[BULK] - Re: [pct-l] PCT Origins / Completion Statistics

[elee at microsoft.com (Eric Lee (GAMES))]

Bluce wrote:
>
I may be out of my mind here but... Isn't hiking free?
Isn't it just the stuff we leave behind that costs
money? Aside from food (which you can get at any
church) what costs money?
>

Depends on what you mean by hiking.  Yeah, walking around in the woods
is free.  But trying to walk the PCT end to end in one season is
definitely not free.

It costs money to replace the gear you wear out.  It costs money to
gorge on high-calorie food while in town.  It costs money to get hotel
room when you're wet and exhausted and desperately need to clean up.  It
costs money to buy food for the next several days on the trail.

I don't doubt that some crazy person could hike the whole trail while
not spending a dime, the same as some crazy person could hike the whole
thing in 63 days.  But it's not the preferred way of doing things for
most of us.  <grin>

Eric