[pct-l] IDEAS on what stove to use when cooking for 4

[Charles Doersch]

Yep. We got that. We haven't lost anyone yet. :-D

On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 2:05 PM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> I hiked for a few days with a guy named Hike On. He told me that when
> he hiked with his girlfriend they had a system. If he stopped to use
> a bush, he would place his trekking poles on the side of the trail on
> the same side where he left the trail. If she came behind and passed
> him, she would move the poles to the other side of the trail. That
> way he would know if she had gone by or not when he came back to the
> trail.
>
> Trailhacker came to meet me when I was finishing up my solo hike to
> Canada. He drove up to Canada and headed southbound hoping to cross
> paths with me. We had agreed that if either of us stepped off the
> trail for even a second, we would leave a note on the trail right in
> the middle of the trail.
>
> He told me the date he planned to leave Santa Barbara and I sat
> around Stehekin calculating my daily miles to meet him at the agreed-
> upon location. I had it all figured out.
>
> Two bad events happened. One was that I really really just wanted to
> finish up my hike so I left a day early and then I put in a couple of
> 30 mile days instead of the 20 mile days I calculated. On my final
> night on the trail I had already passed the meeting location and knew
> I would meet him the next day.
>
> I did not know, however, that Trailhacker was in a hurry to meet me
> and he had left from Santa Barbara a day early.
>
> In the morning I headed out really early in the morning. Knowing that
> he would probably have started hiking the trail sometime yesterday
> afternoon, I had calculated where I could expect to find him on the
> trail. I started out early and stopped to use a bush, diligently
> leaving my note on the trail just in case.
>
> In a few hours I started expecting to see his smiling face around
> every corner. In a few more hours I started worrying that I hadn't
> seen him. Then some southbound hikers came by and I asked if they had
> seen him. They hadn't. All kinds of scenarios played in my head. He
> had had a car accident and was in a hospital somewhere. He had blown
> me off. He had car trouble and couldn't make it. With resignation I
> decided to just finish my hike alone.
>
> I walked all the way to the monument. I had only a disposable camera
> so I couldn't take my picture very well. No self-timer, no slot for
> my stick-pick. Trailhacker had said he had a surprise for me and I
> thought it was he bought a new tent but it turned out the surprise
> was to tell me where the trail register was. I didn't know and
> couldn't find it. No record of me finishing.
>
> I hiked to the campsite on the other side of the border and set up
> camp with a little bit of hope that maybe he was just a day late or
> something. I put out my note on the trail. I waited and waited. Nothing.
>
> In the morning I hiked out to Manning Park Lodge. I wasn't sure what
> I should do, if I should wait, go home or what. There was no cell
> service. I found some hikers and asked if they had seen Trailhacker
> and two of them had seen him--on the trail! How could we have missed
> each other???
>
> Since I knew he was somewhere, I tried calling him on the pay phone.
> No luck. I started searching for his car and found it and left him a
> note, hoping he'd somehow eventually have to turn around and come
> back to his car. Then I figured I would just stealth camp until I
> found him. He finally turned up that evening. He had met someone on
> the trail who knew me and knew I was trying to finish my hike faster
> than planned.
>
> Turns out he had camped within a mile of where I had camped my last
> night on the trail, not too far from where I had gone to the bathroom
> that morning, leaving my note. He had not left his note on the trail
> because he figured he was ahead of schedule by a day. He had also
> found a secluded campsite I never saw.
>
> Anyway, it's unbelievably easy to miss someone. I suggest a bullet-
> proof plan with multiple back-ups. Our plan had no back-ups. Sorry
> for the long essay.
>
> On May 5, 2011, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > Catastrophic failure of a hiking partnership is not the only reason
> > why people can get separated either.
> >
> > It's super easy to pass someone and not notice.
> >
> > You can think that you're 5 minutes behind someone, but in reality
> > that person jumped off trail and out of sight to take a dump.
> > Pretty soon the person in the front is sprinting, trying to catch
> > up with the person who's actually behind them, while that person is
> > slowing down trying let the person who's actually ahead of them
> > catch up.
> >
> > Some variation of this happens all the time.
> >
> > Something to plan for... It sounds like you all have a lot of
> > experience, so I'm sure you'll be fine.
> >
> >
> > Swope
>
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