[pct-l] cell phones

[sierra_marmot at yahoo.com (John Randall)]

I did an I-8 to Idlywild section this past April and took a cell phone with me for the first time.  I was hiking alone and a bit ahead of the pack.  I found comfort in carrying it.  I didn't feel like I was betraying The Backpacker's Oath or anything.  I enjoyed being able to talk to my wife, who after 20 years of her husband hiking in the backcountry, still worries about him.  The major piece of the trail where cell phones don't work, is the High Sierra.  You can make a connection on top of Mt. Whitney (line of sight to Lone Pine) but not down on the PCT/JMT.  I think it's worth the weight and a valuable tool when you need to figure out how to get something done.  But a palm pilot checking e-mail, updating web sites and checking on fantasy sports leagues is a bit much.  That said, I don't disagree with the purists about not having one.
 
john randall
"marmot"

pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net wrote:
Send pct-l mailing list submissions to
pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net

To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
pct-l-request@mailman.backcountry.net

You can reach the person managing the list at
pct-l-owner@mailman.backcountry.net

When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of pct-l digest..."


Today's Topics:

1. RE: Backpacking Computers (Diane Ely)
2. snow level map (Jeffrey Olson)
3. Re: Horses on the PCT (Joanne Lennox)
4. Fw: [pct-l] Flip Flop PCT Hike (Joanne Lennox)
5. Re: Backpacking Computers (Saskia Daru)
6. Re: Backpacking Computers (Gray)
7. Re: Backpacking Computers (CMountainDave@aol.com)
8. Re: Horses on the PCT (ECPG)
9. RE: water purification questions (John Brennan)
10. RE: sleeping bags temp ratings (John Brennan)
11. 2004 Planning Tip (Hiker97@aol.com)
12. Continuous Trail Through Washington (Jim Keener)
13. Snow Levels (Eric Yakel)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 10:21:06 -0800
From: "Diane Ely" 

Subject: RE: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
To: Hiker97@aol.com, pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

I hate to be a wet blanket, but isn't one of the joys of backpacking to get 
away from this stuff? I mean, if one must take the office with them, why 
bother going?

(Hey, I think I just found my new trail name.)

Wet Blanket


>From: Hiker97@aol.com
>To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
>Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 21:56:32 EST
>
>What is the best camera/computer/GPS/phone/radio combination Palm type
>computer for 2004? Seems like these things are getting to be sophisticated 
>enough
>to seriously consider for the trail. The solar cell rechargers are nice 
>too.
>Thanks, Switchback
>
>_______________________________________________
>pct-l mailing list
>pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>unsubscribe or change options:
>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l

_________________________________________________________________
Cell phone ‘switch’ rules are taking effect — find out more here. 
http://special.msn.com/msnbc/consumeradvocate.armx


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 11:27:00 -0700
From: "Jeffrey Olson" 
Subject: [pct-l] snow level map
Cc: 

Message-ID: <000b01c3c1a6$b346cf40$e6334881@uwyo.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Here's a nice overview of the snow situation in the west...

http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/snotelanom/basinswen.html

------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 20:11:26 -0800
From: "Joanne Lennox" 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Horses on the PCT
To: "alex fullingim" ,


Message-ID: <200312132119.hBDLJLJn014329@cnwmail.isomedia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Yes, I have completed two Mexico to Canada trips with the same horse - one
on the PCT and the other as close to the continential divide as snow,
fires, water and resupply prermitted.

I should have an article coming up in the PCTA communicator with a little
bit of the nitty gritty of keeping a horse and yourself healthy and going
down the trail - it isn't easy.

I am willing to help in whatever way I can, but will tell you right out
that both you and your horse(s) have to be conditioned, prepared, the
equipment tested, and with adequate nuitrition. If you are going long
distance on the PCT, very few horses or riders make it beyond 300 miles. I
have little tolerance for riders who are hard on the land and on their
horse companions.

I have a journal on pcthiker.com under the journal section and my trail
name "Goforth" - this covers the southern 1,700 miles or so.(I completed
the last 1000 miles this year just in time to see major damage done to the
Washington PCT in October- it will probably be impassable to stock for at
least the next couple of years)

Joanne


------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 20:38:22 -0800
From: "Joanne Lennox" 
Subject: Fw: [pct-l] Flip Flop PCT Hike
To: "pct-mailing list" 

Message-ID: <200312132145.hBDLjaJn022043@cnwmail.isomedia.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1



----------
> From: Joanne Lennox 
> To: Hiker97@aol.com
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Flip Flop PCT Hike
> Date: Saturday, December 13, 2003 8:33 PM
> 
> My sense is that the flood ing and wind events that we have had will make
> starting in june in Manning a difficult proposition. Many of the
trailhead
> roads are washed out or landslide blocked, most of the trails are closed,
> maintenence will be delayed and probably in adequate for the coming year.

