[pct-l] Re: Looking for southbounder

[mara at jeffress.net (Mara Jeffress)]

Mary Beth/Seaweed Sally,

This is just my opinion, so take it as that, but I think he grossly 
overestimated how long it would take to get to Stehekin.  The distance 
from Manning to Stehekin is ~90 miles PLUS a ~10 mi shuttle ride to the 
resort.  I have heard rumors that the shuttle is not even running due 
to road wash outs (does anyone know if this is true?) and if that is 
true it is a ~100 mile walk.  Only the fastest hikers can cover 33 
miles a day for 3 days straight and that is in really good conditions.  
According to Terri's recent snow report, right now the trail above 
~6000 ft from Cutthroat pass and likely north is under snow (which is 
the first 65 miles of that section from Manning).  Even if he made it 
in three days the post office is only open limited hours and he would 
have missed it yesterday which means he would be picking up packages 
today.  I am willing to bet it will take him at least 4 days to get to 
Stehekin (that is still 25 miles/day in several feet of snow, which 
would be impressive.....at least I would be impressed).  You could 
check with the post office again tomorrow and see if he picked up his 
boxes.

I really wouldn't worry about him until Friday or Saturday.  Hopefully 
he brought enough food for the longer journey.... and an ice axe.

I won't be up there until the 15th as I am hiking out sections further 
south before then, but there should be at least one person going up 
there in the next few days, so hopefully someone will see him or his 
signature.

Hope that helps,
Mara
Mara Jeffress
mara@jeffress.net
http://jeffress.net/mara/1000miles.html

On Jun 1, 2005, at 2:25 PM, Mary Beth Berberick wrote:

> Some of you may know the hiker that goes by the name d=rt (pronounced 
> dirt). He began a Southbound section hike from Manning Park on Sunday 
> May 29th and had anticipated arriving in Stehekin for a resupply 
> Tuesday May 31. I have not heard from him, and I know that he has not 
> yet picked up some boxes at the Post Office.
>
> Since he usually hikes fast, he may have overestimated how quickly he 
> could get to Stehekin due to the snow and normall trail- finding 
> delays. Because of this, I do not want to overreact and alert the 
> Forest Service. I know some of you will be heading out in a few days 
> form Manning Park... I would greatly appreciate it if you could look 
> out for his name (d=rt aka?Travis Anderson) in registers, etc. and 
> maybe let someone know back in civilization if you have any news. His 
> general description is: curly blond hair, bushy beard, 6'1", 190 lbs.
>
> Thank you so much for your help. I am impressed with the active 
> communication via this website, and hope that someone has spotted 
> d=rt.
>
> Sincerely,
> Mary Beth Berberick (aka seaweed sally)
>
>
>
>