[pct-l] "monetary contributions"

[David Plotnikoff]

Hello from a long-time list lurker.

Like Yogi, I have been around this place -- and up and down the PCT 
-- for a little while now. So I feel entitled to weigh in on this 
delicate subject. Like Yogi, I have been on the giving and receiving 
end of the situation.

The Saufleys, the Andersons, the Heitmans, et al, were a godsend to 
me on the trail. True angels. And I offered them all money because it 
was just the right thing to do. If you have to ask yourself if you 
should help out, frankly, your head isn't in the right place. Do you 
realize it costs the Saufleys north of $50 per tanker to truck in the 
water to do your laundry the fabled Saufley Way? Donna doesn't 
mention it. But I made sure she had $50 when I walked out of her 
place. As for the Andersons and the Heitmans -- is there *any* amount 
of money that could properly set them square for what they offered 
hikers? Still, I left money for the simple reason that I knew others 
would be coming behind me and I needed to "pay it back" so that those 
who came later might enjoy the same loving care.

You do it because it's the right thing to do. Period.

On the other side, my wife and I have shuttled hikers everywhere from 
Tehachapi to Truckee, informally. We don't run a taxi service, but we 
are at the trailhead looking to help whenever we can. This last 
season, my daughter and I were on a climbing trip at Donner Summit. 
We spotted Houdini across the parking lot at the Truckee Safeway. Did 
he need a ride back up to the trailhead? No. He needed a ride to 
Sierra City. And so it was done.

We had other things to do that morning (climbs that didn't involve an 
80-mile round-trip drive). But my nine-year-old daughter, who has 
been seeing stinky, scary PCT hikers in her backseat since she was 
three, understood the lesson: "Dad was helped by strangers out in the 
desert. We have to help others of the tribe."

When the time came to put him back on the trail, Houdini tried to 
press money into my hand. I would burn about $20 in gas, round-trip. 
No, I said. Don't take offense, but this is what we owe back to the 
trail for all the rides and all the love. He understood. And thus the 
*next generation of angel* is sent on his way, knowing that his 
payback date will come sometime in the future.

This is the way it should be. No expectations. But a silent agreement 
that someone who used to be a stranger took a load off you that day 
and made your journey richer. I am better for meeting every one of 
these people.

To the Saufleys, the Andersons, the Heitmans and the half-dozen 
people from Mexico to Canada who picked up this scuzzy, scary-looking 
hitchhiker: Thank you. Thank you for everything. The money I tried to 
hand to you was only a mere token of my real gratitude.

DP