[pct-l] The herd and power in town

[Jay Bruins]

> On Jan 27, 2016, at 8:28 AM, Tef <tef at 51gnal.us> wrote:
> 
> Hi there,
> 
> I'm a newbie and planning on thru hiking the entire trail.  I've seen some discussion off this mailing on the PCT Class of 2016 page and had some concerns about availability of supplies in trail towns when you're behind or in the thick of a herd of hikers.  Have any of you seasoned hikers have this issue?  What is an ideal contingency if there is a fuel or food shortage?

In 2015, I would say I was generally behind the bubble after my stress fracture (two weeks off tends to do that). Even when it was "bad", there was always something. My most frustrating town was Etna. Ray's food place is quite small and they easily ran out of my staples. I don't recall the details, but there were several dinner-type items they simply were out of.

Keep in mind that in a pinch you can always buy nuts or some other common staple (also true if you run out of canister fuel). No cook options are usually plentiful. It's better to look at it as an opportunity to step outside your comfort zone and experiment. (A conversation in South Lake Tahoe turned into a game-changer for me.)

I'd focus on the quality of town overall rather than the randomness of getting unlucky. (Then again, I didn't hit trail days or the Beldon rave and hitched out of KO to resume from Warner Springs, so if you really have a crowd I have no point of reference.)

Note: I mailed most of stops after California. Ashland (my shipping spot) and Cascade locks being the intentional exceptions. I also had to hiker box Stehekin due to a delayed package. 

> 
> Also, what is the power situation like in town?

I wish this list accepted photos. I have one taken at Warner Springs with a rats nest of power strips and USB cables sitting on a table with a display full of brochures talking about getting help with drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other addictions. The juxtaposition was perfect.

> I hear a lot of folks saying don't worry, just go in town and charge your stuff.  I'm wondering if it will be like an airport and people queuing up to use a 2-gang outlet at some remote convenience store.  Would throwing an outlet strip into a bounce box be prudent here?

It varies wildly, but the bigger the town, the more options (same as food). Cell phones dangling from USB chargers plugged into the ceiling of the Cajon Pass McDonalds is another image I have burned in my head.

There's a saying: "the trail provides."

I said this on the recent solar charger and battery thread, but a two port USB charger is a great idea to carry. Barely more weight, often lets your share an outlet. Bouncing a power strip would make you even more friends. (Caution: the places you'd want the power strip, like Mazama, are likely to be the places you can't easily mail out of.)

One last point is my battery was large enough (6400mAh) that I didn't need to top off in every town. When I planned on a night in a motel (not every town), that's when I knew I could get a charge and allowed myself to burn more battery (read, music, Facebook, etc) in that segment.

(I started with a 16000mAh battery I already owned and swapped it for my new purchase.)

Hope this helps,
Armstrong
> 
> Thanks for your advice,
> 
> -Tef
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