Questions and Answers
 

Q.   

Good god man, why did you stop?
A. The plain and simple truth is, my head and heart, even though this was a dream made real, were just not in it.  Two days before I left, I found out my wife needed surgery.  My career, the day before I left, gave me some concern over upcoming work as we are quite short handed.  The night after I left, my one year old went into the hospital with a fever of 105 and kept it for two days.   And last is my 8 year old.  We are very close as she was crying herself to sleep nightly.  There were just too many things on my mind for a trek like this.
   
Q. You were going to use a canister fuel, then chose alcohol right before you left. Why?
A. I found out the hard way that shipping canisters is a pain in the arse.  USPS simply would not ship them.  UPS may have shipped them, but the cost of shipping would have negated the cost savings of the fuel; I.e. 6.00$ to ship a 5.00$ canister.
   
Q. What were the temperatures like while you were there?
A. Night time lows were at mid 30s while the daytime highs were around mid 90s.
   
Q. Was there any water at all along the trail over the sections you did?
A. About four miles out of Campo, there was one spring and that was it!  Every spring and creek mentioned in the guide book and data book were dried up months prematurely.  Usually, you will get a warning in the data book stating how many miles to water.  Every leg was reporting a long, dry slog in SoCal.
   
Q. If you thru-hike it, would you go to the ADZPCTKO again?
A. Absolutely.  I would not miss it for the world, even if I have to flip-flop, I would go again.
   
Q. Hello. I am a 15 year old dreaming like you once did about thru hiking the PCT. I was wondering, on average, how much would the total cost be? I live in L.A. Thank you.
A. The costs vary immensely, but the going average, assuming you want a hotel once in a while on a zero day, is around 4000.00. More info can be found here http://www.pcta.org/about_trail/faqs.asp#CostToThruHike
You can save a bit of money buying as you go, and since you live so close to Campo, you would not need to pony up the money for plane tickets.
   
Q. Is your son OK?
A. He is fine as well as temperature, but seems he caught strep, giving him the fever.  He is on antibiotics and should be okay.  Thank you for asking.