[pct-l] Thru numbers

[Jackie McDonnell]

Ann Marie -

You are delusional.  You state:  "This year I limited my 3rd gate water
cache assistance to only two trips (there are others who lead the efforts),
but I paid for the $60 of water each time. Add my gas and the 5-6 hours
daily roundtrip commute thru heavily-congested San Diego traffic and I
quickly became more disenchanted with the "magic" during this, my second
year of helping."

It sounds like you are irritated with yourself for the time and money you
spent to HELP hikers.  If it pisses you off so much, stop doing it.  Stop
banging your head against the wall.

You state:  "Don't misunderstand me, I think water caches in some areas are
great. I'm positive they are all much appreciated. But I also think the
extras (fruit, snacks, beer/wine, soda/energy drinks) are too much or
should be reserved for the thrus getting to Oregon or Washington on their
own efforts."

My response:  REALLY?  First of all, you're not putting those treats out,
so it doesn't affect your time/money problems.  Second, those of us who
provide trail magic provide it for ALL hikers.  We do not discriminate
against section-hikers or chunk-hikers.

You state:  "Leave water only and leave a big sign saying 1 to 2 liters max
and request  a $1 or $2 donation to defray the cost. It is no longer
uacceptable
to ask for that small donation - my only concern is that the money may be
stolen."

My respose:  Many hikers leave donations at our Trail Magic.  Many don't.
 We don't flat out ask for donations, but yes, we do have a donation jar.
 We treat everyone the same, whether they leave a donation or not.  The
donations help tremendously, but you are incorrect stating "it is no longer
unacceptable to ask for a donation".  When you ask for a "donation", it is
no longer a donation -- now you are charging for a product/service.  You
are no longer providing magic.  And YES, a donation jar out on the trail
would get stolen, but not necessarily by thru-hikers.  There are LOTS of
people on ATVs on the trail in SoCal.  One to two liters max??  Again, you
are delusional.  You are putting water on the trail for hikers to use.  It
is at an established cache, so YES hikers count on that water to be there.
 You put the water for hikers to use, so don't get pissed off that they are
using. it.

Yogi
www.pcthandbook.com




On Sun, Jun 9, 2013 at 3:42 PM, Ann Marie <dbanmrkr at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Believe me some of the trail angels are rethinking the amount of their
> support.  It is disturbing to read that some hikers are bypassing water
> sources to drink only the bottled water supplied. This year I limited my
> 3rd gate water cache assistance to only two trips (there are others who
> lead the efforts), but I paid for the $60 of water each time. Add my gas
> and the 5-6 hours daily roundtrip commute thru heavily-congested San Diego
> traffic and I quickly became more disenchanted with the "magic" during
> this, my second year of helping. Don't misunderstand me, I think water
> caches in some areas are great. I'm positive they are all much appreciated.
> But I also think the extras (fruit, snacks, beer/wine, soda/energy drinks)
> are too much or should be reserved for the thrus getting to Oregon or
> Washington on their own efforts. Leave water only and leave a big sign
> saying 1 to 2 liters max and request  a $1 or $2 donation to defray the
> cost. It is no longer
>  UNacceptable to ask for that small donation - my only concern is that the
> money may be stolen. Heck, we had two hikers at 3rd gate give the trip
> leader $33 right there at the cache when we dropped off water. They wanted
> to pay for themselves and those hikers behind them. We expressed a ton of
> surprise and gratitude to them.
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