[pct-l] Hiking without food..........

[Eric Lee (GAMES)]

Andrea wrote:

>
What is the minimum I need to send with him so he survives his lack
of knowledge ??
>

I'll echo the others that it's not really your responsibility to equip him or to shield him from himself.  I know you're in a tough position as a full-time trail angel and you see a fair amount of screwy thinking over the course of the season, but you can't assume responsibility for everyone who wanders by with a wacky idea.  You'll drive yourself crazy if you try.

As you know, water isn't much of a problem in the Cascades but food is scarce and takes a lot of time and effort to obtain.  The good news is that if he spends all day trying to hunt down food he's not going to get very deep into the wilderness.  He can come out after his first wet night without shelter.

Since you're concerned, you can certainly warn him of the risks and show him all the PCL-L responses you've received, but let him make his own decisions.  As long as he stays close to a bailout point, he'll probably come out when he gets too miserable and be wiser for the experience.

I'd recommend *not* supplying him with any gear he didn't bring himself, especially if you have to convince him to take it rather than him realizing that he needs it.  The lesson this fellow needs to learn is to find out what he's getting into before he commits himself.  If you cover up his failure to plan with free gear, I don't think he'll learn that lesson very well.  But then, maybe that's just me talking as a father of four children who's working hard to raise them into responsible adults.  :-)

And who knows, maybe he really is a master survivalist who will surprise us all.  Not very likely, but possible . . .

Eric in Seattle