[pct-l] Recruiting New Water Cachers!

[Lindsey Sommer]

Ken, you make some interesting points.

In a lot of ways, I'm a little sad that I've waited until next summer to do
a hike. Growing up in northern California, I've known about the trail my
whole life, but unfortunately the only time I've had a REAL summer off (I'm
in grad school for the next 2 years) has coincided with all the things
you've mentioned as well as the "Wild" Oprah effect.

However, while I have no comment on whether the trail is getting easier
(I've never hiked it, so I don't know one way or the other), it does seem
like long distance hiking and the PCT have been getting more attention in
general (regardless of "Wild", effect, from your experience this seems to
have started a before the past year).

And I agree, managing the number of people wanting to hike is going to be
one of the biggest challenges over the next few years, ESPECIALLY now that
they're making a movie from Strayed's book. In a lot of ways, I feel really
sad and disappointed that I've somehow missed experiencing the trail the
way it used to be, because I suspect that will make a huge difference in
terms of the number of people wanting to hike it.

Cheers,
Lindsey

On Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 1:27 AM, Ken Murray <kmurray at pol.net> wrote:

> Friends,
>
> The issue of trail support has weighed on me this year.  With the
> destruction of my ankle, I'll probably never complete the trail, so my
> perspective is soley as a support person.  I spend most of my summers
> working on the trail in the Sierra, and run into many hikers on their
> journey.  I was involved in cutting the trees at Red's Meadow this year.
>
> I was very bothered by the volume of people this year.  The impact of
> about a thousand people is significant.
>
> Even in the ten years that I've been doing support, there has been a huge
> increase, and not just this year.
>
> When I was doing a project at Lake Edison this summer, I asked several
> hikers what most surprised them, and they were unanimous in saying "the
> social aspect".
>
> My observation:  This increase is occuring because the trail is becoming
> easier to hike. All of the resupply options, all the water support, the
> support books of various sorts, maps, descriptions of how to do it, the
> places to stay as a group that has a HUGE impact on the psychological
> component....they all have an impact.
>
> The KO has filled up every year.  There are not significantly more people
> this year at the KO, than there were 5 years ago.  What HAS happened is
> that it fills up quicker and quicker each year...Used to take a month, now
> less than a week.  The pool of potential hikers has hugely expanded, but
> they are not being accommodated at the KO.
>
> Donna has had to set daily limits.  The volume of water at caches used is
> sometimes unbelievable....and will go up.
>
> I don't have an answer to all this, but the future is predictable.  You
> used to have to be able to manage snow, manage water, manage permits,
> manage your mental state, manage resupplies.  It is getting so you don't
> even NEED a formal resupply. How best to get cell phone coverage? Spot? Sat
> phone?
>
> Do people even get lonely?
>
> This is not the trail that Eric Ryback hiked, nor Teddie, nor Strider, nor
> Kelty Kid.
>
> In the forest service, they say that wilderness management is a misnomer.
>  We don't need to manage the wilderness, it has done fine for itself for
> millenia.  It is about managing PEOPLE, and it's true.
>
> How to manage the people will be the biggest challenge for the trail, I
> think.  But as is true for many things, more people does not make the
> problem better.
>
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