[pct-l] Town closures

[imscotty at aol.com]

Marmot,
I would say the people left hiking were selfish individuals before their hike, and will remain so after their hike.  The ones who are left seem to be some of the worst of humanity judging from their posts on the 'Still Hiking PCT' FB page.  I got kicked off of there for disagreeing with their contentions that they were doing no harm.  They are living in an echo-chamber and do not want to hear any one who disagrees.
Did you see the guy who called SAR at the Ranger station before Acton because he was a bit cold and did not want to walk the 8 miles downhill?  He made a video defending his actions and lambasting the Ranger for telling him he should not be on the trail right now.  Made me sick to watch it.
I worry that the damage that these people on the trail right now do to hiker relations with the PCT communities will be long lasting.  :(
Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: marmot marmot <marmotwestvanc at hotmail.com>
To: PCT <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Tue, Apr 21, 2020 12:00 pm
Subject: [pct-l] Town closures

Not that a lot of current PCT hikers read this site but I thought I would pass on this information.
Towns that have asked non locals to stay away:
Julian
Idyllwild
Big Bear
Lone Pine
Independence 
Bishop
Mammoth Lakes
Lee Vining
South Lake Tahoe
Truckee

These are the towns of which I am sure. There may be more
The latest statistics from LA county show that thousands of people are testing positive for the antibodies that were never symptomatic. The medical fact still is that you can drag the virus from town to town without knowing it. There are still a lot of hikers on the trail. From what I am reading of the trail journals no one is practicing social distancing. They don’t even understand the concept. They still group together to camp. They still stay in motels. They still hitch to town. They still take public transit. This is a highly contagious virus. This is not about you. It’s about vulnerable people in small town,probably  with no health insurance. I’ve stopped watching their UTube videos because their self serving excuses make me cringe. They state what they plan to do and when they get cold or dirty or low on food they do what is convenient. No one is carrying two weeks of food as they claimed they planned to do. 
These towns do not have hospitals. They do not have the infrastructure. 
You still have time to do a flip flop. You still have time to start southbound. Wait until it’s safe please. 
And no more campfires please. We don’t need a wildfire on top of everything else. This is clueless behavior that is on the level of putting up your tent in a dry wash with a major rain storm coming in.  Those  are just a couple of the behaviors that could require a rescue and about which these hikers seem to be uneducated. 
The whole hiking community has worked diligently to counteract bad hiker behavior. 
Don’t wreck it in one year. Don’t kill someone in a town please. Part of the value of long distance hiking is self reflection and character building. It hurts to go home. It feels like failure. You can actually grow up no matter what your age. 
Marmot



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