[pct-l] Have had a hard time convincing my hiking partner...

[Ellen Shopes]

I know we're into the boring winter months, but this problem feels to me 
like it's a result of over-planning.

Here's where I'm coming from...who knows how either one of you will feel 
when you reach KM?  Maybe one or the other will have had an injury at some 
point.  Maybe someone will already have dropped a trail section for some 
reason (an emergency at home, inability to adapt to the heat, etc).  Maybe 
motivations will change as you hike.  You might reach KM and want to jump 
ahead, and she'll be suddenly curious about the trail thru the Sierras. 
Maybe this year there will be 200% of the usual snowpack and no one will be 
getting thru!

You should be honest with each other about how you might deal with issues as 
they come up.  Will you both be OK with splitting for awhile on the trail? 
If one drops completely, what will the other partner do?  I agree with 
others' comments that it's not a matter of convincing the partner to do what 
you wish, but of coming to an agreement that respects both individuals' 
decisions.  It sounds like you have different hiking philosophies from the 
get-go, and may want to plan your packs for the times when you will likely 
split on the trail (ie, 2 shelters/bivies, cook sets, whatever).

Re: the food drops.  I read recently in some nutrition journal that females 
are engineered to think about food more than males; our senses of 
taste/smell, our focus on food availability, etc are part of a survival 
program genetically coded.  Don't know if it's true or not.  I do know that 
I'm spending a bunch of time 'fussing' over our resupply process for next 
year, while my husband 'goes with the flow' (which means he lets me fuss!). 
While I know we can do some buying as we go, I'm not willing to totally 
junk-out--I want some degree of balanced nutrition, if only to help our 
aging bodies with the daily recovery process.  Let her figure it out; 
planning can be part of the fun!

Elderly Ellen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marcello Cerniglia" <marccerniglia at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 6:34 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Have had a hard time convincing my hiking partner...


> Hey everyone...
>
> We are planning a northbound trip for 2010....and I have had a hard time
> convincing my hiking partner about how to go about a thruhike on the PCT.
> She has one trail under her belt, the Colorado Trail, which she did this
> past summer.  She loves the high country, wildflowers, and lush green 
> alpine
> tundra.  She has been very weary of entering the Sierra's when it is not 
> the
> best time to be there.  To her, the best time to be there is when its 
> fully
> melted, with the flowers and bunnies and butterflies.
>
> She thinks entering the Sierra's anytime before mid July is doing a
> dis-service to it.  She wants to hike the Sierras in late July-August 
> after
> the snow melt.  Her plan would be to hike to Kennedy Meadows from Campo, 
> and
> then skip around past the Sierra's (she is not sure where to, Sierra City
> maybe?) and hike north to Canada.  Then return to do the Sierras last in
> September.  Or, skip the Sierras in mid June and hike to Ashland.  The
> return to hike the Sierras.  Then get back to Ashland and hike north to
> Canada.
>
> I cant say she is wrong, because everyone should hike their own hike. 
> But,
> when I even mention beginning with the intention of doing a straight thru
> northbound hike I can see the tension fill the room.  It spells disaster. 
> I
> am all for adjusting as you go, with the circumstances presented to you at
> the time.  I am not the speculative type, who plans around unknowns.  If I
> get to KM, and its June 10, and it was a high snow year, I am either 
> taking
> some time off or skipping ahead.  But, I cant justify trying to piece the
> trail together in one year based on the optimal time to be in each 
> different
> section.
>
> To make the matters worse, she is a vegan and needs to plan all her
> maildrops up till Ashland.  I am not worried about it, but she sure is.
>
> Another complication is the perceived section D closures, which put hikers
> at KM even earlier.  Without wanting to start in mid-May, she thinks there
> is no way for us to slow down enough to leave KM by June 20-25, which is 
> my
> preference....
>
> I know thats a lot, so sorry about that....but any talking points or
> opinions of how to convice her that the Sierra's are beautiful from the 
> end
> of June through July, would help out immensely!
>
> Catch Up
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