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[pct-l] Getting Into Trouble on the Trail



 
In a message dated 6/3/2005 6:00:55 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net writes:

However  you answer this question regarding ultra-lighters and
their margin of error  I think there is a group of hikers that is
more at risk: day  hikers.




I would have to agree with this thought.  I am always amazed at how  
under-prepared some of the day trippers are that I encounter.  My favorite  are those 
that are still headed up the trail at dusk with just a bottle of  Aqua-Fina in 
hand.  And of course, they always seem to ask for  directions.
 
Then again, maybe I am over prepared.  More than once I have gotten  back to 
the car after a long day hike with extra water, extra food, a number of  
pieces of clothing that were not worn (including dry socks), along with the ten  
essentials, a map I never needed to refer to, and a large first aid kit that may 
 have been needed only for moleskin and wondered - "why I was carrying so 
much  crap compared to everyone else?"
 
This same thought has also occurred to me at the end of many overnight  
trips.  I consider myself to be an "ultra-light wannabe" and have gradually  been 
reducing my base weight.  But I always have an insurance-factor  built-in 
(clothes/food/shelter), even when it is probably not necessary.   This will 
probably limit by ability to become a true ultra-light hiker.
 
This mind-set is the result was established in my youth.  I was in a  scout 
troop that was totally focused on backpacking and spent many a cold  wet night 
in the Columbia River Gorge and Oregon Cascades.  We did  50-milers every 
summer, and snow camped in the winter.  Even though I was  only 19 when I did the 
PCT, I had a lot of experience to draw upon to help me  decide how much gear 
was appropriate.
 
There isn't a year that goes by without several people a year getting lost  
in the Gorge or near Mt. Hood that helps reinforce the "be-prepared" mind set I 
 have.  Just last summer, I was doing the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood  
when I tripped and did a full gainer off the trail - tumbling head over  heals. 
 I thought for sure that I had broken my ankle.  The good news  was that it 
could have started to snow that very moment, and even with a broken  bone, I 
had the gear that would allow me to survive for a week or more,  even though it 
was just a 2-day trip.
 
Which brings me to the conclusion of this rambling message.   Ultra-light is 
not the root cause for getting into the trouble on the  trail.  What is?  
In-experience - plain and simple.  Mix that in  with ultra-light and the 
consequences could be deadly.  My fear is that the  PCT is being romanticized by on 
line journals.  Mix that in with the trend  that light is better (even REI is 
marketing this concept), and it is  only a matter of time till someone gets 
killed.  (This is not meant to  intimate the current lost hiker was inexperienced - 
it sounds as though he was a  seasoned hiker).   
 
At its core ultra-light is a great concept.  I wish that someone had  been 
talking about it in 1977.  But making sure that one has the right  stuff, not 
just a low base weight, is what really matters.
 
Bill Jensen
"Portland Trailblazers"
PCT '77