[pct-l] Re: Resupply boxes

[radney@ix.netcom.com]

Joanne wrote:  For those of you who traveled at night on the PCT south of 
the Sierras, did you run into any rattlesnakes at night? Did they rattle?  I 
am sure it is hard enough to see all the things that stick, stab, and stink 
at night without getting nailed by a rattler.

We didn't do much hiking at night -- but snakes don't like the cold, and it  
gets cold at night in the desert.  To the best of my knowledge, snakes go 
down a hole at night, or they may curl up next to a warm rocky area - which 
is where you might step on a sleeping one if you are hiking at night.  Young 
snakes are the most dangerous, big doesn't always mean bad, and we will be 
hiking in the early spring when they hatch. Their venom is very concentrated 
and they haven't yet learned how to judge how much venom to inject into 
their prey to make it manageable enough to eat -- makes it a bit more 
intriguing huh.   I was never "attacked" by any of Charlie's relatives -- no 
Cholla every jumped out at me.  Walt and I had very wonderful desert 
memories, and "yes" we did see snakes and they did get "rattled" -- they 
were scared! We also saw plenty of catcuses and even got a "few" needles, 
but nothing we couln't tweezer.

The most "Obnoxious" part of our trip however, was when we were constantly 
"engulfed and stabbed" by mosquitoes in the Sierrias!  I would much rather 
be "rattled" or "needled" every once in awhile than deal with those low life 
"buzzing" end of the food chain.

>I am pondering what I can put in my resupply boxes.  Some of these are
>going to sit around for more than 5 months. The complexity of the resupply 
boxes just boggles my mind. 

Check the PCT Town Guide for Southen California Joanne.  There are so many 
places that you can resupply from --  I would suggest you send yourself your 
first food supply box to Warner Springs, you can get most everything you 
need in town.  It is a funny thing about hiking and eating --  tastes really 
change and what we sent ourselves we really got tired of and wished our menu 
was different.  Cost is another consideration. Yes, small towns charge more 
for their items, but the cost of sending food to yourself (especially since 
the Postal rates have increased!) really is a factor and you will probably 
save money by not sending it. Town Hiker boxes will supply some of your 
needs and bartering is such a wonderful pastime -- aHHH  food on the trail, 
a time consuming fun filled fantasy!

From Kennedy Meadows on -- you will need to be prepared and send boxes there 
afterwards as towns are far and few. If you missed sending before there, 
Lone Pine and Independence have moderately big food stores and you could 
even start boxing up your food there if you didn't do it in Tehachapi or 
Mojave.  By that time you will know what foods your body needs and what 
works for you as far as cooking and snacks.  In the desert we didn't eat 
very much and a good bit of our food was bartered for what we were hungry 
for or left in the hiker box -- a waste of money again! Most everyone we met 
ate LOTS of peanut butter! I dehydrated lots of fruit, vegetables and some 
meats, NEVER again -- it was lots of work and we ended up getting tired of 
it or throwing it away!  Another waste of money and hard work. For others it 
was great. By not sending yourself much in the way of food in S. California 
you will save yourselve a great deal of stress and money!

Walt and I mailed 32 boxes to ourselves at a cost of $25- 30 a box for food 
and then $25-28 in postage!  I am not very good at math, but even I can 
figure out we wasted a lot of money.  Because we got tired of what we had 
sent ourselves and spent about $25 in new food just resupplying our supply 
box! We not only lost money, we lost time and added stress because we were 
always having to hurray into town and we were not enjoy the trail -- it was 
horrible!  Ashland is another place where people went into town and 
resupplied for Oregon and Washington.  If you supply ALL of your boxes and 
(OH HEAVEN HELP ME!) for some reason you have to get off the trail before 
Oregon and Washington you won't have wasted the money on the boxes you sent 
here too.

I remember what we went through in '97 and know what a frustrating time this 
is for everyone regarding the food boxes. Read some of the PCT Journals on 
the various web sites and make up your own mind, you'll change it like you 
do your gear after you are on the trail anyway!  It is the nature of the 
trail to change you and make you stretch your rubber band.  It wouldn't be 
an adventure without the challenges.

See you in Big Bear at the theater for Star Wars! It would be great to see 
those of you on the list who aren't hiking this year there too.  Maybe we 
could have an early gathering!

See you soon!

Happy Trails -- Pat

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