[pct-l] Too much spare time - part 2

[Ellen Shopes]

OK, I'll put in my non-gender biased but age-biased opinion...In the time 
I've been at the Grand Canyon, there has been a consistent trend in who 
needs help (and this tends to hold true in other search and rescue places). 
The most common victim is the younger guy who thinks he can just wing it, 
that bad things just don't happen to him.  I rarely had to assist older, 
retired hikers because they came prepared, knew what they were getting into, 
and knew their own limits...in short, they planned!
Ellen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Lewis" <brianle8 at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2008 6:44 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Too much spare time - part 2


> Patti wrote:           "hmmm...seems to me that all the females are on my
> side...
>           WE ARE WOman!!?? LOL Maybe that's why we prefer to plan...."
>
>
> Hi Patti.  I don't think it's so much gender based as personality type.  I
> planned a great deal and sort of agree with the Eisenhauer quote. 
> There's
> an on-going tension, I think, between those that plan a lot and those that
> don't plan much.  Some members of the latter group claim that planners
> aren't good at adjusting to changes.   I used to think that was rubbish,
> that being more prepared doesn't inherently make you unable to adjust, and 
> I
> still sort of think that way.   I think their point is that the better you
> are at planning, the more you come to expect that your plans will work 
> out,
> and thus --- ironically --- the better a person is at planning, over time
> the worse that person could be equipped emotionally and/or mentally to
> adjust on-the-fly.
>
> The best thing, IMO, is the person that does the right amount of planning,
> while still retaining flexibility.   A lot of planning things that I did
> made little or no difference, but a lot of them did help.   I would say to
> anyone inclined to plan more --- and who perhaps enjoys the planning 
> process
> --- to go for it, plan as much as makes sense to you.   I scripted my 
> first
> three trail days --- didn't even stick to that script, but I had made a
> reservation at Mt. Laguna motel (nice to have when starting with the herd)
> and I stuck with that.    I had a big spreadsheet printout on a wall in my
> basement that my wife could consult to ensure she mailed me the right box 
> to
> the right place at the right time.  I planned to swap out gear at the 
> start
> and end of the Sierras, and that more or less worked out as planned.  I 
> had
> a lot of data along with me (on my smartphone) that occasionally helped,
> such as the zip code to a particular trail town or the phone number to a
> particular motel, though Yogi's book handles most of that quite well.
> Part of the benefit of planning was internalizing a lot of PCT-related 
> data
> that was all new to me.  Part of it was confidence that I had prepared for
> what I reasonably could, and could thus relax a bit more as a result.
>
> Assuming all the basics are in place, I think the biggest advantage that
> advance planners have is the chance to do some meaningful shakedown trips
> beforehand (perhaps 100 to 200 mile solo trips), to try out gear and
> associated hiking style issues to have a better idea of what works best 
> for
> them.  I did a number of shakedown trips in '07 in prep for '08, and they
> helped me a lot.  In particular, I found and dealt with some foot issues
> that might have sidelined me if I'd found them first on the thru-hike
> itself, and I did some gear adjustments, verified that my bear can 
> carrying
> plan would work, tried out different trail food options, etc.
>
> Best wishes for a happy planning process!
>
>
> Brian Lewis / Gadget '08
> http://postholer.com/brianle
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