[pct-l] Tons of questions

[Town Food]

Hi Everyone,

Last year, I wrote these questions to the PCT-L in anticipation of my
2016 hike, and received many excellent answers.

Now, it's that time of year for the class of 2017, and I've finished my
hike, so I thought I'd write my own answers to these questions.  I bet
there are other first-time thru-hikers with the same questions I had, so
hopefully they'll come across this post.

Without further ado, here's the original email, with my answers
interspersed:

03/25/2016 04:05 PM:
> Hi PCT-L,
[...]
> So here's the slew of questions:
> 
> 1. On the JMT, it seemed like MTR was the obvious place to resupply,
> since it's the last point (southbound) that's close to the trail, until
> Whitney Portal / Lone Pine.  But, it seems like most PCT thru-hikers
> skip MTR and resupply at VVR or Red's Meadow, making that long stretch a
> couple days longer.  Why?  Or am I wrong about PCT hikers skipping MTR?

Resupplying at MTR takes a lot of planning (they have strict shipment
guidelines, shipping takes a long time, and they're strict about when
you can pick it up).  Trying to plan resupplies way in advance doesn't
work very well.  It was hard to predict what I'd want to eat, and how
much of it.  Buying my food for the next few days in person was always
preferable.

So, I resupplied south of MTR at Independence (via Kearsarge Pass) and
north of MTR at Mammoth (via Red's Meadow), for a carry of about 125
miles.  That's not a whole lot worse than the standard JMT stretch from
MTR to Whitney Portal.

The Kearsarge detour was scenic enough to be worthwhile in its own
right.  And, Mammoth is a full-sized town with proper outdoor supply
stores -- I was able to replace my worn-out shoes there with just the
right model.

I think MTR is so popular for JMT hikers because they're finishing in
Whitney Portal (which is north of Independence).  Whitney Portal's a
fine place to go home from, but not good for a resupply.

> 2. I've never hitchhiked before.  Is there any etiquette I should know
> about, e.g. are hitchhikers expected to pay for gas?

I offered to pay a few times, but nobody was ever interested.  Mostly
just smile, be cheerful, and have a conversation.  Nobody picks up
hitchhikers for the money, so far as I can tell.

> 3. Is it usually easy to get change for a coin shower, or should I carry
> quarters?

Some way of getting quarters almost always seems to materialize.  The
Camp Host will often make change, if you're at a paid campsite (which is
usually where coin showers are).

However, I avoided coin showers when possible, for a few reasons:

A. I might run out of time while soapy.
B. Getting soap and shampoo was sometimes time-consuming or impossible.
C. Getting a proper towel was usually impossible.
D. Tiny pack towels mean you'll be really cold for a while while you
sloooowly dry off.  Then, you'll have to dry out and carry a piece of
gear that's saturated with scented toiletries.  This can attract animals
to your pack at night.

> 4. Resupplying at Walker Pass on 178 seems really hard, but necessary if
> I'm going to avoid 7+ days between resupplies.  I've looked at a few
> options, and none look very good:  Getting friends/family to pick me up
> (they live far away), taking the Kern County bus (it runs infrequently),
> arranging taxi ride (very expensive), or hitchhiking (I think it's a
> fast, little-used stretch of highway?).  Are there any options I overlooked?

There's a lot of trail angeling here.  Otherwise, the bus is probably
your best bet.  This can also be a good place to call in close
friends/family, since they haven't seen you for about a month now (and,
they can drive you to Ridgecrest, which has much better supplies than
Lake Isabella).

> 5. Does leaving the rain fly off of a double-wall tent cause, or prevent
> condensation?

This is an eternal question.  It's definitely a whole lot warmer with
the fly on, though, and that was always the primary concern.  I ended up
pitching my rain fly on all but a handful of nights.

> 6. If you mail a resupply package or bounce box for general delivery,
> but aren't able to pick it up, what happens?  E.g. suppose my bounce box
> gets held up in the mail, and I'm days past the post office by the time
> it's finally delivered?  And, what if the destination is not a post office?

This never happened to me.  But, my understanding is:  If it's a post
office, and you shipped via Priority Mail, you can request that it be
redirected to a different address.  If it's not a post office, they keep it.

> 7. On the Class of 2006 PCT DVD, it looked like people might've been
> carrying bear cans in their packs in Washington (at least, it looked
> like there was something large and cylindrical inside their packs).  I
> was under the impression that people normally carry bear cans only from
> Kennedy Meadows to Sonora Pass.  Are they necessary (or realistically
> advisable) anywhere else?

I only saw a few thru-hikers who used bear canisters outside the Sierras.

> 8. In areas where bear cans aren't required, do people do bear bag
> hangs?  If so, for the whole trail, or only certain sections?  Which?

I didn't see a single proper bear hang anywhere on the trail.  The most
common food storage method was to keep it inside an Opsak, inside your
backpack, and either keep your backpack in your vestibule or your tent.

> 9. Is it possible to rent microspikes or crampons?  I don't have any
> plans to use them beyond this trip, so I'd rather not buy them.  But, I
> haven't been able to find any sites that rent them by mail, like how you
> can rent bear cans.

I didn't find any.  I suggested it to Wild Ideas, and they pointed out
that people might worry about the reliability of used safety gear.  I
could definitely see people abusing rented Microspikes (e.g. not
bothering to take them off on the rocks).

> 10. I've read advice that you don't really need more raingear than a
> poncho, because your legs can get cold with no problems, and your feet
> will get wet no matter what you do.  So, I tried to test this during a
> rainstorm a few weeks ago, by hiking about 4 hours in a DriDucks poncho
> and REI Sahara outfit, with a loaded backpack.  I got sick, and am still
> coughing.  It rained about an inch, the temperature was in the high 40s
> F, and wind gusts were about 50MPH.  What should I have done differently
> to handle that kind of weather?  Used more insulation under the poncho? 
> Added rain pants or high gaiters?  Stayed home?

I clung to that poncho for most of the trail.  It was about as useful as
carrying a brick (well, an 8 ounce brick).  Mainly I used it as town
clothes while I was doing laundry, and it was inadequate for that too.

When it finally did rain in earnest, I got really cold, because the
sleeves don't cover forearms (I walked many miles with my arms curled up
like a T-Rex to keep warm).  And, the giant arm holes let in lots of
wind and rain.

I bought a proper rain jacket near Snoqualmie (some kind of Outdoor
Research Pertex jacket), and it was a godsend.  Not only did it keep me
much drier when the weather was rainy, it made me realize that wearing
raingear as a windbreaker is tremendously useful in weather that's not
rainy but is chilly.  I wished I'd started the trail with this.

I never got rain pants, but by Northern Washington I probably should
have.  Having soaked legs was really cold at times, and several times I
found myself in situations where I'd certainly get dangerously cold if I
stopped moving.  I was the only person I saw at the Northern Terminus
that didn't have rain pants on.

> 11. The 2014 PCT DVD shows what looks like an abandoned wrecking ball at
> Sunrise Trailhead.  Does anyone know the story behind that?  There's
> also an abandoned wrecking ball in Henry W Coe Park -- are wrecking
> balls in the wilderness a thing??

Another eternal mystery...  Seriously, I don't know what the deal is,
and I'm still wondering.  Since then, I've seen another one by the
roadside in a rural area.

> Thanks again, I'd appreciate answers to any of the above.
> 
>  -=Marcus
>