[pct-l] "Business"...."THE NATURE OF THE BEAST"

[Emily Toby]

I  believe you may be referring to the trail magic at Onion Valley that my husband and I recently provided.  This was our third year doing trail magic at this location, we skipped last year, when we thru hiked the PCT again, and although we have some mixed feelings about our experience this year as well, I think I take offense at some of your email, at least your characterization of us and what impact the magic may have had on the campground.  
Before I take issue with your email, let me say that I agree with your basic premise, that the ever-increasing numbers will be problematic for both the trail, the trail towns, the incredibly generous trail angels, the postal service, and all other trail resources.  I believe it already has been.
FWIW, we are not newbies, or wannabies who just want to be involved and help.  We have been hiking for many decades, and have hiked the entire trail twice, once in sections, once as thru hikers, volunteered at the Saufleys, and done our own trail magic.  We picked this location, because, in our experience, there was a need for some magic there.  I still can't put my finger on it, but this year was different.  But it wasn't just the numbers.  
We ran a pretty tight ship, did not violate the rules, and had a good relationship with the campground host.  If there were problems, we addressed them immediately.  I don't know what you think you saw, but there was no donation jar, in clear sight, or otherwise.  We did not ask for, nor expect donations.  If offered, we would accept them.  The 6 person maximum is for overnight camping, not for hanging around camp or eating, I checked the rules in advance.  Yes, as I understand it, there was a problem last year at this site with another individual.  I think we were saddled with that reputation, and tried our hardest to repudiate it.  Most of the time, except weekends, the campground was pretty empty and our campsite pretty low-key, with folks simply resting/waiting for a ride to town.  No late nights, no loud music, no partying after dark.  But I'm sure at times it must have been a 'scene'. The sign at trail head was necessary, since there was no other way to let hikers know where we were located.  But I thought it was small, and relatively discreet.  But yes, it was there.  In my opinion, the biggest impact was hikers in the campground, instead of hanging around trailhead trying to yogi a ride.  Many of the other campground guests, yourself included, apparently enjoyed meeting the hikers and hearing their stories.  We tended to attract other campers to the magic.   Yes, I'm sure the campground host was a bit tired of it all, the hikers came through steadily for more than a month.  Before we arrived, hikers were poaching campsites and asking the host for rides to/from town.  At least that stopped when we set up our camp.  
I don't know what the answer is at places like Onion Valley.  Hikers will continue to come over Kearsage Pass to resupply.  They will need a ride to town and back.  Our first year doing trail magic at this location, was a very high snow year.  There was snow at trailhead, the campground didn't open until late June, there was no campground host and few-to-no cars  at the trailhead, because of the snow levels.  It took many hours, or big bucks to get a ride to trailhead.  We were needed that year.  We drove many hikers down the hill, only about half returned to the trail due to the snow and high water crossings.  Most were low or out of food, even those not planning on resupplying, having underestimated the amount of time and effort to hike and navigate on snow.  Some were injured or sick, some had gotten lost. And although we originally intended that year to only provide snacks and a drink and a ride, hikers would roll into our camp, late at night, out of food.  So we shared what food we had, and the magic evolved.
This year, I felt it was needed far less.  And, in some inexplicable way, not particularly appreciated by some, or somehow expected.  Although, when the couple thru hiking with their SIX year old came into camp, after dark, hungry having run out of food earlier in the day, perhaps, yes, we were still needed.  And yes, it was still very satisfying to us to provide a little magic for the hikers.  
More than the impact on this campground, I wondered about the impact of more than 1000 people with thru permits hiking the trail through the high Sierra over the course of the month.  The number of hikers on the JMT is strictly controlled.  Is it only a matter of time before a quota of thru hikers on the JMT at any one time is imposed?
With the increase in the number of hikers, there will also be people like us, that want to give a little something back to the hiking community.  I'm not sure we will go back to Onion Valley again.  Maybe the next mega snow year.  We will probably focus on volunteering at an existing angels place, and trail maintenance.  
If this email was not referring to our trail magic, well, then......."never mind"
ÜberBitch

> From: reddirt2 at earthlink.net
> Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2014 13:06:07 -0700
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Subject: [pct-l]  "Business"...."THE NATURE OF THE BEAST"
> 
> So true, so true.  I was recently at a camp site in the Sierra where a couple were playing trail angles and doing quite a bit to help hikers out.  Basically they over did it, and it was only the tail end of the herd.  Feeding and ferrying many hikers per day and leaving a sign at the trail head was a wee bit conspicuous.  Great folks trying to do the right thing, but in this local there have been a few issues over recent years.  Granted a much more gracious camp host has been put in place, but in conversation it slipped that it was becoming a problem.  I doubt this will be allowed to continue in future.  Not so much the fact that some nice folks simply wished to be involved and offer help, but because of the shear volume of hikers.  Day in and day out for the six days I was close by there was a constant flow of hikers.  At one point there were 12 people in a campsite limited to 6 max and all eating food prepared for them and drinking sodas and beer provided for them by the ni
>  ce folks who left the donation jar out in plain sight.  Kinda left me wondering, and I'm only thinking out loud here and pretty much still on the fence about it.  Mind you I left a bunch of beer and food with them, and I got to meet a lot of the hikers which is always good, but it was quite the scene.  That's why I caught the camp host in a moment of chit-chat after hours and asked what he really thought, and he suggested he was getting kinda tired of it.  Which with that said, it might be a good idea in future to be more low key in an area where there is not only paying camp guests, but also a camp host employee paid to clean and take care of the area.
> Thus I see the problem in the near future, years to come, as being one of volume impact, just too many people (it already has been a problem for some people).  I think maybe that's why we are having discussions with relation to experienced trail helpers vs part time good samaritans.  This has already been touched on here recently in better language than I can spell out , but it is going to effect everyone in the social community of the PCT, those hiking, and those helping or wanting to help.       
> 
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