[pct-l] Using a GPS

[Austin Williams]

I suppose the best thing you could do is hike the pct without one, then tell
us whether you would bring one along for your second hike.

That's what I did.  And after going sobo and dealing with that snow... yeah,
I'd bring one along... but only because I prefer moving down the trail
swiftly to spending many frustrating hours trying to find the trail under
snow.

You don't *need* a GPS when going southbound.  I made it without one.  But
saying it's "nice" is an understatement.  That's like saying a home cooked
meal is "nice" after a month on the trail.  I mean, you've got a
multibillion dollar system of 24-32 satellites - managed and maintained by
some of the smartest people alive -  that beam down signals from
outer-freakin-space with precision time referencing... while you're GPS
records the time it receives the signals to within a thousandth of a second,
calculates the distance from the satellites (compensating for variations in
atmospheric density and signal phase shift) to triangulate your exact,
real-time position to with a meter... anywhere on the surface of the Earth.

That's freakin' nice.  And if you ask me, it blows the map and compass out
of the water - presuming you're batteries don't run out and you're not under
dense tree line   ;)

So, I recommend one for Sobos, but Paul's right, you don't *need* one.

In fact, (and I might be going over board here) you don't *need* any one
piece of gear to thru hike the PCT.  Name any one piece of gear and I'm sure
there's a person who's hiked the PCT without it.  Shoes, backpack, sleeping
bag (yes, I met a guy named 'Slim' in 08' that was thru hiking without a
sleeping bag).... pretty much any one thing can be done without.  I even met
a guy named "Cruiser" that was thru hiking the trail without buying any
food.  He literally ate from hiker boxes, dumpsters, and occasionally
kickdowns from other hikers.

But if you're doing your first thru hike of the PCT going southbound and you
go without a GPS, I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts you'll *wish* you had
brought one (unless it was a below average snow year, and even there,
there's those damn unmarked forks in the trail).

HYOH, but don't say I didn't warn ya!

:)

-Austin
PlanYourHike.com