[pct-l] water caches

[Scott Bryce]

Amanda L Silvestri wrote:
>  I am so confused and am having great trouble understanding this 
> debate.


I think you are completely missing the point of the other side of the 
debate.

I have never hiked more than a couple of miles on the PCT. My views may 
change if I am ever fortunate enough to hike past some of the caches.

I have dreamed of hiking the PCT for years. I have seen the PCT and the 
PCT culture change a lot over those years. One thing I have always felt 
is that you hike the PCT on its own terms. If water sources are more 
than 20 miles apart, then that is just part of the experience. If you 
need to go off-trail for a mile or so for water, then that is just part 
of the experience. If you pass a horse trough, water tank, or faucet at 
a campground or trail head, then that is part of the experience too. 
Bottled water brought onto the trail for through hikers feels too 
artificial.

I know we all hike our own hikes, and we all feel differently about 
different resources available to through hikers, whether it is caches, 
the ADZ, people willing to slack pack us, etc. No doubt there is plenty 
of gratitude for whatever help a trail angel is willing to provide. Each 
of us will have our own ideas about what is appropriate and what 
detracts too much from the experience of accepting whatever the trail 
has to offer.

Maybe the caches are so well established that they have become part of 
the experience. Maybe they have become part of what the trail has to 
offer. But there is a disturbing trend the last few years. There are too 
many through hikers who feel that they are owed the same trail magic 
that they have read about in other people's trail journals, even though 
trail magic is, by definition, unexpected. If too many hikers feel that 
they are owed the water caches, then more hikers will arrive at the 
caches to find them dry without alternate plans to find the water they 
need. If that happens, then the caches will become a detriment, and not 
a help, to the through hiker community.

If a through hiker has the attitude that the world owes him an easy and 
comfortable through hike, maybe he should hike the AT. Then those who 
expect to hike the trail on its own terms can hike without the need to 
find bottled water left for them along the trail.

Maybe Donna has suggested a good compromise. If the caches are intended 
to be a safety net, then the people who maintain the caches can save 
themselves some effort and leave the water a half mile or so shy of the 
PCT. If you can walk 2650 miles in one season, you can walk the extra 
mile for water.

Just my $.02 USD, and maybe not worth that much, since I have yet to do 
the 20 mile days in the southern California deserts. If I ever have an 
opportunity to do that, I hope that I can plan well enough to walk past 
the caches without taking any water. And if I plan poorly, I may change 
my mind about the caches and be as grateful as anyone else to see them.