> This is not to mention the fact that we already have a good snow pack,
and
> a bunch of crucial bridges are out. 
> 
> Many people without a good climbing background in the Pacific NW do not
> realize how steep the snowfields over the PCT can be in the North
> Washington PCT. Better have a good ice ax arrest and know how to navige
> cross country in snow and rain/fog if you start from Manning in June. 
and
> pray for a nice warm spring (Hard to imagine right now!). You will
> probablybe alone tho.
> 
> Joanne
> 

------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 23:12:38 +0100
From: Saskia Daru 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
To: PCT list 

Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"

Hi Diane,

It is not as strange as it seems to consider a PDA-like gadget to take with
you on the trail. 

Look at it from this side: would you take paper and pen to write in a diary?
Would you take a camera?

For some of us typing up our diary is much easier to do, and it would save
me the trouble of transcribing the whole story afterwards. And if the thing
you use as a diary is a camera at the same time, it saves weight.

Myself, I would not really want a phone or GPS. I am still undecided about
music on the trail. I'd probably not want it the vast majority of times, but
a few times, when it gets really tough, I would probably love it. Right now
I just try to sing 'The Flintstones' or 'The Muppets' twenty times, which is
about the level of my singing talent. I will take a camera, but the ones in
phones and PDAs do not have the quality of image that I want.

Still: the time I would be using a PDA would be very small indeed. And it
would not detract from the joy of being out there. Like my flashlight does
not detract from it, or my camera, or my water filter, for that matter. It
would only be a tool.

Just my 2 cents.

Saskia

> From: "Diane Ely" 

> Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 10:21:06 -0800
> To: Hiker97@aol.com, pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Subject: RE: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
> 
> I hate to be a wet blanket, but isn't one of the joys of backpacking to get
> away from this stuff? I mean, if one must take the office with them, why
> bother going?
> 
> (Hey, I think I just found my new trail name.)
> 
> Wet Blanket
> 
> 
>> From: Hiker97@aol.com
>> To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>> Subject: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
>> Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 21:56:32 EST
>> 
>> What is the best camera/computer/GPS/phone/radio combination Palm type
>> computer for 2004? Seems like these things are getting to be sophisticated
>> enough
>> to seriously consider for the trail. The solar cell rechargers are nice
>> too.
>> Thanks, Switchback
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> pct-l mailing list
>> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>> unsubscribe or change options:
>> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cell phone ‘switch’ rules are taking effect — find out more here.
> http://special.msn.com/msnbc/consumeradvocate.armx
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 


------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 14:16:30 -0800
From: "Gray" 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
To: 

Message-ID: <00ce01c3c1c6$c357ea70$0500a8c0@graysdesktop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> I hate to be a wet blanket, but isn't one of the joys of backpacking to
get
> away from this stuff? I mean, if one must take the office with them, why
> bother going?

If I were to take the hypothetical device we talked about on a hike, it
wouldn't be to take the office with me. Mosty it would be a way for me to
write my journal in a legible form, have an easy way of transferring that
journal to an online site, and the ability to listen to music while on the
trail.

Gray



------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 17:55:09 EST
From: CMountainDave@aol.com
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Backpacking Computers
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Message-ID: <154.29baf9f7.2d0cf2cd@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"


In a message dated 12/13/03 10:22:00 AM, littlemazdatruck@hotmail.com writes:

<< I hate to be a wet blanket, but isn't one of the joys of backpacking to 
get 

away from this stuff? I mean, if one must take the office with them, why 

bother going?

