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! :)

Edited by ben2world on 02/21/2010 23:34:53 MST.

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.

Edited by ben2world on 02/22/2010 10:08:49 MST.

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

Deleted for editing

Edited by socalpacker on 03/16/2010 09:17:17 MDT.

Hey Don,
I just wanted to say hello and wish you all the best. I managed to get a little more work so far this year, but things are still tough... I recently had to move to a cheaper apartment to save money... What I'm trying to say is that some really great people were very generous in helping me a few months ago and I promised to pay it forward. Unfortunately, at this point I'm still not able to do that. I do understand your situation and I wanted you to know that my best wishes go out to you and your mom.

Btw I too have extremely limited internet access. It has been very difficult to get online. So, I get it. I haven't been able to replace my pc since it crashed in Sept. So, now I have to go to Fedex Office and pay or when I get work I can get online. Otherwise I can keep up with my emails daily on my Blackberry. Reading BPL on my Blackberry is difficult as I have an older model. I also can't even afford to go on an over-nighter right now. Anyway, take care my friend and happy trails.

Kendall,
Good to see a post from you, I hope your doing well. I know things have been difficult and yet your outlook and spirit remain strong. I will work to be more like you. Please email or PM anytime.

Thom

Thank you, Thom. I really appreciate that.

I actually thought of you, Kendall, when we all piled on the bandwagon to help Don. There are a lot of people who would benefit from each other's good will, but some go more unnoticed and unhelped than others for various reasons.

I know Ben was trying to organize a generic system for passing along gear to each other, but I don't know what came of it. Even something as simple as posting available gear and the interested people responding by PM would be a help. We don't necessarily need bylaws and a board of directors for it to work.

I wish you success in finding sustainable employment.