[pct-l] My money dump at REI

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

here, here!  those are the kinds of stories that are what this is 
*really* all about.  great story.  thanks, greg.


> 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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