshold is for "PCT veteran", but I walked the trail
this year and of course saw various interesting things.  I tend to be the
(anal) planning type, so I don't recall personal problems due to lack of
gear, but it's always a balancing act between not wanting to carry too much,
yet having what you need for most situations, and ideas of how to compensate
for any lacking gear.   For example, I mailed my windshirt home from Mt.
Laguna store, and the very next day was really really windy, so I cut arm
and head holes in a black plastic yard waste bag and was fine with that.

In fact, the strongest memory I have on the trail is a sort of counter
example --- thru-hikers in the Sierras fairly early on this year figured out
that they could mail a lot of stuff back home, so at some point ice axe and
crampons and the like started to get less and less common, whereas when we
passed JMT'ers the contrast in volume and type of gear was striking.

I guess I did run into thru's who had less in the way of maps, guidebook
material, etc than I would have been comfortable with.   At some point ---
and not too many hundreds of miles in --- I think that most people still on
the trail are folks that can figure out a way to deal with most situations
with the gear that they have, but I strongly agree that each hiker (even if
hiking in a group) should have their own set of navigational tools and
knowledge & confidence in how to use them.


Brian Lewis
http://postholer.com/brianle