[pct-l] Re: Gear Advice and Re-supply Logistics

Tony -
A lot of the thruhikers this year (including Jim and I) used Gregory Reality 
packs.  They're about 4000 ci.  We liked them.  They weigh about 5 lbs, but 
they're durable (Jim's has done over 6000 miles so far.)  If you have 
problems with hip-belts though, you may think about doing the ultra-light 
route and having a hip-belt that is just for stability, rather than weight 
bearing.

As to resupply - you don't need to do it from the UK or use a commercial 
company.  Save your money for the trail.

We had minimal resupply assistance.  Mostly we  purchased in towns on the 
trail or else we bought in the larger towns and sent supplies to towns 
ahead, either as small food drops or in our drift box  (i.e. in Ashland we 
sent out drops for the rest of Oregon and in Cascade Locks we sent boxes to 
the towns in Washington.) Though this doesn't work if you are into a special 
diet, or like organic food, as the stock tends to be pretty basic Liptons or 
Rice-a-roni type pasta and rice.  Some of the "resorts" are pretty 
expensive, but you can usually find what you need.  Though as Lynne Weldon 
said in his "How to hike the PCT" video, sometimes you have to be pretty 
'creative'.  We started the trail with a drift box which we mailed from San 
Diego (or you could mail it from Campo, if you start on a weekday.)  In the 
drift box we had those items that we bought in larger quantities that we 
thought we couldn't find along the trail, or that we thought would be 
expensive - i.e. film, LOC, batteries, etc.   The guidebooks and maps were 
also in the drift box, cut up in sections.  We actually had 4 such drift 
boxes, that were mailed by a friend, but we could easily have gotten by on 
just one. (I was a bit worried about losing the guidebook or maps for the 
whole trail if the box was lost, but it didn't happen.)  Most of what you 
will need you can find on or near the trail.  Even outdoor stores are 
available if you are willing to hitch or take a bus.  We kept a copy of the 
Campmor and REI catalogues in the drift box, which came in handy when things 
fell apart or failed.  We just had items shipped to the next town.

The PCTA web-site had an article by Chris Bailey about hiking the trail 
without mailing any food drops.  It had some really good information.  And 
you'll find that the archives have several posts about which towns are good 
(or not) for long-term resupply.

Ginny
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

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

==============================================================================
To:            swisstuor@hotmail.com, pct-l@backcountry.net