>>

I read an article in National Geographic on the American Indian. When asked 
why they had adopted the white man's culture instead of clinging to their old 
ways and customs, an Indian replied. We are pragmatists. If its there why not 
use it? 
Things like computers and cell phones are neutral. It is we that decide to 
place connotations like good or evil on them, and it is we that decide just 
how far to let them into our lives. If you judge computers on the trail to be a 
bad thing, then simply don't use them. Of course I am speaking from a 
perspective where I can isolate myself from others a will since I am self employed and 
don't work in an office. I might think differently if I was constantly 
tethered to a cell phone or pager.
It's kind of like wanting to be the first person somewhere. You can 
fantasize that you are until you see signs that you aren't. You can fantasize that 
you are getting away from civilization in a remote place until you see someone 
talking on a cell phone on top of Mt Rainier. The technology is there, people 
are going to use it and there is no going back. Face it. The people in Barrow 
Alaska are no longer mentally isolated by their remote setting.
So why not be a pragmatist, especially if the technology lightens your pack 
weight and makes your effort more efficient (as digital cameras and PDA's do)


------------------------------

Message: 8
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 14:46:51 -0800
From: "ECPG" 
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Horses on the PCT
To: , "alex fullingim" ,


Message-ID: <002101c3c1cb$30335c20$31e44b43@user>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Having done some parts of the trail that I was told were un-doable by the
locals, I'm in awe of, and in agreement with, Joanne.
Not a project to be taken lightly.
Carolyn Eddy
Goattracks Magazine
www.goattracksmagazine.com




------------------------------

Message: 9
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 23:39:02 -0700
From: "John Brennan" 
Subject: [pct-l] RE: water purification questions
To: "'PCT List'" 

Message-ID: <000d01c3c20c$fac3d500$6501a8c0@JohnsDell8200>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

(This got tied up in an email void, hence the delay.)



4 hours is a long time to wait for water. It means you are going to be
carrying lots of water all the time. Although I can't state my source, my
biggest fear when hiking the PCT was not Giardia; it was Crypto.



Even so, $125 is a cheap water bill for 5 months. It also is insurance that
you are not going to have to cut your trip short, or be miserable for
hundreds of miles.



John B./Cupcake

--

Message: 3

Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2003 15:29:20 -0800

From: "Marissa Ferejohn" 


My other question is has anyone tried the MSR MIOX purifier yet? 




------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 23:47:07 -0700
From: "John Brennan" 
Subject: [pct-l] RE: sleeping bags temp ratings
To: "'PCT List'" 

Message-ID: <001901c3c20e$1af684c0$6501a8c0@JohnsDell8200>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



I hiked with a WM Ultralite bag, which is rated at 20 degrees. I like to
sleep warm. This bag was great on all but the hottest buggy nights, then it
was miserable. It was overkill, but those extra ounces were worth it to me.
I slept out most nights. An enclosed shelter would allow a higher temp
rating.

Western Mountaineering bags are great, btw.



John B., the hiker formerly known as Cupcake 

--

Message: 7
Date: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 09:38:58 -0700 (MST)

From: Steve Setzer 

Subject: [pct-l] sleeping bags



Sleeping bag ratings. 

So is 15 degrees overkill? Or is 30 degree pushing it? 




------------------------------

Message: 11
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 05:50:08 EST
From: Hiker97@aol.com
Subject: [pct-l] 2004 Planning Tip
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Just a reminder that AAA county maps are a great tool for overview planning 
of a hike. They are just detailed enough for a great view of the trail and the 
surrounding areas. You could carry several at one time with notes on them 
without a lot of bulk after you trim them down. I use the front and back of maps 
for all my note information; phone numbers, resupply info, etc. Very 
convenient. Make them waterproof and more durable with plastic film or paint 
waterproof goo on them, like REI Watershed.

I guess you could go to any AAA office across the nation to order these maps 
if you are a member or have a member do it for you. In CA they should be 
available at their offices. Have a friend send some to you. Later, Switchback

------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2003 11:05:01 -0800
From: Jim Keener 
Subject: [pct-l] Continuous Trail Through Washington
To: Pacific Crest Trail 

Message-ID: 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

Greetings:

I got this from the trail manager for the PCT for the USFS. He said that the
FS is working on a trail location (probably to the east of the current
trail) and will forward the information for posting to the PCTA web site. He
did not give an estimate of when the trail designation would be made, but
that the temporary re-routing would allow for a continuous hike.

Peace,
Jim

http://pct04.com



------------------------------

Message: 13
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 07:12:09 -0800
From: "Eric Yakel" 
Subject: [pct-l] Snow Levels
To: 

Message-ID: <002401c3c254$ac036190$d238b3d1@David>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Jeffrey:
Thanks so much for the map info on snow. This kind of information is really helpful. Eric

------------------------------

_______________________________________________
pct-l mailing list
pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
unsubscribe or change options:
http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/options/pct-l



End of pct-l Digest, Vol 8, Issue 16
************************************

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing