[pct-l] Thoughts on the ADZPCTKO thread

[at2002 at mac.com (Gary Wright)]

On Apr 27, 2005, at 10:04 PM, Ronald Moak wrote:
> Since there are a number of 2004 hikers on this list it should be their
> voices that should be heard.

I hiked in 2004 and have been posting regularly on this topic.
I hiked from the border to the kickoff on Friday and continued
on Sunday morning. Some observations:

	30+ people waiting at the Mt. Laguna Post Office on Monday
		morning after the Kickoff.
	Only a few gallons of water at Lucky 5
		- I carried water from Pioneer Mail
	No water at 3rd Gate cache
		- I carried 7.5 liters from Scissors Crossing (from the creek not
			the cache).
	20 to 30 hikers camped at Barrel Springs Thursday after the kickoff.
	30 to 40 hikers at Warner Springs Friday after the kickoff.
	20 to 25 hikers at McDonalds at Cajon Pass
	about 50 hikers at the Saufleys on May 21st (4 weeks from the start)
	8-10 hikers at the Andersons on May 22nd
	15-20 hikers at KM around June 6th
	26 hikers at Tuolumne Meadows Campground on June 22nd

My perception is that I was just at the front of
the "pulse" of hikers from the kickoff.  My first night at the Saufleys
there were maybe 15-20 hikers and I believe they were over 50 for at 
least
the two nights after I left.

Personally, I enjoy the social aspects of thru-hiking as much as
the back-to-nature aspects so I wasn't really bothered by these
numbers other than the last night at the Saufley's.  It was simply
too many people in a confined space for my comfort level.  I think
most people spend at least two nights at the Saufley's and quite
a few spend three nights there, which explains the high numbers.

I'm not claiming that my observations are indicative of everyone's
experience last year, I'm just trying to provide some data points to
consider.