[pct-l] My money dump at REI

[whitethunder10 at hotmail.com (Joseph Niemiec)]

Ok ok, so it is possible to do it with 30.  But you guys have to remember 
that we didn't walk 20 miles, barefoot through the snow, to school when we 
were little!

If I could add one more thing..hmmmm you are going to feel other hikers 
packs.  And when you do, you'll realize how much of an easier time they are 
having.  You'll have fun no matter what, but 10lbs difference in pack weight 
is huge and 20lbs is so easily doable.  Now if you want to talk about 
getting down to 10lbs, that is a gaint leap, one that will probably only be 
done if you have the experience behind you.  But for now just go 20lbs.  You 
'll thank me.

However what matters most is just doing it.  (chances are better with a 
lighter pack though- I read that somewhere)

Mouse
>From: Bighummel@aol.com
>To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] My money dump at REI
>Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 18:51:38 EDT
>
>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
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