Hiker in Need!! can you help?

Ben! Nice job. I take back all those things I said about you

I don't have much gear laying around, but I can add a Visa gift card with a little cash on it. Maybe I could mail it to one of the members arranging a resupply? I would assume one of the early ones would be best.

Greg

Thanks for putting up the list thats great. The only rain gear I see is a poncho. I have a jacket I could loan, but it doesn't breath that well and it might have a leak on the shoulder (not sure). Don if you want it I'll be happy to send it but I would personally suggest that Equinox poncho thats actually what I use most of the time. I would hope that Don takes a lot of pictures. If he doesn't have a camera maybe a bunch of us could contribute disposables.

I can offer a resupply and trail magic at Scott Mountain, section P.

Hey Don, The BD trekking poles are in the mail- these are not loaners they are yours to keep…Hiking is good for the soul!!!!

-Jay

Ken – If you are going to do a resupply, I can give my donated food to you so I can avoid postage.

Seems silly to pay almost as much in postage as the food costs.

Hey Jay – before you donate anything else, check with me first, ok? ; )

well 1st off let me say that I am blown away by all the generosity that has came from my request.
once again this BPL community has blown me away with there kindness and help.
however it may be tonight or possibly tomarrow before I will have enough time to sit down and really go through all the items offered and put together a list, the only net access I get is very limited to when my sister is home and I can get a ride.
with that let me offer my sizes for things to help out some
I am right at 6ft tall a nd weight around 200lbs I normally wear large and Xlarge clothing my shoe size is 11 to 12. someone here offered some icebreaker wool tops and bottoms. yes I need them they are actually some of my most missed gear.maybe a light weight and a mid weight set would work out best.
anyway I will look through all the post when I have a little more time to do so and go from there, but the address I gave is good if you have already sent things..and all stuff not used will be sent back to the members here that helped.
now, I do feel that I need to say something here to a couple of members that emailed me about a concern.
here it is last year I met a very wonderful,kind man here on BPL and we became friends, he helped me tremendously with redoing my setup to help with a shoulder injury that I had been dealing with.
he bought and let me pay him back over time, well after paying half of it back.really hard times hit and then the divorce,moving and not being able to find work.
and just the shear embarrassment of not being able to fullfill my promise to him.I do still owe him for a piece of gear.I have contacted him and let him know that I am sorry and that I do still fully intend to pay him what it owed plus some additional for his trouble and for it taking so long to fulfill my promise.
all else that I can do is again say I am very sorry and as soon as I do get work, he is 1st on my list.
he is a good man, a nice and kind man and I had let him down and for that I am sorry,that I lost his friendship above all.
well there it is..I hope that doesn't change anyones mind about helping me out, but if so I will understand.
I have always prided myself on my word and I failed to Thom.if anyone needs to contact me about this please do use the number listed in the 1st post please.
well my time is about up for today but maybe tonight I can come back and check this again.
I will try to respond to everyone as soon as possible.
thanks again to EVERYONE..you all are great, the tenitive PCT date is May 5th but if things work out maybe I will make kickoff!!
there will be an extensive trip report with pictures by the way..thanks again and GodBless us all.
Don

Don:

I just sent you a PM letting you know we have a consolidated listing of contributions. Please go there to indicate next to each item whether it is something you want — or not. The link is in your PM. Thanks.

You owe someone money and you have decided to go hiking for an extended period instead of obtaining a job and paying him back?

Hike your own hike I guess….I certainly couldn't sleep well at night.

Not that I know Don at all, but just reading his post — the guy lost his job and went through a bitter divorce. I think it's quite OK to try to give himself a temporary break. It's not like he's been bumming off strangers his whole life.

After this temporary break, when he's all refreshed, employed, and gives a helping hand to others — then the world becomes a little better off — and that sounds just fine to me.

to be honest with us at this point, I do think paying back what is owed to other members should be a priority. Certainly if people are offering to donate meal drops you can take what you were going to spend on the meal drops and pay back what is owed. I don't know what the sum is, but at least making arrangements to pay back would be a step in the right direction.

I don't think anyone is in the position to be telling Don what he should or shouldn't be doing. Let him make that choice. For all we know, he could be paying back what he owes right now. He only asked for a little help with a hike, not criticism and disapproval.

I just wanted to briefly touch on the subject of the debt that I owe. I have chosen to take this hike both because it is a dream and kinda out of need.
not that I feel that I need to explain myself..but I will.
well after my mom fully recovers, I will be without a home,my kids are grown I have no one depending on me with the divorce, so it all just made sense to go now.
my mom should be fully recovered early april more than likely and by late april she should be back to 100pct.
I really don't have much hope for work till late summer maybe later..that's the last word from my boss,and I have been waiting for about a year for this project to start,with the economy it may never happen?
anyway the debt is still there, I fully intend to pay it, never thought otherwise, if I had started work when I thought I was it would have been paid priority.
I will be the 1st to say that I handeled it wrong, but I had never been in this position and just reacted as I seen things coming, once again I am sorry and I will put out here right now for all of BPL to witness ..it will get paid.
I have and do intend to send any saved money from the trail and hopefully by the time I reach southern Oregon,
the debt is paid and he will let me by him a beer and give me the chance to re earn his friendship.
this is the last I will touch on this particular subject.
except to the individual involved,please respect this please.
now with that I am going to go through all these post and the list of gear that was sent to me and I will try to respond to each of you, I dont have alot of time on here, but my sister is off again Tuesday and I will finish up any I miss, thank you all for your patience and support.
thank you…Don

Don,
I can't speak for everyone, but PM'ing everyone will take forever. For me, just edit the list Ben created to state whether or not you need the stuff and I'll ship it out.

