[pct-l] Resupply in Etna?

[ronyon at comcast.net (Ron Smith)]

I'll join the chorus of Etna enthusiasts in saying that I had a great
stopover there in 2001. Experiencing the charm of small towns like Etna
and Seiad Valley is one of the reasons I love thru-hiking. These places
normally don't get more than a glance out of the car window from
passers-by, but collectively are a large part of Americana. Visiting
them on foot allowed me to see them much more intimately than I ever
would as a tourist, if I bothered to stop.
In my case, my feet needed a zero-day regardless. I spent two enjoyable
nights at the hiker hut, which I considered a bargain. I was a day or
two behind a large wave of thru-hikers and noticed that most of them had
signed the register at the hut. This tells me that lots if not most
thru-hikers do stop in Etna.
Ron Smith

> My thru-hike itinerary, (taken from the PCT Hiker's Handbook) calls
for
> resupplying in Etna, CA. I've noticed that the Data Book and also the
Town
> Guide both skip over Etna and go from Castella to Seiad Valley as
resupply
> options? Well, the town guide mentions Etna but not as a primary
resupply
> point.  Etna's not even mentioned in the Data book?
> 
> My question is, do most thru-hikers skip Etna and resupply at Castella
and
> Seiad Valley which are ~157 miles apart! Or, is it worth it to stop at
> Etna?
> I'm planning on averaging about 25 mi./day from Castella - Seaid
Valley,
> so
> that's about 6.5 days food...
> 
> Brian Bowlsby
> PCT '04