[pct-l] the whole ADZ discussion

[mgeis at yahoo.com (Matt Geis)]

Well, now I know what happens when someone on the list
actually intoduces a *NEW* discussion topic.  It seems
that everyone is comfortable going on and on about
dogs on the trail, ice axes, etc., but as soon as
someone talks about *possible* flaws in what the
hiking community is doing to the trail experience by
departing en masse, everyone freaks out.

A couple observations.

In '02, Friendly Bear and Easy-E flip-flopped, and not
because they couldn't get to Canada on time.  They did
it because they were caught in a huge throng of
hikers.  They reported that it was virtually
impossible to get any service in restaurants.  That's
not the problem -- that's a symptom of the problem. 
Imagine for a moment that you're a server.  In walk 30
hikers, starving, some of whom barely have a dollar to
their name after what they've spent outfitting for
their hike.  Are you really going to want to serve
them all, knowing they'll be asking for water and soda
every 20 seconds, and adding on to their order
constantly, (unintentionally) smelling up the joint,
being generally happy and loud (possibly to the
consternation of other diners), and in the end,
leaving you a tip that probably falls in at under 15%,
and in no way comes close to the effort you've put out
for them?

How are you going to feel after an experience like
that?  Moreover, how are you going to feel about
hikers in general?  How are the other patrons, your
coworkers, local businesses, and the community in
general going to feel?

Donna is in a unique position to live in a very small
town where hikers gather and often linger.  She
probably knows a sizeable portion of the town on a
first name basis.  Sure, the crowds thin after Agua
Dulce, but in the case I'm writing about, these two
flipped somewhere near Burney.

The number of PCT hikers is growing.  It's not the AT
yet, but imagine the impact of an "ADZATKO".  2000+
hikers, all starting the same weekend.

As for the effect of hiker crowds on caches, that's an
interesting one.  Caches are maintained by volunteers,
and unfortunately are often relied upon by hikers. 
How altruistic will volunteers feel when they know
that instead of moving 50 gallons of water, they need
to move 500?

Of course, no matter what is done about the caches,
there will always be some inconsiderate hiker (or
jackass, if you will) there to screw it up.  In '02,
we had a real water problem north of Mojave.  All of
the reportedly full caches went unmaintained for a
short period.  Rather than take what they needed to
get to the next spring or off-trail water source,
hikers filled up completely, assuming the cache would
be there for all the hikers.  Restless Wind went a
mile off trail, downhill, to Yellowjacket Springs, to
recon the source, and even brought water back UP (!!)
to the trail, and left a note that the spring was
flowing.  I was getting pretty dehydrated, and I was
thrilled to see what he'd left.  I drank up, hiked
down to fill my bottles, refilled his (for the next
hiker), and amended his note to indicate where the
best water flow was.

The water and note weren't on the trail for more than
a couple hours before two more hikers found them. 
They proceeded to drink up, take (!!) the note, and
continue on to the next camping area with flowing
water.  Somehow they missed the point entirely (while
I won't name names, it turned out that this was
neither an accident nor an isolated incident of
self-centeredness).  The point is, no matter what we
do to plan caches, there will always be someone to
screw it up.

I'm curious about one thing.  Of all the people
slagging Donna, how many of them have been guests at
her house?  I'm not suggesting that if you ever were,
that you have to agree with her -- however, I think
she's earned some respect.  For those of you who have
not met or been hosted by the Saufleys, be considerate
in responding to someone you've never met.  For those
of you who have, well, if you're taking a
disrespectful tone, that's just disappointing.

Iron Chef

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