No need to pay it back (to me), pay it forward.

Steve

Don,

No worries as they say…just fill out Ben2Worlds spreadsheet and you're off and walking.

couch

Don:

Folks have added their items onto a centralized spreadsheet. Please do this:

1. Click HERE for the centralized spreadsheet.
2. Review all items
3. Note that ALL are gifts — unless specifically indicated as “loaner”.
4. Column E is your column. Please type in a “yes” or “no” in each row to indicate whether you want the particular item or not.
5. Please also type in your mailing address — at cell E5.

Once you’ve done the above, folks will know what they need to send to you — and where. If something doesn’t fit you — feel free to either contact the contributor for return — or simply keep them anyway — and donate to the next hiker in need! :)

Ben – can I suggest that as Don is PMing responses requesting gear (i.e. he'll take the Tarptent), that you add a way to indicate that the catagory is done. Burying him in gear is probably not productive for either Don's or the community's sense of integrity.

So I'll be sending the tarptent and that should cover that :~)

I do hope that your hike is a good one, and hope that everything works out for the best.

John:

I've just added a column. Thanks.

Don,

I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to address concerns that I had and others shared.

I am sure that it was not easy to respond in such a public way, however the question did have to be asked.

No one wants to be taken advantage of with their good will.

That said, I will be happy to send over any of the items that I offered and you have best wishes for you on your journey. I hope things turn around for you in all the areas of life as you have been handed a lot of hardships as of late.

Will wait to see what you respond on Ben's spreadsheet to see if there is anything that I have that you might need.

-Tony

well I want to say thanks to everyone here for all the help and for being such a careing community.
I am on a library computer right now and don't have long
I am trying to access Bens sheet of possible gear but am having major problems marking what I need to get,
please bare with me , hopefully this evening I can get to my sisters and have more time to fix this, but I did try to send ben a typed list.
I was able to send out a few PM's sunday but not many and I was able to see about the cloudburst, which is something I would like to try out to see if it will work for me.
some items I would like to try a couple out prior to the trip, what ever doesnt work out I will gladly return prior to the trip, I cant possibly use all that was so freely offered, it was truly amazeing to see the list,with that I would hope to have the gear in the next few weeks to begin trying some of it out.thanks for all the understanding and well wishes from everyone here THANK YOU.
I will try to get this under control tonight and have a better handle on the gear situation.
Don

Hi All:

I just got a PM from Don that he has updated the CONSOLIDATED WORKSHEET .

Everyone, please click there and:

1. see if Don has accepted your item(s)
2. ship the item(s) to Don — his address is at the top of the schedule in RED.
3. indicate your shipped date in Column F.

Thanks!

Wow, the brotherhood, the sheer community here is great. This is only my second post on this site, and I'm blown away. I think I'll like it here.

I wish I could offer you something, but I'm new to the UL game, and lacking in gear for myself, let alone gear for another. Best of luck!

Don,
Not sure if this has been covered with all the posts but I am involved with the kickoff and live in San Diego close to lake Morena. I would be happy to pick you up and take you to the kickoff, or to the trail head when you get to town and you can stay at my place if you come in late in the evening. I can make sure you have a spot at the kickoff.Your food for the weekend is all taken care of by the ADZ and past PCT hikers. I can also run you around town for last minute items.PM me and let me know your itinerary.

hello everybody
most of the gear has arrived a few things have not
I want to say thank you for all the help that I have been blessed with here thank you BPL everyone!!
the spread sheet has been updated to what has arrived.
this gear arrived this week.
Dave satterburg
tony wong
Heesso chung
George Carr
Thank you!! all the gear is great,more than I could have hoped for.
some things that I could still use
A water filter
ice ax
light weight wool set
mid weight wool set
maps/section guide books
rain mitts
short gaiters
umbrella(chrome dome type)
pack cover
hoody
and if someone happens to have an old no longer used watch
with temp/altimeter/barometer/compass features I would love to barrow one so I can document info in my journal
IT WILL BE RETURNED
I need to cut this short as I am useing my 17yr old neice's laptop..LOL
thanks again to all that have helped me out,I will add more later.
tentitive itenerary is I will arrive in S.D on the 16th and start on the 17th of April from the border, I will try to make warner springs by the 23rd and will be brought back to the kickoff by Terry.T of BPL who is helping me get started as well.
then return to Warner springs the 26th 80-100 miles beyond the herd .
Thats the plan..RIGHT NOW!!lol
God Bless BPL and it's members.
Don