[pct-l] Trail names
Melissa Rexilius
melissa.rexilius at hotmail.com
Wed Dec 22 12:35:54 CST 2010
Hey my trail name is T.Rex... and I swear I had it first... Sarah Palin said dinosaurs were here like only 4,000 years ago.
Melissa RexiliusT.Rex
From: pct-l-request at backcountry.net
Subject: Pct-L Digest, Vol 36, Issue 30
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 12:00:02 -0600
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: moodyjj at comcast.net
CC: Pct-L at backcountry.net
To: amuddler2 at gmail.com
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 02:36:16 +0000
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Crampons
I used Kahtoolas (sp?) through the Sierra this past year and they were sufficient for when I needed extra traction. Don't remember the weight and I'm too lazy to go get them, find the postal scale, weigh them, and report back. I do know they're a lot lighter than real ice-wall-climbing crampons.
Mango
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Yanasak" <amuddler2 at gmail.com>
To: Pct-L at backcountry.net
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 9:32:18 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Crampons
There have been many discussions re the carrying of ice axes for those snowy
passes, but I haven't noticed anyone mentioning crampons. I have a set of
steel ones which weigh in at 2 lbs 9 ox. the pair(!). I dread the thought
of hauling an ice axe, but especially those heavy crampons. They do work
quite well though. I have a set of phony little instep crampons as well...
Amuddler
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: nitnoid1 at yahoo.com
To: amuddler2 at gmail.com; Pct-L at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:36:43 -0800
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Crampons
Try Kathoola Microspikes instead. Lighter and they offer full foot coverage
with their mini-spikes.
The Incredible Bulk
________________________________
From: Mike Yanasak <amuddler2 at gmail.com>
To: Pct-L at backcountry.net
Sent: Tue, December 21, 2010 6:32:18 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Crampons
There have been many discussions re the carrying of ice axes for those snowy
passes, but I haven't noticed anyone mentioning crampons. I have a set of
steel ones which weigh in at 2 lbs 9 ox. the pair(!). I dread the thought
of hauling an ice axe, but especially those heavy crampons. They do work
quite well though. I have a set of phony little instep crampons as well...
Amuddler
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: jolson at olc.edu
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:38:46 -0700
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
I've tried lots of options, including a precip, which didn't keep me
dry. I've finally accepted the fact I'm going to get wet - both from
sweat and from inundation from without. If someone has a piece of
raingear that has kept them "DRY" speak up. I don't think it exists.
So, I've decided to use a silnylon poncho - 6 oz or so. I can wrap it
around my body and with a billed hat, fight off the worst squalls, for a
while at least. Or when it's an all day sprinkle, i can loosen it all
and let my body "breathe".
the key is polypro/some sort of fleece next to the skin that can get wet
but if protected from the wind, doesn't getlet me get cold.
Just my opinion.
Jeffrey Olson, loving the green and wet of northern california after the
dun brown of South Dakota...
Santa Rosa...
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: jamesfmiller at hotmail.com
To: jolson at olc.edu; pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 18:49:19 -0800
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
I use ponchos for the reasons you state
> Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:38:46 -0700
> From: jolson at olc.edu
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
>
> I've tried lots of options, including a precip, which didn't keep me
> dry. I've finally accepted the fact I'm going to get wet - both from
> sweat and from inundation from without. If someone has a piece of
> raingear that has kept them "DRY" speak up. I don't think it exists.
>
> So, I've decided to use a silnylon poncho - 6 oz or so. I can wrap it
> around my body and with a billed hat, fight off the worst squalls, for a
> while at least. Or when it's an all day sprinkle, i can loosen it all
> and let my body "breathe".
>
> the key is polypro/some sort of fleece next to the skin that can get wet
> but if protected from the wind, doesn't getlet me get cold.
>
> Just my opinion.
>
> Jeffrey Olson, loving the green and wet of northern california after the
> dun brown of South Dakota...
> Santa Rosa...
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: jplynch at crosslink.net
To: jamesfmiller at hotmail.com; jolson at olc.edu; pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:52:48 -0500
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
I've purchased a Packa, but haven't had a chance to really wring it out yet... just tried it in a light rain and it seemed to do fine.
ymmv
----- Original Message -----
From: James F. Miller
To: jolson at olc.edu ; pct-l
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 9:49 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
I use ponchos for the reasons you state
> Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:38:46 -0700
> From: jolson at olc.edu
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
>
> I've tried lots of options, including a precip, which didn't keep me
> dry. I've finally accepted the fact I'm going to get wet - both from
> sweat and from inundation from without. If someone has a piece of
> raingear that has kept them "DRY" speak up. I don't think it exists.
