Journal Update 5 May 2000

I'm in Penn Station at 1600 waiting for the Amtrak LakeShore Limited to
Chicago.  From there I take the Southwest Chief to Fullerton, CA, then
another train to San Diego, then a local streetcar to a bus, to another
bus that will take me to Campo, which is where the Southern Terminus of
the Pacific Crest Trail is.

I feel fine, though a little blitzed from the last days of frantic
preparations.  PCT logistics, to this  head-in-the-clouds person, are
tremendous. Try going to the grocery store to shop for 5 months of
no-refrigeration-necessary food, when you have no clear notion of what
your caloric intake will be!  Mom and Dad are being excessively helpful
with my food drops.  They're being full partners with me, because I
depend on their shipments and flexibility for my maps, equipment, food,
and other supplies.

The PCT is somewhere between 2600 and 2700 miles long.  I don't remember
the official number (it changes from year to year as the trail, like the
Mississippi, changes course), and I've cut the guidebooks up into more
than 26 pieces to minimize my pack weight.  Right now I have only Section
A with me, which covers from Campo, California, at the Mexican border, to
Warner Springs, a distance of about 110.6 miles.  This voluntary
blindness is one of the things I've learned since my previous attempt. 
In 1994 I showed up at Mount Laguna, the first resupply station (at mile
41) carrying the entire California guidebook!  It must weigh at least a
couple of pounds.  Although I split the book in three at that time, I've
come a little ways since then.  The other night I spent two or three
hours in the basement drilling holes in my stove stand.  Total savings:
0.6 ounces.

[next day]

Most people thru-hike the PCT (i.e., hike the entire trail in one season)
from South to North. That's my plan, too. Somewhere between 100 and 200
people will attempt a thru-hike of the PCT this year. If I remember
correctly, that's about 1/20 ofthose that will attempt the Appalachian
trail.  There are endless debates on the Internet as to which is more
difficult.

Since the PCT is designed and built both for hikers and horses, the trail
tread and grade are quite easy in most places. The primary challenges of
the PCT are of other kinds.  First, in some parts of California,
especially south and north of the Sierras, water is very scarce.  For
S->N thru-hikers, this means that quite often there will be 20-30 mile
stretches between reliable springs.  As the season progress, the streams
and springs dry up, so that a N->S hiker may have 60 mile waterless
stretches.
Second, the deep, deep snow in the Sierras can take a long time to melt,
whereas the snow in the Cascades begins to fly early (late
September/early October).  So to do a successful S->N thru-hike, one must
start early enough so there water, pace oneself to minimize the snow and
stream-crossing difficulties of the Sierras, traverse Oregon in prime
mosquito season, then get through the Cascades in Washington before the
winter storms hit and make the cliffside trail sections impassible. 

Third, resupply can be difficult.  Some places require 8 days between
resupply, then a 10-mile hike and a 15-mile hitchhike to get more food.

Fourth, there are few trail amenities.  There are no hiker shelters, so
each person must carry some sort of tent, tarp, or bivy sack.

Nevertheless, people thru-hike the trail making movies, writing books,
attempting speed records.  Last year two fellows hiked the PCT and the AT
back-to-back. Another hiker is attempting this year to hike the PCT S->N,
then immediately turn around and hike it back N->S. Yet another has said
that next year he hopes to hike the "Triple Crown" - the AT, the PCT, and
the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) - in a single calendar year.  That's a
total of around 7800 miles, or over 20 miles a day every day of the year,
regardless of season.

More later,
-- Dave


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