[pct-l] Water Caches

[Dave Fajer]

An outstanding summary and message!

Thanks,

Coastal


Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Smartphone

<div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Eric Lee <saintgimp at hotmail.com> </div><div>Date:04/29/2014  11:00 AM  (GMT-08:00) </div><div>To: 'PCT' <pct-l at backcountry.net> </div><div>Subject: Re: [pct-l] Water Caches </div><div>
</div>Lonely Turtle wrote:
>
I know I cannot keep up, so while I like to maintain a spot where hikers can
enjoy a drink and some shade, I cannot possibly get enough water and other
items into my cooler to keep up with the new numbers.
>

As a trail angel, it's always tempting to set your sights on serving *every*
thru-hiker that comes along.  That used to be feasible many years ago but
isn't any longer, for most people.  We need to get away from the idea of
this stuff as "trail infrastructure" and go back to the idea of "trail
magic".  Some people will be in the right place at the right time to enjoy
what you provide, and others will not, and that's just the magic of the
trail.

Think of it this way: if you pick up a hitchhiking thruhiker and give them a
ride, that doesn't obligate you to hang around at that trailhead for the
next three weeks and give rides to everyone.  You do what you can and let
serendipity hold sway.  The same mentality should apply to water caches,
food caches, opening your home, etc., etc.  There's nothing sadder than
seeing the stressed, harried look on a trail angel's face when they've set a
goal of serving every thru-hiker on the trail and then they get overwhelmed
by all the traffic.  I've witnessed a couple of those situations and believe
me, no one goes away feeling good about it.

Conversely, thru-hikers need to understand that *nothing* on the trail is
guaranteed.  Not water caches, not rides, not people's homes.  Enjoy what
you come across but don't get pissed when you miss it.  It's all part of the
magic of the trail.

Eric

_______________________________________________
Pct-L mailing list
Pct-L at backcountry.net
To unsubscribe, or change options visit:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

List Archives:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/
All content is copyrighted by the respective authors. 
Reproduction is prohibited without express permission.