[pct-l] planning question

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I don't think you need to plan in that much detail. An estimate is  
sufficient. Try to base it on water availability if you can. Use the  
Data book and the water report when it becomes available. (There will  
be an announcement.) Make your best guess now and revise as you find  
your pace.

In the beginning, if you don't have enough food, there are places to  
supplement your food for the first week between Campo and Warner  
Springs. You can add extra at Mt. Laguna, Julian, call for pizza at  
Scissors Crossing. If you have too much, you can toss it in a hiker  
box or start a drift box of extra food to send ahead. You can get a  
lot of food (mystery crap) out of the hiker boxes, too, but best to  
rely on that as a supplement. Although, the hiker box might be your  
best source of corn pasta since nobody likes it but you!!!

If you have some really strict dietary needs/desires, buy those in  
bulk beforehand and drift them along if you don't have someone to  
mail them to you. Ashland has a great food coop with bulk bins, but  
that's the only one I'm aware of.

Never ship yourself junk food or anything you can get at a typical  
mini-market. You can get that stuff almost anywhere.

You'll find after a couple months that it's just like planning your  
shopping at home. You don't plan out the whole year. You just go  
shopping when the fridge is empty. It kind of became a lot like that  
for me after a while.

I posted my resupply locations, types and notes from my two long- 
distance hikes here:
http://farewelltospring.blogspot.com/2010/02/resupply-strategy-for- 
pct-2008-and-2009.html

P.S. You might need a lot more salt than you think, or if not you-- 
since you have experience with the desert--someone like you whose  
doctor said to take it easy on sodium. Take some lite salt with you  
and if you find yourself struggling with hyponatremia (you are  
thirsty and drinking constantly but not feeling better, instead you  
are feeling worse and worse) or if your shirt is caked in salt, you  
can add it to your food.

On Feb 5, 2010, at 4:52 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Subject: [pct-l] planning question
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> 	<5014317.1265417555799.JavaMail.root at whwamui- 
> deputy.pas.sa.earthlink.net>
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>
> OK, so I've planned several long thru hikes in the past, but  
> they've all been in the desert on mostly cross country routes/off  
> trail routes where I had to really plan every day's activities-- 
> where to camp, where to get water, where to stash food/water  
> caches, etc.
>
> Obviously, there's a lot of info available to me out there about  
> the PCT.
> I'm planning a thru hike this year, and I'm wondering--how specific  
> or general do folks out there plan their logistics?
>
> I'm so used to the step-by-step research that I find myself doing  
> that here, but I'm thinking 2650 miles is too much.
>
> Do most find that they can get away with planning, say, "six days  
> from campo the warner springs" and then just set your pace  
> accordingly and watch the water sources, or do folks plan, say,  
> "night one at lake morena, night two at morris meadow, night  
> three....."
>
> and resupplies--I'm probably mixing up the trip with a combo of  
> mail drops and simply buying on the way; does anyone have posted  
> anywhere where you can get bulk food on the trail?  or am I  
> dreaming?  I have some weird dietary needs--no nuts, so standard  
> "trail mix" is out of the question, and because of a recent cardiac  
> issue, I need to stay low salt, low cholesterol (so quinoa and  
> things like corn pasta are really good for me)--will I be able to  
> find these on the trail?
>
>
> thanks
>
>
> Moab Mike