[CDT-L] [cdt list] reply to jim and ginny

I can't reply to the whole thing, because we'll all just start restating what 
we've already said. I didn't misunderstand anything you wrote the first time, 
Jim. And I can't address your specific questions re: the stretch that started 
all this because I haven't been there. All I wanted to address was the issue 
of water availability in a dry land, and the standard you seemed to be 
proposing. (Permanent reliable year-round water at intervals that can 
accommodate the average hiker). I do not believe that standard is feasible in 
most southwestern dryland landscapes. When I said it was 20 - 25 miles 
between water in a lot of places, my definition of water included muddy stock 
tanks, windmills with dead things (Whiteroot: Did you drink the dead raven 
water?), and seasonal sources. 
    I did agree, upfront, that 40 miles dry is too far. All I said was that 
someone working on the trail would be in a position to know about water. I 
also agreed with you re: road walking, politically motivated decision making, 
etc. I don't disagree that water availability has to be considered before 
trail building begins. From wht I've read, it does seem that the BLM is doing 
something expedient and dumb here -- but unlike Tim, I haven't been out 
there, so I don't know.  

Re: the hiker grapevine and what 9 other thru-hikers did or didn't too -- I 
see the "grapevine" as supporting sheep-like behavior. "Everyone" talks about 
what "everyone" is going to do, based on little or no knowledge. C'mon, we've 
all seen that time and time again. That's why I really liked the article 
"Impassible is a State of Mind" which ran in the ALDHA-West newsletter about 
a year ago re: the Sierra and snow. Everybody sits at Kennedy Meadows 
worrying and gossiping about conditions ahead, which no -one can possible 
know, and then people make decisions (like sending ice axes home) based on 
this guesswork and gossp! Like I said, I'm glad there was no grapevine on the 
CDT in 90. Sorry to discagree, but I didn't blindly pass a library of 
registers or miss all those other hikers just ahead or just behind. Except 
for the Lincoln register (which we took to our hotel room and read all night) 
the very occasional registers were notebooks that had been there for years, 
had two or three outdated entries, and a book of blank pages. There were only 
two other folks out there, who we didn't even hear of till hundreds of miles 
in, and never heard a thing about after. Hardly a grapevine.Maybe the root of 
one. 

Will also be interested to see if you still think after hiking the PCT that 
off-trail water is so accessible! You mention that there is usually some 
within 1 - 3 miles of the trail. Well, that was our experience in New Mexico, 
too. 

Anyway, re: the PCT: I don't personally consider volunteers bringing jugs of 
water to Scissor's Crossing (or anywhere else) to be a reliable source of 
water. You wouldn't go out for a 30 mile dry stretch counting on that water 
to be at the end of it!  You'd have to have a more reliable back-up plan. 

Re: water in San Gorgonio Pass (PCT) -- there is a fountain coming out of the 
water pipes that drains Snow Creek at the base of the San Jacintos on the 
south side of the Pass.

Well, I've gone on long enough.

Karen
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