[pct-l] Getting Into Trouble on the Trail

[mgeis at yahoo.com (Matt Geis)]

So far, an informative, interesting, thread!  And no
religious debates on this (see the ice axe, kickoff,
dogs-on-trail threads for examples of the opposite).

Bill Jensen wrote "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."

I gave some slideshows at REI in 2003 and 2004, and my
wife kindly reminded me not to romanticize it too
much, or risk encouraging others to hike the trail.  I
ended up telling a story about how a friend asked me,
while I was on the trail, if I'd recommend it to
others.  At the time, my anwer was "absolutely NOT. 
However, if I knew someone was already considering it,
I would tell that person to think hard, as it just
might be one of the best things they will ever do."

Before the slideshows, I reread my journals, and
encountered passages about things I'd forgotten. 
Waking up in pain near Warner Springs from swollen
feet, achilles tendonitis, blisters, and sore knees
being the foremost thing I'd forgotten.

At Scott Williamson's recent PCT slideshow in San
Francisco, he recalled a hiker (who I'm 99% sure was
Tangent) with a base weight of 5 pounds.  He had hiked
in 2002, and again in 2004, only with a much lighter
rig.  He found out the hard way that 2002 was a banner
year for good weather, and that in '04, his combo
poncho/tarp, light bag, and minimal clothing were
woefully inadequate.  He suffered no lasting problems,
but learned a thing or two about going ultralight.

Glenn Van Peske gave a talk at the 04 trailfest about
going light, and categorized gear into three
categories, for purposes of lightening your load.

1.  You need it.
2.  It's nice to have.
3.  You absolutely do not need it.

He then talked about the kinds of problems you can
encounter, and how gear relates to them.

1.  You have some item that will save your life.
2.  You don't have the item, so you will have some
difficulty, pain, or discomfort.
3.  The incident is so grave that no matter what you
happen to have packed, it will prove fatal.

Ultralighters live right there in that second
category, constantly running a risk of having to grit
one's teeth and use the old brain and guts to solve a
problem.  The greater the risk of a trip (say, a
summer road walk vs. a high-altitude pass crossing in
bad weather and icy ground) the more gear in the first
category is required.

What I took on the PCT weighs a lot less than what
I've taken across glaciers, but that's because I don't
expect to be falling into any crevasses on the PCT.

I would have been doing the audience a huge disservice
to suggest that the PCT is a walk in the park, and
that anyone can do it.  

It's easy to overlook the fact that even the best
prepared of us can have an accident.  I received an
email offlist about the hiker who perished going over
New Army Pass, from someone who knew more of the
circumstances than I -- this hiker was apparently
experienced on snow and ice, but it was the mountain's
day, not his.  A climbing partner of mine, who has
been doing technical mountaineering for decades and
has been through some hairy situations, took a huge
fall in the cascades last year on what was an easy
walk-up to a peak -- a loose rock gave way under him,
and sent him down several hundred feet.  His partner
ran down, set up an emergency shelter, and ran for
help -- the end result was a helicopter evac and many
broken bones (despite the fall, one could argue that a
good decision made ahead of time was to hike with a
partner).

The PCT requires a bit of mental toughness combined
with good judgement and skills -- either that, or just
a lot of good luck with respect to weather, foot
placement in streams and on snowfields, people who
correctly followed the trail before and set the
correct route through the snow, etc.

Unfortunately, we sometimes confuse the latter
combination with the former.  


		
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