[pct-l] Low cost thru hike

[Jereen Anderson]

To Sean Carey, 
I'm an old-time backpacker. Beginning in the early 1950's and into the early 1960's I logged nearly 2000 Sierra and Southern California miles,including the John Muir Trail.I often traveled alone,hiking, fishing, climbing, snowshoeing. My longer hikes were up to nearly 3 weeks. They never cost much. I suplemented the food that I brought with trout and edible plants. I never visited towns.I was in the mountains to experience wilderness. Visiting a town would be a distraction from what I sought. In the 50's I rarelymet people in parts of the Sierra. I never saw a bear above about 9500'. I recall once hiking on the muir trail 2 1/2 days without seeing anyone and being happy to meet people when I did.
 
This year I rode my Arabian horse Primo from the Mexican border to McKenzie Pass in Oregon. I like to be as independent as possible. I did't visit towns except those that were on or near the PCT. I usually drove ahead and cached my resupplies near trailheads or road crossings. I also had much-appreciated help from trail angels. Since I was always looking for camps that would have what my horse needed - graze, water, trees to highline, I often camped alone. My rare visits to towns were when they were on or very near the trail. I recall eating a pint of ice cream and other goodies at the store in Mt. Laguna. Of course the McDonalds at Cajon Pass was a planned visit. We went through the drive-thru along with the cars - a rider on a fully-packed horse. I ate about 3000 calories. Then in Sierra City I treated myself and a very helpful angel to a fine restaurant dinner. The hikers and the trail angels that I met were always friendly and were often curious
 about what its like to ride a horse onthe PCT. I soon noticed that they shared what I might describe as a "trail-hiker culture"- addicted to going into towns. They were often discussing either what they did on the last "0" day in town or lookong forward to the next "0" day in the next town --- where they would stay in a hotel, eat in restaurant possibly take in a movie, etc. This is why it costs them so much to do the PCT.                   
 
Now for my advice to you. Minimize your town visits. Instead, hitch or take public transportation to a larger town or a city that has supermarkets for resupply. You will have a much better selection at lower prices. Then return to the trail that same afternoon resupplied for 10 to 14 days (20 to 28 pounds of food). Your pack will still be a lot lighter than the up to 75 pounds that Eric Ryback carried. Now for showering. I made good use of my 2 1/2 gallon solar shower. Solar showers are great - a MUST to bring along. Respecting the environment, I used very little bio-degradable soap when showering well away from streams or lakes. I washed my cloths without any soap in my collapsible bucket using a foam-backed plastic scrubber to remove dirt. Then rinse cloths in stream or lake. The cost of your thru-hike, using an approach similar to mine, should be relatively small. My estimate, assuming that you have already purchased your equipment and cloths, for a
 5-month hike, would be about $1800 - $1350 for food and the rest for everything else.
 
Enjoy your journey.
 
Ed "MendoRider" Anderson