[pct-l] Thoughts on having a full time trail angel.

[AsABat]

I have section hiked the last two years with my wife meeting me each night
with a small motorhome. A hot meal, a warm shower, and a soft bed are
wonderful after a full day of hiking. But these have been one-week trips,
and even then I felt guilty about enjoying myself while she was stuck with
driving, setting up camp, and then just waiting. I think it was her second
day driving the new rig solo that she had a blow out. Six phone calls were
needed (kept dropping) to bring AAA to her rescue, but without a spare she
wouldn't drive up the dirt road, so I had another 5 miles to walk that
night. She wasn't always comfortable being "no where" by herself, although
our VERY protective dog gave much comfort there.

Road crossings dictated my mileage each day. Some days were short, half-day
hikes, which were great in that we could do things together in the
afternoon. On other days I had to push hard to make the miles, even if a
gorgeous view begged me to stop a few hours, or a thunderstorm strongly
hinted I would be better off holed up until the lightning stopped. So far
these have been day hikes. Next year's sections will require several nights
on the trail, where the deadline still exists but the driver has more time
to wait and more time to worry if conditions go bad.

My wife wasn't comfortable meeting others at remote locations, so I only
told one person what I was doing when they were heading my wife's direction.
His group was the only one offered any magic without me. Otherwise no one
really knew why that vehicle was at every road crossing, so she had no
pressure to provide support. When I returned to camp, we did offer a few
sodas and a ride. Your driver should determine what she is comfortable with,
her "rules" as such, and be clear if she cannot provide rides etc. Or she
may get caught up in the art of angeling. A protective dog could cause
hikers to take the long way around our rig.

Communication is difficult in the backcountry. We used 2-meter ham radios
where cell phones didn't work, which generally worked well (especially our
meeting point changed after the tire blowout) but not so well the day my
batteries went dead. Having contingency plans if you don't show up are a
good idea.

I have thought we might do this on a thruhike after retirement, but after
our experiences I'm thinking longer sections might be better for both of us.
But then again, maybe after retirement the pressures of all we have to do
when we get home won't be weighing on us and we can enjoy it more.

AsABat