[pct-l]16+ mi. dry stretches

[elisenme2 at gmail.com (Carl & Judy Rush)]

Hauser Creek was dry last year,but it's only 22 miles we were at the
campground by 3:00 after starting at first light , we took 4 liters
each and had 1 left apiece.


On Sat, 5 Feb 2005 00:49:36 -0500, Brett <blisterfree@isp01.net> wrote:
> There was a young lady heading northbound from Campo on
> Friday, start of the AZD last spring. She was somewhat new
> to backpacking, and fresh at long-distance hiking. Naturally
> she was uncertain of her ability to hike extended daily
> mileage between reliable water sources. Her plan was to camp
> at Hauser Creek that night, and reach Lake Morena the
> following morning. Since Hauser Creek would be a reliable
> water source, other hikers had told her, she decided not to
> carry extra water but just enough to make it to the creek
> that night.
> 
> Well, apparently she had a bit of trouble hiking the 16
> miles that day in the heat and sun, and ran her water supply
> to the bottom well before Hauser Creek. Reaching Hauser
> after dark, she didn't find the water she'd been depending
> on, but in her exhaustion decided to camp there anyway. She
> had a rough night, not only from thirst, but apparently some
> illegals came through her camp, and the border patrol
> vehicles passed back and forth on the nearby road for half
> the night.
> 
> The following afternoon, I started up Hauser Mtn from the
> assuredly dry creek, soon meeting a group of hikers who said
> a young lady had been escorted off the trail and into Lake
> Morena, in the process leaving her backpack behind. Heat
> exhaustion to blame. The climb up from the dry creek had
> been the final straw. Although these day hikers would be
> coming back round-trip later in the day, and were
> unencumbered, they made the insinuation that I might
> consider bringing the pack to her, if it wouldn't be too
> much trouble. I decided to do it, as much for the sake of
> this unknown hiker in distress as to facilitate the day
> hikers' deserved self-pity for not jumping so easily to her
> rescue.
> 
> Finding the full-sized pack at trailside, and determining it
> to be heavier than mine, I opted to remove my pack, place
> the other one on back, and then carry mine in front, with
> the shoulder straps pulling forward. This was a real hoot,
> walking the final 2 miles with no view of my feet over rocky
> ground, as hikers would occasional come by the other way,
> and I'd exclaim how much fun these new "front packs" seem to
> be. Somebody, I forget the name now, held me up upon arrival
> at Lake Morena, in order to take my picture in full absurd
> and heavy regalia, but not before breaking out his GPS unit
> so he could GEOCODE the thing!
> 
> I eventually found the hiker in distress. She was recovering
> in the shade by an RV, and none too keen on continuing
> northbound. I told her she was doing great given the
> circumstances, and that I, too, was surprised to find Hauser
> Creek dry so early in the season. Hopefully she didn't get
> too discouraged too soon, and managed to see at least a bit
> more of the PCT before deciding whether to attempt the
> thru-hike. And I think we both re-learned, for different
> reasons, the importance of self-sufficiency on the trail.
> 
> - blisterfree
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> 
> 
> > That climb out of the canyon, I thought I was going to
> > die-I had given two
> > of my bottles of water to a scout that was empty, which
> > made me empty. The
> > troop and the other adults left me in the dust and if it
> > wasn't for one of
> > the women in the group bringing back some water I honestly
> > don't think I
> > would be here today. June 6th 2003 very hot and no water
> > anywhere. Ground
> > Pounder Bill
> 
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