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Re: [pct-l] Fuel resupply
Blisterfree, I hope your name will hold true for you on the PCT next summer.
Some of us weren't so lucky! I hiked the trail this past summer, northbound. I
hope I can help you and all the rest out there. BTW I'm still sorting through
my 1,500 slide images of the trail today, wow!
If you're going solo, the 11 ounce bottle will probably do fine. but it does
matter if you're just bringing water and meal to a boil, or cooking it for
awhile. I had the 22 ounce bottle and dreaded carrying it when it was full.
The towns were so frequently stocked with fuel, usually available in a hiker
box, too, that the smaller bottle would be perfect. I started with the
international, and never once worried about running out or having to rely on
auto fuel or kerosene. At Tahoe, however, i switched to the Trangia Westwind
alcohol stove, then later, at the gorge, I made my own. It was only 3 ounces
with bic lighter, pot stand and burner and extinguisher, oh and p-51 can
opener, plastic pot scraper and the stuff sack it was all carried in. If you
do try this route, denatured alcohol burns the best, though isopropyl will
burn, but slowly, very slowly. You can find it in drug stores and hardware
stores. It's considerably cheaper by the pint in hardware stores. From Tahoe
north i never had to carry more than 8 ounces of fuel in a small, squirt top
nalgene bottle.
Back to your trail, it'll be important to figure out what you'll be doing in
the sierras, pushing through, or dropping out. From Kennedy Meadows north (if
Meadow Ed is out n' about he'll have fuel for you there), you have numerous
options. You can pull out at Whitney Portal, Kearsarge Pass, Benson Pass and
others to get to towns on the east side of the sierras(though be prepared for
a long trudge back UP in to the high sierra). And they all have fuel. Or you
can continue straight to Vermillion Valley Resort at Lake Edison, Red's
Meadow, or all the way to Tuolumne Meadows. Your pack will be huge but you
don't have to waste the time to drop out as far. It seemed to be split 50/50
on those that pushed and those that dropped. Everyone was happy. It's nice
though to have the option to drop if food/weather changes your plans!
Hope this helps and have fun planning.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OUT THERE!-esp. class of '97
Jeremy Wilson
PCT-'97
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