[pct-l]16+ mi. dry stretches

[blisterfree at isp01.net (Brett)]

There was a young lady heading northbound from Campo on 
Friday, start of the AZD last spring. She was somewhat new 
to backpacking, and fresh at long-distance hiking. Naturally 
she was uncertain of her ability to hike extended daily 
mileage between reliable water sources. Her plan was to camp 
at Hauser Creek that night, and reach Lake Morena the 
following morning. Since Hauser Creek would be a reliable 
water source, other hikers had told her, she decided not to 
carry extra water but just enough to make it to the creek 
that night.

Well, apparently she had a bit of trouble hiking the 16 
miles that day in the heat and sun, and ran her water supply 
to the bottom well before Hauser Creek. Reaching Hauser 
after dark, she didn't find the water she'd been depending 
on, but in her exhaustion decided to camp there anyway. She 
had a rough night, not only from thirst, but apparently some 
illegals came through her camp, and the border patrol 
vehicles passed back and forth on the nearby road for half 
the night.

The following afternoon, I started up Hauser Mtn from the 
assuredly dry creek, soon meeting a group of hikers who said 
a young lady had been escorted off the trail and into Lake 
Morena, in the process leaving her backpack behind. Heat 
exhaustion to blame. The climb up from the dry creek had 
been the final straw. Although these day hikers would be 
coming back round-trip later in the day, and were 
unencumbered, they made the insinuation that I might 
consider bringing the pack to her, if it wouldn't be too 
much trouble. I decided to do it, as much for the sake of 
this unknown hiker in distress as to facilitate the day 
hikers' deserved self-pity for not jumping so easily to her 
rescue.

Finding the full-sized pack at trailside, and determining it 
to be heavier than mine, I opted to remove my pack, place 
the other one on back, and then carry mine in front, with 
the shoulder straps pulling forward. This was a real hoot, 
walking the final 2 miles with no view of my feet over rocky 
ground, as hikers would occasional come by the other way, 
and I'd exclaim how much fun these new "front packs" seem to 
be. Somebody, I forget the name now, held me up upon arrival 
at Lake Morena, in order to take my picture in full absurd 
and heavy regalia, but not before breaking out his GPS unit 
so he could GEOCODE the thing!

I eventually found the hiker in distress. She was recovering 
in the shade by an RV, and none too keen on continuing 
northbound. I told her she was doing great given the 
circumstances, and that I, too, was surprised to find Hauser 
Creek dry so early in the season. Hopefully she didn't get 
too discouraged too soon, and managed to see at least a bit 
more of the PCT before deciding whether to attempt the 
thru-hike. And I think we both re-learned, for different 
reasons, the importance of self-sufficiency on the trail.

- blisterfree

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> That climb out of the canyon, I thought I was going to 
> die-I had given two
> of my bottles of water to a scout that was empty, which 
> made me empty. The
> troop and the other adults left me in the dust and if it 
> wasn't for one of
> the women in the group bringing back some water I honestly 
> don't think I
> would be here today. June 6th 2003 very hot and no water 
> anywhere. Ground
> Pounder Bill