[pct-l] REI History and Resupplying at Cedar Grove

[Montedodge at aol.com (Montedodge@xxxxxxx)]

 I tend to side with Jim Whitaker on the REI issue. REI was started by a  by 
Lloyd Anderson  and his wife Mary in 1939 as a side business. This was also 
one of Jim's first climbing instructors/. By 1954 the " Co-Op with it's 6,000 
members had become too large for a home so a small space in one of the " Seedier 
" parts of Seattle became home to REI and Jim was the first Employee . Thanks 
to both REI and Jim , Americans climbed Everest in 1963.
   I joined REI in 1972 when there was still just one store and the annual 
spring sale had hikers and climbers camping in line all the way around the block 
waiting to get in!! ( My parents wouldn't allow me to go as they didn't want 
their little boy sleeping on a sidewalk in Seattle all night waiting to buy 
some damm stove!~!) When you enter the old brick store with it's dust bunnies 
and creeking wood floors with tons of nice photos and posters , YOU WERE IN 
HEAVEN.  
    After Jim left the store did take a turn for the worse as clothing 
dominated the store much as how Eddie Bower went from a top notch outfitter door to 
a Yuppie Clothing store for people that neither hike or climb. I read one day 
on the old chalk board above the men's toilet, " REI is Norstroms is a flannel 
shirt". They couldn't have hit it any more on the head!!!!!! ( Norstoms is a 
high dollar clothing store here in Seattle that caters to the elite folks of 
the Norhtwest) 
   I am sure as far as money goes Jim was an old dinosaur. Clothing sells. 
You may buy a backpack every 15 years or 2 stoves in your life , but clothing 
you buy all the time. Plus, non-hiker folks come in to buy just becasue it makes 
them look more style-ish or outdoors-y. Gone are the days at the old brick 
building of picking up a Kelty pack out of a cardboard box with one lone foam 
filled display model tacked up above the box. 
   Today's store flavor is a far cry from the rumage store  looking REI of 
the 60's and 70's. I think Jim was right to leave. REI is clothing store that 
also happens to sell a few packs and gear. The employees of today usually know 
less than you do and the catalogs of today show models who may not even know 
how to make the filter their holding even work. Calalogs from the 70's when Jim 
was there , showed gear being used on real trips ( like K2)  by real hikers 
and climbers. 
      OK , now off that soapbox,,,, Cedar Grove makes a good resupply in the 
Sierras. You can drop down Bubbs Creek , mail home you ice axe, pick up your 
drift box with food and go back up woods creek. You will miss a small section 
of the PCT , but both side trails are awsome as well!!!