>
> So, I've decided to use a silnylon poncho - 6 oz or so. I can wrap it
> around my body and with a billed hat, fight off the worst squalls, for a
> while at least. Or when it's an all day sprinkle, i can loosen it all
> and let my body "breathe".
>
> the key is polypro/some sort of fleece next to the skin that can get wet
> but if protected from the wind, doesn't getlet me get cold.
>
> Just my opinion.
>
> Jeffrey Olson, loving the green and wet of northern california after the
> dun brown of South Dakota...
> Santa Rosa...
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: aslive at sbcglobal.net
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 06:46:39 -0800
Subject: [pct-l] Deep snow pack
This according to Yahoo this morning 6:30 AM PST:
"Water content in the snow pack in California's mountains was at 197 percent of normal and 169 percent of the average measurement for April 1 — traditionally the date when the snow's water content is at its peak, said Ted Thomas, spokesman for the California Department of Water Resources."
We don't know how much will melt or how much more will come between now and the end of the season, but as of now it looks like it could be a late start date this year. Eskimos not withstanding.
Shepherd
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: diane at santabarbarahikes.com
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:30:28 -0800
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Rain Jacket
Things I've noticed about rain gear:
- Nothing keeps me dry.
- Probably the most effective thing I've ever used is an umbrella.
Unfortunately, it's almost worthless when the trail is overgrown and
you push your way through wet plants (basically most of Washington is
like this). Umbrellas expect the rain to come from above, not from
all around you, so if the rain is a mist, the umbrella isn't much help.
- Wet silnylon rain pants feel the same as wet legs. Silnylon pants
get hot so if you keep your hiking pants on, they get wet from sweat.
Wear shorts instead and it's like having wet legs anyway.
- Rain chaps don't let you sit down when it's raining. Rain pants
that aren't seam sealed are worthless when riding a motorcycle, but
might work to let you sit briefly on the trail.
- Anything that is actually waterproof gets so wet on the inside you
can't stay dry. The only thing truly waterproof clothing is good for
is riding my motorcycle.
- People from the PNW seemed more comfortable letting themselves get
wet.
- Seemed it was more important to make sure I kept warm than dry, and
that I had something dry to sleep in. Maybe this is the secret the
PNW natives understood.
- Some people just put up their tents and waited it out when it
rained. This works in So Cal but you'll never make it through
Washington.
If I had it to do all over again, I think I would bring the same
crappy rain gear: a cheap plastic poncho, an umbrella and rain chaps.
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: pmags at yahoo.com
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:50:03 -0800
Subject: [pct-l] Trail Names
Have a hard to pronounce last name, your friends will call you Dom(enic) Mags
and your son will be called Steve Mags
in his guard unit.
Many years later, your grandson will be a bum for a good chunk of his 20s and
30s
and walk the long trails with the same nickname that his friends call him.
(and his brothers are called Joey Mags and Steve Mags as well. Really close
friends call this same hiking bum Paulie Mags.
But, Paul Mags threatens to bodily harm any non-Easter coasters who call him
"Paulie Mags" :) ).
But, that trail name method does not work for everyone...
----------------------------
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://www.pmags.com
http://www.twitter.com/pmagsco
http://www.facebook.com/pmags
-------------------------------
The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust
caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: homelessontherange at yahoo.com
To: pct-l at backcountry.net; paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:27:15 -0800
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
Paul,
You may be trying to be funny, but you just come across as rude.
Thousands of people have completed thru hikes of long distance trails while using trail names. Many of these trail names are obvious, common, and simple. When I thru hiked the AT in 2008, I met plenty of people with duplicated trail names. I personally don't know anybody who has used the trail names "Pack Rat" and "Spill." They are both fairly obvious trail names and fitting descriptions of habits that Rachel and I have demonstrated while doing long distance walks.
"Pack Rat" may be "a well known and popular accomplished hiker," but I don't know him. I searched Trail Journals and found one listing for a "Packrat" (one word) who hiked the AT in 2004. I didn't find any listings for anybody named "Spill." I am not "pretending" to be a guy I never met who hiked the AT in 2004. I don't even know if this is the hiker to whom you refer.
