[pct-l] tide, planning, rangers, comments

[dsaufley]

How much of an issue the herd may be is a matter of perspective, and there
are as many perspectives as there are people out there. As a stationary
observer who gets the highest number of hikers of any way-station along the
PCT, my perspective is of course unique to me.  What I hear again and again
is that hikers aren't aware of how many other hikers are out there until
they reach here. People are stunned to see how many hikers were actually
around them.  They thought they were alone out there. They are all moving
along, spaced out, not necessarily hiking in lock-step.  It isn't until they
stop at some watering hole, camp site, or town that they see other hikers.
It's especially true here in Agua Dulce because there aren't very many
places to disperse (like Wrightwood or Big Bear have). OTOH, I've heard
stories of 35+ hikers camped together, grocery stores being wiped out of
hiker type items, and towns like Idyllwild getting overwhelmed.  Let's not
forget the heroic postmistress at Warner Springs and what she's gone
through. The list goes on, but you get the idea.

At mile 454.4, we see a two week window of extremely high activity in our
two month season (May and June). It peaks on or near Memorial Day weekend,
which is approximately four weeks after KO (average hiking time to here is
four weeks).  Because our hiker hostel is a gathering place, if you are
moving with the KO Herd, you will DEFINITELY experience a higher number of
hikers here.  Last year for example, we reached our limit of 50 hikers per
night three times.  The first wave was the crowd (51 hikers) that left a
week to ten days before the KO (and went back to it).  We made an exception
for #51 in this instance. The second wave (55 hikers) was made up of the
folks who left on KO weekend; we had to turn away 5 of them.  The last large
group (50 hikers) had waited a few days after the KO at Lake Morena to be
behind The Herd (a new trend).  Keep in mind that we have a two night limit,
so the numbers were not the result of people merely staying here and piling
up to reach those totals.  The scuttlebutt was that hikers were trying hard
to spread themselves out so they wouldn't get turned away.  I appreciated
their consideration.

For the record, I am one of the original (and continued) boycotters of the
ADZPCTKO.  Don't get me wrong, it's the best hiker gathering this side of
the Mississippi.  It's just that IMHO having a starting event flies in the
face of LNT principles, and is just basically rude and inconsiderate to many
up trail including us for whom "ka-ching" is not a motivating factor, but
hospitality for each and every hiker is the goal. Like a broken record, I
spent years unsuccessfully trying to get them to change the event to later
in the season and further north on the trail (ala Trail Days in Damascus),
which would diffuse the "starting gun" action. You can argue that this is
because of the event, or is the result of the individual choices of hikers
deciding to leave at the absolute peak of the season (despite LNT).  Over
time I have come to believe that not having so much support and hand-holding
at the onset would winnow out the ill-prepared and greatly limit the party
atmosphere we now see (both are needed). But you can't stop the tide, and
though I still have an opinion, I'm done "trying to change that which I
cannot change," and instead endeavor to "change the things I can."

Bottom line, the effects of Herd formation have resulted in our having to
set limits on the number of hikers and number of nights hikers may stay here
to protect ourselves from the overwhelming teeming horde. We had reached
close to 70 in one night when we decided to impose limits. This is, and will
always be, a source of great sadness for me.  But there it is.

So, the question is, what are you personally comfortable with?  We see an
extremely broad spectrum of preferences here -- from true loners to those
who could not be out on the trail if they didn't have their social clique
(more of the latter than the former). There's also a whole subculture of
support people who follow The Herd, providing food, drink and they like.
They move north with the pack. So, if you leave in this window, you MAY have
a relatively solitary hiking experience on trail, but know that the same
will probably not be true when you reach prime destinations like resupply
venues and campsites.

L-Rod


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Deep Desert Expeditions
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 9:05 AM
Cc: PCT MailingList
Subject: [pct-l] tide, planning, rangers, comments

OK, I got the answer about planning that I couldn't quite get myself to say
on my own--just get out and enjoy, and plan where the resupply's gonna be.
Perfect!

Now about the tide/herd--I guess it's not that much of an issue?  How about
camping with that many folks?  How's that usually play out?

And then the Rangers--I keep seeing references to rangers giving hikers what
seems to be a hard time; fire permits, going off itinerary; do they have
something against backpackers?  or are there a few who've pushed things and
now the rangers are checking everyone about everything?

gawsh i wish it would be spring already so I can start!!!


Moab Mike



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