[pct-l] Hiker Preparedness

[Bob Sartini]

Once again we're in a "hike your own hike" territory.

For some being without GPS is hopelessly ill prepared and for others it is 
being naturally unencumbered.

Some of us can never be secure enough and others cannot be light enough.

Like the "lite" people who constantly borrow duct tape, knife, rope,etc. I 
guess we can add "can I look at your map,yogi, data book, just for a minute"

"EVERYTHING is in walking distance,"
    ......Bamboo Bob
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Lewis" <brianle8 at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 7:52 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Hiker Preparedness


> 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
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