[pct-l] Hiking Solitude

[Ken Powers]

Don't think that the PCT is the only long distance hike around, especially 
if you are looking for solitude.

The CDT sounds as if it still has its solitude. And an order of magnitude 
less hikers than the PCT.

The Arizona Trail is now complete and has few through hikers. It also has 
heat and water problems, and has a growing number of water caches and trail 
angels. But it is not yet a crowd scene.

The Idaho Centennial Trail has a handful of through hikers total. It has 
gorgeous mountain scenery and a stretch of waterless desert.  It also passes 
through 4 very small towns in approx 800 miles making resupply interesting.

Utah has some beautiful red rock trails to hike.

If you are looking for solitude the west has some great trails for you.

Ken
www.GottaWalk.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ken Murray" <kmurray at pol.net>
To: "." <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 10:27 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Recruiting New Water Cachers!


Friends,

The issue of trail support has weighed on me this year.  With the 
destruction of my ankle, I'll probably never complete the trail, so my 
perspective is soley as a support person.  I spend most of my summers 
working on the trail in the Sierra, and run into many hikers on their 
journey.  I was involved in cutting the trees at Red's Meadow this year.

I was very bothered by the volume of people this year.  The impact of about 
a thousand people is significant.

Even in the ten years that I've been doing support, there has been a huge 
increase, and not just this year.

When I was doing a project at Lake Edison this summer, I asked several 
hikers what most surprised them, and they were unanimous in saying "the 
social aspect".

My observation:  This increase is occuring because the trail is becoming 
easier to hike. All of the resupply options, all the water support, the 
support books of various sorts, maps, descriptions of how to do it, the 
places to stay as a group that has a HUGE impact on the psychological 
component....they all have an impact.

The KO has filled up every year.  There are not significantly more people 
this year at the KO, than there were 5 years ago.  What HAS happened is that 
it fills up quicker and quicker each year...Used to take a month, now less 
than a week.  The pool of potential hikers has hugely expanded, but they are 
not being accommodated at the KO.

Donna has had to set daily limits.  The volume of water at caches used is 
sometimes unbelievable....and will go up.

I don't have an answer to all this, but the future is predictable.  You used 
to have to be able to manage snow, manage water, manage permits, manage your 
mental state, manage resupplies.  It is getting so you don't even NEED a 
formal resupply. How best to get cell phone coverage? Spot? Sat phone?

Do people even get lonely?

This is not the trail that Eric Ryback hiked, nor Teddie, nor Strider, nor 
Kelty Kid.

In the forest service, they say that wilderness management is a misnomer. 
We don't need to manage the wilderness, it has done fine for itself for 
millenia.  It is about managing PEOPLE, and it's true.

How to manage the people will be the biggest challenge for the trail, I 
think.  But as is true for many things, more people does not make the 
problem better.

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