Your list of people who plan to attempt a PCT thru hike in 2011 doesn't include anyone else with the Trail Names "Pack Rat" or "Spill." Do you know of anyone else who plans to hike the PCT with these names in 2011?
Like birth names, trail names don't have to be unique names that nobody has ever used before. I'm not the only person who has ever been named Gary. That doesn't mean I'm "pretending" to be somebody else named Gary. You're not the only person who has ever been named Paul. How would somebody even know if they've come up with a unique, totally original trail name? Is there some searchable registry of evry trail name any hiker has ever used? Is there a specific list of prohibitted trail names that have been officially reserved for "well known and popular accomplished hikers?"
Your 2011 PCT list includes people who have chosen obvious, common trail names like "Blue Moon," "Sunshine," "Spider," "Echo," "Topsy Turvy," and "Goodness." I'm sure that other hikers must have used these trail names before. Did you tell all of these people that they can't use these trail names? You have two Dans and two Mikes listed. Which Dan and which Mike are imposters posing as the other Dan and Mike? You have other PCT hikers listed with unoriginal, deceptive names like "Karen," "James," "Pete," "Ryan," "Steven," "Lisa," "Rick," "Scott," "Kevin," "Dennis," and "Sarah." I'm pretty sure that other people with these names have gone hiking somewhere, sometime previously. Have you officially denied these folks the authority to use these names while hiking and labelled them imposters?
I don't really care what name I use on the PCT, or if I use a trail name at all. I have used the nickname/trail name "Thought Criminal" in various contexts since 2002, but I would prefer to use a less political, more light-hearted name on the PCT. Rachel and I had extensive discussions about possible new trail names while hiking the Glacier NP section of the CDT with a friend whom I met on the CDT in New Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert. It's taken a lot of discussion for us to come to mutually agreeable trail names.
Other trail names I considered have been keeping "Thought Criminal," just going by my birth name, or choosing Winston Smith, Ecotopian, Sequoia (to Rachel's Redwood), Green, Crestone, Peakbagger, 13er, Alien, Dissident, or Swingman (my nickname from high school).
If you want to have a real discussion about trail names, let's move that discussion to the "Trail Names" thread, please.
Cheers,
Gary (insert trail name here)
--- On Tue, 12/21/10, Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
To: "Gary Swing" <homelessontherange at yahoo.com>, pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 4:23 PM
well Pack Rat is a well known and popular accomplished hiker.
...i suppose we could make an exception.
i went ahead and added you to the list as 'imposter pack rat' and "spill"
have a good day,
~Paul
(i hope you sense the intended joking sarcasm here... doesn't always come through on paper)
From: Gary Swing <homelessontherange at yahoo.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net; Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Sent: Tue, December 21, 2010 12:12:17 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
Paul,
We regret to inform you that frankly we don't give a damn what you think.
Cheers,
Pack Rat and Spill
--- On Tue, 12/21/10, Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
To: "Gary Swing" <homelessontherange at yahoo.com>, pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 5:54 AM
Your application for trail names has been regretfully
declined
name "Pack Rat" is already in use
names "Spill" is already in use
for further information please contact the admin
this is an automated message
From: Gary Swing <homelessontherange at yahoo.com>
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Sent: Mon, December 20, 2010 12:49:18 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
My girlfriend (Rachel) and I plan to attempt a northbound thru hike of the PCT in 2011, starting with ADZPCTKO, which is scheduled to take place April 29-May 1.
I was "Thought Criminal" on the AT in 2008 and the Colorado Trail in 2009. Rachel proposes to call me "Pack Rat" on the PCT in 2011. She was "Red" on the AT. I propose to call her "Spill" on the PCT.
