[pct-l] First Thru-Hike 2012; Start Date?

[Jace Mullen]

Hey Team.

I am 17 years old and am planning on (if I can save the money) to hike
the PCT as soon as I graduate from highschool. I live in San Diego so
I can start pretty much the day after I graduate. The problem is that
I don't graduate untill mid-may. I am a little bit worried that this
might be too late to start.

One of my worries is that because of the late start, the water caches
that I have heard so many people rely on will be non-existant.

My hope is that with a May 15-17th (ish) start I can catch up to the
herd by kennedy meadows. Does this sound reasonable?

Are there any other issues that I will run into with such a late start?

Also, approximately how much should I be saving? I'm planning on
getting a job at a gear shop or something to make money. I don't know
if it will be enough though.

Thanks!

-Jace