[pct-l] Regarding tent stakes & food odors (Oregon PCT)

[TOM AND JOANNE BALCOM]

     Oregon is the freeway of the pct, Mostly dirt trail with easy grades, [except Mt Hood]. You can push your stakes in the ground by hand
     Or if need be, drive them in with a rock. I camped on the trail on Mt Jefferson two years ago, the wind came up in the middle
     of the night and blew my tent over pulling all of my stakes out of the ground. This was not a normal wind, I would guess it was
     blowing 40 +.    Stretch
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: OMullis<mailto:omullis at aircanopy.net> 
  To: pct-l at backcountry.net<mailto:pct-l at backcountry.net> 
  Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2008 3:42 PM
  Subject: [pct-l] Regarding tent stakes & food odors (Oregon PCT)


  Couple questions for the experienced crowd.

  1. What's your experience with Oregon soils along the PCT as far as inserting/removing 6-8" tent stakes?  Is a mallet needed or can one push them in by hand and/or mash them in with one's foot?

  2. I'm thinking that the manufacturer's engineered foil-and-polymer wrappers on bar items (Clif, Balance, Kashi, etc) and cold-prep freeze-dried foods (e.g., Adventure Foods) are impermeable enough with regard to odors that if I keep them inside an odorproof O.P. Sak to further reduce the odor transmission that I won't need to also provide a physical barrier/deterent like an Ursack or bear can.  Sound reasonable? Naive? Ignorant?

  Trying to keep things as light and simple as I can without creating problems for myself or others. Thanks for sharing your experience and advice!  

  Ollen Mullis
  PCT-OR Sept2008 
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