Cheers,
Gary Swing
Partner, Rachel Terry
--- On Mon, 12/20/10, Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Paul Robison <paulrobisonhome at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru hikers for 2011...by date
To: "Rick Wiggins" <moosewig at yahoo.com>, pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Monday, December 20, 2010, 5:24 AM
k i added new entries and sorted by date to let you see who's going to be near
you:
James B (blue moon – march)
Mike Schaffer (April 8)
Holly Eggleston ( early / mid april)
Pete and Karen Peterson (Early-Mid April)
Ryan Hull (early – mid april)
Ramblin' Rose (aja) and Emily (mid april)
Steven dvsteven (flying tortoise) (mid april)
Duncan Webb (Spider) (April 17)
Outpost and Echo (April 17)
Ron Dye (burning daylight), (April 17)
Colin and topsy Turvy (mid-late april)
Joyce L (mid-late April)
Lisa Freathy (mid – late april)
Matthias Kodym/Austria (mid/late April)
Rick Wiggins (mid – late april)
Scott G ; flip-flop (mid to late april)
Kevin ( start 4/20 )
Dennis osbourne - Sunshine (april 22)
Whitnee Goode (late april, after 23’rd)
jim and Dona (april 24)
Alexander asai (late april)
Bryan Cox < late April>
Jen N (late april)
Gregory Wilson and his brother (last week april)
Dan K (April 27)
Sarah howard (ko)
Toby Maxwell (may 8-12)
Prizm and Goodness (mid may)
Dale P (late may)
Christa Wellman (late may)
Dale P (late may)
Dan Engleman (end of may)
Siesta Steve (UK, Idyllwild may 23)
Lyndsey (lollygag) SOBO (june/july)
no dates for the following ppl...
Jonathon derecourt (jono) and his wife
Joshua pinedo ( JP) … questionable…?
Karl Jorgenson, Jorgy
Kylie skidmore (skids)
Liechty, David and Rachel
Mike chapman
Neil P
Robert Henry
Goodluck all and i'll see you out there !~!~
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--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: sauntrer at gmail.com
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:38:04 -0500
Subject: [pct-l] FS Six Moons Lunar solo
I've got a six moons lunar solo, great condition, very little use, standard floor, no stakes or stuff sack. Asking $150 including priority shipping. Paypal payment.
Sent from my iPod
--Forwarded Message Attachment--
From: homelessontherange at yahoo.com
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:49:22 -0800
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Trail Names
In response to my first post on this forum (different thread), I have had a dispute with someone who labels me an "impostor" for proposing to use the trail name "Pack Rat" on the PCT in 2011. My girlfriend, Rachel, wants to use the trail name "Spill," which is also apparently not unique and original. Rachel and I had extensive discussions this summer about possible new trail names while we hiked the Glacier NP section of the CDT with a friend. It's taken a lot of discussion for us to come to mutually agreeable trail names, until we settled on "Pack Rat" and "Spill."
(Brief aside -- for the Glacier hike we named our friend "Bob McGuire" because he asked Rachel if I'd told her about his "barbed wire" incident in New Mexico. She thought he said "Bob McGuire" and asked who "Bob McGuire" was.)
Thousands of people have completed thru hikes of long distance trails while using trail names. Many of these trail names are obvious, common, and simple. When I thru hiked the AT in 2008, I met plenty of people with duplicated trail names. I personally don't know anybody who has used the trail names "Pack Rat" or "Spill." They are both fairly obvious trail names and fitting descriptions of habits that Rachel and I have demonstrated while doing long distance walks.
"Pack Rat" may be "a well known and popular accomplished hiker," but I don't know him. I searched Trail Journals and found one listing for a "Packrat" (one word) who hiked the AT in 2004 and the Long Trail in 2005. I didn't find any listings for anybody named "Spill." I am not "pretending" to be a guy I never met who hiked the AT in 2004.
Like birth names, trail names don't have to be unique names that nobody has ever used before. I'm not the only person who has ever been named Gary. That doesn't mean I'm "pretending" to be somebody else named Gary. How would somebody even know if they've come up with a unique, totally original trail name? Is there some searchable registry of every trail name any hiker has ever used? Is there a specific list of prohibited trail names that have been officially reserved for "well known and popular accomplished hikers?"
I don't really care what name I use on the PCT, or if I use a trail name at all. Like anyone else, I don't want to be stuck with a dumb name like "Halitosis" or "Stinky Feet." However, my girlfriend *insists* that we both must have trail names, and wants us to start out on the PCT with them.
