[pct-l] Third gate Water Caches

[Hootie Martin]

Piper's Mom

That would be interesting.  I would bet the experience would be
similar to that experienced by those that hiked the trail before Donna
and Jeff first began opening their home in Auga Dulce.  One thing to
keep in mind is that there have been many folks that successfully
hiked the trail, before the proliferation of angels and water caches
and the like.

Don't get me wrong, in 2006 I throughly enjoyed my stops at Auga
Dulce, Little Haven (Belden), Old Station and Steven's Pass where
Trail Angels opened up there homes to me for either an overnight stay
or an in and out resupply, but this support was not critical and
required to complete a thru-hike in my opinion.  Nor are the water
caches with proper planning.  Very nice, but not critical.

The point that I, and others I believe were attempting to make is that
these services such as water caches are not something that many folks
have become dependent upon and this is of some concern.

What would happen if these were to disappear?  Well, over the last
couple of years, it seems that folks have made it through Old Station
without much issue since Firefly retired from serving as the local
angel.

Getting back to the 3rd gate cache, I really do wonder what the down
side would be of placing the cache at the much more manageable and
maintainable location near Scissors Crossing and allowing hikers to
carry what they need to Barrel Springs.  I did receive several
off-list emails that suggested 3rd gate was critical, but no one seems
to be able to share why this is critical and what the difficulty is
with being self-sufficient through this 23 mile section. I would enjoy
hearing others opinions.  I have sometimes wondered myself if it is
due to the proliferation of Ultra Light gear and the fact that many of
the UL pack designs do not enable a hiker to carry 8-10 liters of
water if that is what they need.


Hmmm.  Wonder what would happen if every one of us (angels and trail
helpers) took next year off?

Piper's Mom