[pct-l] My money dump at REI

[Bighummel at aol.com (Bighummel@aol.com)]

30 lb. base weights were standard fare on the PCT up until the 1990's or so.  
Literally hundreds of successful thru-hikes on the proto PCT were made before 
the popularity of ultra-light weight and 30 mile-per-day strategies.  No one 
in 1977 carried less than this as a base weight to my knowledge and yes, it 
was a great weather year to hike, and about 20 to 25% of those who began 
intending to thru-hike succeeded.   You can still do this.  Being 26 and strong will 
help but is not necessary. 

Most, if not all successful thru-hikers will tell you that what your base 
weight is, what kind of gear you carry, what your hiking strategy is, means 
nothing towards successfully thru-hiking.  What is in your heart and in your brain 
is what gets you to Canada.  

A 20 year old girl got off of a cruise liner in San Diego in late March of 
1977.  She was a bit crazy and adventurous and had heard about this trail that 
stretched from Mexico to Canada.  She decided to give it a try, stopped in at a 
sporting goods store and bought a large external frame pack, a cotton 
sleeping bag and some food and hitch-hiked out to the trail head, knowing almost 
nothing about what she was about to commit to.  She didn't have the guide books or 
maps or even a tent.  She didn't have rain gear and it started raining on her 
first day out.  She got lost almost immediately and fortunately ran into two 
guys from Portland who did have a clue.  They set her straight on what she 
needed and so she hitch-hiked back into San Diego and got better equipment, the 
guidebooks and a tent and lighter food and then hitch-hiked back out.  She 
leaned pretty hard on those of us who had planned for a year or more and had our 
gear strategy well thought out, but then she showed, after months on the trail 
and enduring some very difficult weather, snow, mosquitos and frequently 
getting lost, that she had that one thing that is required; she desperately wanted 
to succeed at this and she had the mental toughness to keep on going.    She 
ended up being one of those twenty or so and she then hiked the proto CDT the 
next year.  She biked around the world and now is raising three daughters and 
lives in San Diego. 

It doesn't matter what your base weight is.  It doesn't matter what kind of 
gear you have.  It doesn't matter whether your shelter will shed snow or not 
(all of this is very fun to discuss though!).

HYOH,

Greg