[pct-l] Beginner experience level

[ned at mountaineducation.org]

The kind of experience you have while thru hiking depends why you're out 
there in the first place. Diane paints a lovely picture of backpacking back 
in the day and contrasts it to her experience hiking the PCT.

They need not be different.

When I hiked the PCT and CDT, the emphasis was on getting the most out of 
the experience, and that included, at least for me:
hiking a shorter day (trip averages of 17mpd),
finding a spot to camp with a nice view and frequently plenty of water,
maybe a campfire (where allowed),
having a nice, leisurely, hot dinner to pig-out on while reading my guide 
book and maps ahead,
going to sleep with the sun, and
enjoying a nice, long, hot breakfast in the morning while reading a good 
book.

I still made it to Canada before the first snows.
I took lots of pictures, explored side trails, canyons, and peaks.

For me, hiking is still backpacking with lots of leisurely exploration and 
discovery (the miles happen along the way, but are not the emphasis of the 
journey).




Ned Tibbits, Director
Mountain Education
www.mountaineducation.org
-----Original Message----- 
From: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2013 5:21 PM
To: gary_schenk at verizon.net
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Beginner experience level

There's that whole "freeway" thing, and also before I ever hiked the
PCT, a backpack trip meant I hiked from maybe 10am to about 2pm or
so. Set up camp at a nice location with a lake or stream and
sometimes a picnic table and fire ring. Lolled about. Lingered over a
campfire at night and breakfast in the morning.

On the PCT, I usually started hiking before the sun was up. I ate
wherever I was whenever I was hungry. I sometimes ate dinner before
finding a campsite. Sometimes I found a campsite so late I went to
sleep as soon as I set up my tent. I rarely cared whether my campsite
was in some great location. What really mattered was if the location
would be warm at night and not be in a sinkhole of cold air. I didn't
care if my campsite had any water in it. I would sometimes carry an
extra liter just for the freedom to not care whether there was water
near my campsite. My campsite was for sleeping. The entire rest of
the time on trail was for hiking and eating and looking at the
beauty. My whole focus was on hiking and making lots of miles and
seeing everything around the next corner. In fact, I felt so greedy
about seeing what was around the next corner. It was like the next
corners were never going to end.

It's all about the hiking, not the camping.


On Mar 11, 2013, at 10:52 AM, gary_schenk at verizon.net wrote:

> When backpacking, you're out on your own left to your own devices.
> You're traveling to places few folks ever get to, you'll be at high
> lakes and crossing passes with little or no trail. You'll not see
> anyone. You will see wildlife.
>
> On the PCT, you're on a backcountry freeway. You'll run into dozens
> of people each day. Some on motorbikes. When you get to your
> planned camp site, you might even think you're at Tuolumne Meadows,
> there's so many camped there. Every few days you're eating
> hamburgers and drinking beer and sleeping in a bed. Etc.
>
> Gary
>
>
> On 03/11/13, JPL wrote:
>
> what's the difference between "backpacking" and "hiking with some
> sleeping
> thrown in"?

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