[pct-l] Selective criticism of trail help

[Gail Van Velzer]

There is some truth to what you say, but cutting a downed tree doesn't cause 
animals to raid a hiker box.  Water, well, okay, but food left for hikers is 
only inviting animals to strew it all over.  If people want to meet hikers 
and help them, go for it, but take the trash out with you.  Before GPS, we 
used maps, and still do, so using a GPS doesn't make it an "impure" hike. 
My concern is the number of hikers out there that are unprepared and relying 
on water caches and other trail magic.  I have seen hikers raid boxes 
instead of bringing their own food.  Sure, take something if it will make 
your hike better, but don't expect to find all your trail amenities.  Plan, 
plan, plan for the worst and enjoy the best.
Golly
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Douglas Tow" <douglastow at gmail.com>
To: <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2014 10:29 AM
Subject: [pct-l] Selective criticism of trail help


>A number of kind contributors have perhaps implied that the more trail
> angels serve road crossings, the more it might encourage people to hike 
> the
> PCT, or that it might help make a successful hiker out of an otherwise
> unsuccessful one, as if that were a bad thing.
>
> That is a bit like saying that a thru hike would be more honest if all
> blowdowns were left in place - after all, clearing them just encourages
> people to hike, and increases their chances of a successful hike!
>
> I would wager that I could take the hike details of any of these critics,
> and find that they employed dozens of ways to get them up the trail that
> others might find "impure" hiking.  A GPS app, perhaps, or a zero day, or
> slackpacking from Campo to Lake Morena.
>
> If you consider trail angels just another optional activity along the
> trail, it would help.  No one forces a PCT hiker to walk over to trail
> magic and sit, or eat, or peruse a register to see where their compadres
> are, any more that a hiker is forced to do any of the following:
>
> Get in a family member's car at Echo Lake to spend some time with them in
> Lake Tahoe.
>
> Accept a free ice cream just for signing the register at Hyatt Lake 
> Resort.
>
> Accept a free beer at VVR.
>
> Enjoy the free wifi at Starbucks.
>
> Take some Vitamin I for a sore shoulder.
>
> Take water from the pipe at Sheep Camp Springs.
>
> Use a Halfmile map.
>
> Check the weather report.
>
> Pick up a resupply box in Seiad Valley.
>
> Hikers are out there making the choices they think are best in their quest
> to walk from Mexico to Canada.  Leaving a trail of trash is something to
> criticize, taking an apple from a cooler not so much.
>
> Chipmunk
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