Re: [pct-l] Food and Fuel and Questions (as always)

[Stephen Martin <troubadour@pcthiker.com>]

on 3/17/00 12:38 PM, Luke Snyder at lukeahoy@yahoo.com wrote:

> Would someone be so polite to either send me the digests, or their
success/failure stories on the routes taken between Whitney and Red's
Meadow?

On my hike last year I took two days of supplies out of Kennedy Meadows to
make it to Lone Pine. The hike out to Lone Pine is not bad at all (I did it
at night). It's only 2.5 miles and the elevation loss isn't bad as the trail
is well switchbacked. However I did sit and wait three hours to get a ride
into town.

From Lone Pine I resupplied for 8 days which included a side trip to climb
Mt. Whitney. I must admit that my pack was weighing heavily with that much
food in it. However, I was using a LWGear 1 pound pack that didn't have a
hip belt. So my shoulders were sore. However, for the Whitney climb I left
most of my gear at Crabtree Meadows for the ascent and ate a days worth of
food which lowered my food weight.

I made it next to Vermillion Valley. My food held up pretty well but I was
completely out by the time I made it to the resort. I resupplied there to
make it to Tuolumne meadows. In hindsight, I would have only resupplied to
make it to Reds Meadows. Reds Meadow has a good store that the town guide
mentions is very small. They had a very good selection.

If I did the trail again, I would do it the same way with the addition of
stopping at Reds meadow. I prefered less stops and hikes out of the high
sierra. Once you are in that great area it's nice not to leave so that the
beauty can work its magic. It's a wonderous place.

I did meet a few hikers who packed enough food to go straight from Kennedy
Meadows to Vermillion valley. While it's possible, they were hating the food
weight!

Good luck with your final preparations!


Troubadour
--------------
http://www.pcthiker.com | experience the pacific crest trail


* From the PCT-L |  Need help? http://www.backcountry.net/faq.html  *

==============================================================================