[pct-l] creepy crawlies, hotel prices, maps, gaiters, etc.

[Vic Hanson]

It's a cool rainy summer afternoon here and I'm trying to catch up on about a week's worth of digests, time to comment on a few things (Had a delightful 3 day hike down canyon this week, warm and lots of fresh fruit!).
   
  I'm sure those I hiked with me last year will remember me as the ultimate cheapskate so I will start with that. I did go to the trail-fest last year and enjoyed the free sessions, gear displays and meeting fellow hikers. I was planning on camping somewhere but DooDad shared his Motel 6 room with me. I see both sides to the story but it is a shame that to attract donors it has to be priced out of the average hiker's league. Of course as Brick and Yogi have said, all you have to do is pick a cheaper hotel option nearby. 
   
  I vacillate between paying PCTA prices for the guide books, etc. or buying from Amazon but did buy mine from the PCTA as I figured it was a way to help support the trail. I also signed up for the cheapest membership option that the PCTA offered. It is interesting to see how some people will spend freely on some things and resist spending in other ways (myself included). It also seems ironic how we talk about new values and priorities after a thru hike and simplifying our lifestyles, as we buy $50 titanium pots and $39 stuff sacks to save an ounce or two. Or the second sleeping bag for the warmer sections. I was very tempted, my 15 deg. Helium was too hot, but in the end couldn't justify the cost.
   
  I cowboy camped some but most of the time set up my Tarptent for the perceived protection of being inside something. However I did buy an A-16 Bug Bivy after the hike to bring back to Peru and have used it here a couple of times. Of course I grated at the $40 cost but I like its simple design and it works fairly well, other than feeling a little too small at first. I would take one on a future thru hike.
   
  I didn't know anything about navigating when I started the hike so depending on others through the Sierras. We had the Harrison maps and used them a few times with my GPS to pinpoint our location verses the trail but for the most part the Guidebook maps were all that was needed. I did learn to hang the map around my neck so that it was handy to use, map on one side and Data Book page on the other side, in a zip lock bag on a shoe string. Cheaper and lighter than the one Pang used. After I did that, in spite of looking like a dork, I was able to tell where we were MOST of the time. With the map in my pocket I never knew where we were.
   
  I wore light weight low gaiters all the time until I lost them in the Sierras, they really help keep sand and small stones out of your shoes, as well as all the stickers. I should have replaced them but never got around to it. I was really regretting that on Hat Creek Rim. On the subject of losing things, I lost many items. The joke was that I would have to do a yo-yo to pick up everything that I lost. However, that was not my toilet paper in the latest "Boots" cartoon for those of you who saw that!
   
  Sorry to ramble so long,
   
  Sugar Daddy


  Interested in a South American Adventure? I have started an Adventure Travel Business in Peru.
  http://www.adventurecotahuasi.com
   
  Check out my yahoo blog for info and pictures of my PCT hike:
  http://360.yahoo.com/vichansonperu
   
  Check out my MSN blog for current and past photos and stories of my adventures in Peru: 
http://spaces.msn.com/members/vichanson/
   


 
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