[pct-l] Worrying about food

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

To those who are worrying about food and resupplies, I just wanted to  
share that I worried about it, too. But the reality of the trail was  
that there were a lot of surprise supplemental ways to obtain food  
and other items of need in some of the most unlikely of places all  
along the way. You really have nothing to worry about.

- A cooler of fruit and drinks on the trail could add enough water  
and energy to make it another 10 miles on the trail. 10 miles is half  
a day!
- A little restaurant near the trail could add a huge full belly of  
food adding a whole half a day to my existing supplies. If that  
restaurant also had a hiker box, I could often add an extra day to my  
supplies and perhaps find some odds and ends to solve some gear issues.
- An unplanned excursion off the trail could lead to a chance to buy  
some needed gear. I remember being always just a little bit too cold  
for a hundred miles or so when a chance to go to a thrift shop ended  
that small bit of discomfort -- and for only $3.
- Chance encounters with other hikers who wanted to ask me about  
being a thru-hiker often ended in offerings of extra food. Some of  
these hikers were families of backpackers, some were former thru- 
hikers from the 70s. I even gave away some food to other hikers. We  
help each other.
- There were a couple sections of the trail where there was so much  
food available, I shouldn't have even carried any.

You just can't know until you do this what a miraculous thing the  
trail is, and how real trail magic -- not the planned hiker feed kind  
-- really does make everything work out. In a few more days, those of  
you not yet started will get to find this out!