[pct-l] Thru hike 2009

[mark v]

Mr. German Guy, it looks like you have an excellent
start to your planning.  Most of your
questions/assumptions are correct.   You will need a
bear canister from Kennedy Meadows to Sonora Pass,
roughly mile 700 to mile 1000ish.  The guidebook maps
will work ok. I got a lot of great info and
entertainment from reading journals on
trailjournals.com, and i know postholer.com has a
bunch now too.  

One thing i would advise though.  I'm doing the trail
this year, and am past 500 miles now.  I'm still
trying to lighten my pack.  To do the whole trail,
it's critical to be carrying less than 30 lbs. if at
all possible, so you can do all those 25 mile days. 
So for me, that's meant changing strategy to carrying
as little food as possible, and resupplying every
possible little town with any kind of a store.  At
least in southern California, there are many many
towns.  Look at the guidebook maps at the beginning of
each section.  There are towns all over the place.  If
i were you, i'd ditch the idea of carrying food for
10-14 days, except in the High Sierra where you have
no choice.  Try instead to carry for only a 2-5 days. 
Almost all small towns along the trail have food 
you'll be ok with.

That's all.  Have a blast. It's amazing out here.

Cuddles

www.trailjournals.com/markvpct08