[pct-l] Water Caches?????????

[enyapjr at adelphia.net (enyapjr)]

Fallingwater,

What you say is absolutely true!  I was too brief in explaining in my reply to Wayne Kraft.
I'm an ultralighter myself the majority of the time, but not all the time - depends on each individual
outing and what a trip is all about (hiking versus camping emphasis)...  But I also think that many
people getting into 'ultralight' are fixated ONLY with reducing weight, and water is the heaviest
single item carried in the 'desert'.  I did NOT say ALL ultralighters don't carry sufficient water...
I carry what water will be required for myself and no more than that, however I would NOT ever
RELY on a water CACHE being a KNOWN SOURCE of water - and that was the gist of my too
brief reply (Maybe I should have said "It is a result of well intentioned, but misconstrued
interpretation by some people of the increasingly popular ultralight/lightweight philosophy"...
or "It stems from the ultralight/lightweight philosophy being misconstrued or misinterpreted by
some people"...  My apologies for being much too brief in explaining in replying to Wayne).
Overall, I feel that most 'experienced' practitioners of the ultralight philosophy are indeed very
well prepared because they have looked long and hard as to their needs and requirements - 
and I have defended 'ultralight' philosophy in that light for quite a few years...

I, too, decry the water caches in SoCal...  if for no other reason, it is totally UNNATURAL...  but,
for the worse case in my opinion, the water caches have been illogically thought of by SOME
thru-hikers as 'KNOWN SOURCES' (please note the keyword RELIABLE has been left out!)...  It has been noted many times repeatedly on the pct-l and also written in Yogi's Handbook and the
SoCal Guidebook - DON"T RELY on the water caches!  DON"T RELY on the water CACHES!!!
And that is very simple, (should be) easily understood advice.  But, obviously, not everyone
listens to good, sound advice!  Do they?

Happy (not thirsty) trails!!!