[pct-l] caching - how to do it

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

On Feb 12, 2010, at 10:21 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
> seeing a bunch of 5-gal buckets right off the switchbacks up there  
> either.

I recall seeing an orange, 5-gallon bucket right off the trail in  
Washington. Someone left it there with a sign on top that said  
"FREE". What hiker is going to see a bucket and think, "Oh goody!"?  
Well, I did, thinking it had food inside, but no, it was just a free  
bucket. It was clear it had been used to resupply someone.

Caching sounds like a logistical nightmare. You drive the trail in  
advance and bury each cache. Then you hike the trail, un-bury each  
cache, pack your food, then re-bury each cache as you go. Then you  
drive the trail after the hike, un-burying empty caches and hopefully  
leaving no trace each time. If you don't complete the hike, you still  
have to drive the trail retrieving caches.

All this to avoid leaving the trail to go to town? Going to town is  
half the fun of hiking the trail. When else in your life can you eat  
as much as you can as if it's a grave responsibility, not an act of  
gluttony? When else does taking a shower feel like you've died and  
gone to heaven? Pleasure is never as pleasurable as when you are long- 
distance hiking.