Here are some pros and cons of trail names that I've considered:
Thought Criminal: I used this trail name on the AT in 2008, the Colorado Trail and in the Chihuahuan Desert in 2009, and on the CDT between Canada and Butte in 2010. I have used this as a nickname in various contexts since 2002 -- on mountaineering forums, for a personal website that I had from 2003 to 2009, on a personal profile that I had for five years, and for a "Thought Criminal Test" that I wrote. The term is taken from George Orwell's dystopian novel "1984" about a totalitarian society in which anyone who thinks for oneself is branded a "Thought Criminal." On the AT, I found that most people didn't get the reference; the name was too long and people shortened it to "TC;" and I often had to spell out the word "Thought" when I met people who couldn't understand my pronunciation of the word. I prefer to replace this name on the PCT in favor of something less political and more light-hearted. I don't want to feel that I must live up to this name.
Pack Rat: Rachel and my friend Barrett ("Bob McGuire") have made fun of my tendency to pick up and carry useless and generally unwanted items and carry them long distances before eventually using them, sending them home, or leaving them somewhere else. I tend to do this particularly with hiker boxes, picking up something nobody else wants and carrying it a long way until I eventually leave it in another hiker box, or consuming it (if it's food) when I have nothing else left to eat. Also, I do promotional work for the Colorado Ballet, sometimes in costume. I wear a rat costume for promotions of "The Nutcracker." Drawbacks: "Pack Rat" is a common, unoriginal name. It has been objected that a "well known and popular accomplished hiker" uses the name Pack Rat.
Alien: Expresses my deep feelings of alienation from American society. I was also amused by the "No Alien" stickers I saw posted on the Colorado Trail. I wrote a satirical commentary about this. In 2010, Denver (where I live) had a local initiative on the ballot to create an "Extra-Terrestrial Affairs Commission" to study evidence of alleged extra-terrestrial visitation on Earth. I wrote some satirical commentaries about this proposal and used an "Extraterrestrial Affairs" themed costume for Halloween. Drawback: Folks might assume that I'm a UFO buff, which I'm not.
Peakbagger: My hobby from 1990 to 2007 was climbing Colorado's 637 mountains over 13,000 feet. Drawback: I don't plan to divert from the PCT to bag peaks, except for Whitney and Muir.
13er: See Peakbagger.
Winston Smith: Lead character from George Orwell's novel "1984." The original "Thought Criminal." Less obvious trail name than "Thought Criminal," sounds like a real name. Most people probably wouldn't get the reference.
Crestone: The name of my favorite Colorado 14ers (Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle).
Green: I was a Green Party candidate for Congress in 2010. Rachel was "Red" on the AT in 2008. Could be part of a "couples' name -- except Rachel doesn't want to be "Red" again.
Sequoia: I have a Specialized Sequoia road bike. Rachel briefly considered being "Redwood" on the PCT before rejecting it. Possible couples' name.
Ecotopian: Obscure literary reference to Ernest Callenbach's novel "Ecotopia" in which northern California, Oregon, and Washington secede from the United States to build a new society based on principles of ecological sustainability. Seems appropriate to me since we'll be walking the length of "Ecotopia." Drawbacks: Most people won't get the reference, and it's too many syllables.
Swingman: This was my nickname in high school, but I haven't used it since 1985. Doesn't seem meaningful to me anymore.
Rachel used the name "Red" on the AT. We met in North Carolina and walked to Maine together. Red was her nickname from trail crew in the White Mountains (NH) for her hair color. I thought it was a boring, unoriginal name, so I tried to give her a different name. She rejected my proposals. I suggested "Lumber Jill" because she was a competitive Lumberjack. I later proposed "Redblaze" because she kept falling and blazing the trail with her own blood. For our Glacier National Park hike, I proposed to name her "Pandemic" because she works in a medical laboratory at a hospital. At the time, the people in her lab were playing a fantasy game called "Pandemic" in which they try to design a highly contagious disease capable of wiping out the entire human race. On the AT, we also debated the idea of calling ourselves "Misery" and "Company" -- with some uncertainty as to who would get which name. For the PCT, she considered switching to "Redwood" with me as
"Sequoia." I proposed the name "Spill" for her on the PCT because she always seem to spill her food, and often spills herself as well. She tumbled down a rock stairway on the AT. Another time, she tripped over her own feet, stumbled a few paces, and fell on the only stickerbush in the area.
So... in non-conclusion, I don't really care what name I use on the PCT, as long as it's not "Halitosis" or "Stinky Feet." Rachel thinks we should stick with "Pack Rat" and "Spill" -- even though other people have used those names.
Cheers,
Gary
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