[pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days
montypct
montypct at gmail.com
Thu Feb 28 23:23:27 CST 2008
OR have a function the same day as the Kick Off north of section A.
As an event farther north would serve a very different purpose, there would be more choices that "where".
Brett blisterfree at yahoo.com
Thu Feb 28 20:21:57 CST 2008
a.. Previous message: [pct-l] Let's Hear From The 2007 Thru Hikers...
b.. Next message: [pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days
c.. Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a potential compromise solution to the ADZ issue, in future years how
about reorganizing this as an event more like Trail Days on the
Appalachian Trail. Rather than having an "Annual Day Zero" event near
the southern border, move it farther north so it has less influence over
thru-hikers' planned starting dates.
I propose the community of Idyllwild as a possible location for the
event, or thereabouts. To be held the first or second week of May. Among
the potential advantages:
- At ~178 miles from the border, an Idyllwild Trail Days in May would
attract fewer not-yet-started thru-hikers. The upshot would be that
thru-hikers planning to attend would start out at the border more on a
schedule and at a pace of their choosing, thus minimizing the initial
herd. For hikers ahead or behind schedule for the event, shuttles could
be arranged from and to I-10, Pines-to-Palms, and potentially elsewhere.
- A May event would cater to the less experienced thru-hiker who may
want to start earlier than later, giving them plenty of time to hike in
to the event. Faster-paced hikers, who may be less inclined to attend,
would start later and could easily miss all the to-do and subsequent
herd, or could still hit the event, either just before starting their
thru-hikes or by shuttle, hitchhiking, etc.
- Any post-event herd would be smaller than that leaving the current
ADZ, due to natural "thinning" in the initial 178 miles of walking prior
to the event, and also because some hikers would be shuttling back to
whatever location they left the trail in order to attend.
- Whatever the size of the post-event herd, a crowd of sorts would be
more of an advantage going over Fuller Ridge just north of Idyllwild,
especially for the newbies who tend to herd.
- Idyllwild offers the advantage of being close to the PCT, but not
directly on it. So again, those who lift their noses at such events
could walk right on by, even while it were ongoing, and suffer no such
sensory intrusions.
- An Idyllwild event would be fundamentally different than simply
disbanding the ADZ in favor of morphing it into Trail Fest or
ALDHA-West. By continuing to host the event during thru-hiker season,
and toward the beginning of it (unlike, say, on Ray Day in KM), much of
the "Kick-Off" spirit would be retained. Also, certain aspects of the
event could potentially become more meaningful to thru-hikers, since 2
weeks of walking offers it own fine direction on what gear is and is not
going to work, and the vendors in turn would have a more educated and
discriminating consumer. And Meadow Ed would, I hope, continue to extol
his wisdom on water and snow, and do so before a crowd who actually, by
that point, has a clue about the wisdom he's extolling. Perhaps ice axe
self-arrest training could also be offered in the vicinity, as well as a
post-event guided walk along Fuller Ridge.
Appalachian Trail Days is an event much larger than the ADZPCTKO. Yet
ironically, Trail Days seems to have very little impact on the
surrounding trail corridor. The reason, it seems to me, is
straightforward. It's all about the timing and location of the event,
relative to the start of thru-hiking season at Springer Mountain. Move
the ADZ away from the border, and it ceases to serve as a starting gate
for the marathon heading north. Instead, it becomes more of a watering
station, something to look forward to or else to pass quickly by,
depending on the whim of the individual.
- blisterfree
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/attachments/20080228/3d161ab4/attachment.html
More information about the Pct-L
mailing list