[pct-l] P.O. Resupply - Castella's #'s

[Scott Heeschen]

Ah, Castella.  In '05 I raced the store's closing clock along that road detour at the end of a long day after convincing myself that the store MUST have Icees/Slurpees/Squishees/whatever (I was wrong).  The ranger who gave me a lift for half the road walk said I was the first thru-hiker he had seen, and I knew there were many people in front of me.  Most folks I talked to further up the trail said they had gone into Dunsmuir rather than Castella, so I don't think it was a popular stop that year.

In addition, I totally missed the register when I hit the PO the next morning.  I picked up my packages and hit the trail, not even thinking to look for a register.  That thought hit 10 miles further up the trail.  So there are some possible reasons - a less popular stop and hikers anxious to get back on the trail.

     Buck Larceny


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: jomike at cot.net 
  To: wandering_bob at comcast.net 
  Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net 
  Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 1:06 PM
  Subject: [pct-l] P.O. Resupply - Castella's #'s


  Yes it is odd, that's the reason for my post. When you went through in '04 there were more signatures and had been even more in previous years. What I failed to say is there appears to be a change. That's what I'm curious about as to why it might be lessening? I think next time I head south I'll stop by and get exact numbers. I still say there has been a significant drop in numbers.I'll see.

  are we there yet

  *******************************************************************
  Odd, since when I went through there in 2004, the book was right on the counter to the right of where you came in the door. Lots of signatures. You had to come in, and turn left to get to the PO counter. Now assuming a hiker KNEW where the register was located............


  One possible reason - the PCT does not go past the Castella PO. You have to detour a fair distance along the road to reach it and the store. Some hikers may elect to resupply at Burney Falls State Park and just push on the 183 miles through to Etna before they resupply. Those folks would not want/need to divert to Castella. For folks used to 25 mile days, that's only 7 days and a hitch-hike.

  Another possible reason - the store at Castle Craigs State Park has quite an extensive inventory. One could easily resupply there and never need to go to the PO (just 30 yards away in a sepate building).

  Some of the trail registers have been lost or stolen in years past. Most places have no security for them. They're just left out on a table or counter.

  Wandering Bob
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/attachments/20080208/722ae7b3/attachment.html