Remember the genial Officer Chuck, whom I encountered in the outskirts of Monroe? During our friendly chat, he asked me what I was doing without a chase vehicle.
Good question, Chuck. I've been wondering about that myself.
A lot of long-distance walkers have chase vehicles-- a van or small truck or station wagon with supplies for the walker (George Martin, whose blog A Journey for 9/11 is on my sidebar, has an entire support team... he's about to finish his walk, by the way). One of the main advantages of a chase vehicle is that the walker can stop wherever, and can then be whisked off somewhere convenient, such as a campground (if the walker insists on camping) or to a hotel/motel, or to someone's residence, for the night. The walker might even sleep in the vehicle itself if it parks for the night. The next day, the walker can pick up exactly where s/he left off-- s/he can be driven back to the previous day's stopping point, which becomes the new day's starting point (Steve Vaught did something like this on many occasions, but he often took long breaks for various reasons, which is what I'd rather avoid).
Having a chase vehicle also frees the walker up in terms of his/her encumbrance: I'm barely into the beginning of my own walk, but lazy putz that I am, I already fantasize about pulling my fifty pounds of gear behind me into one of those jogger's strollers designed for people with kids. Oh, to walk without pressure on my spine! To breathe freely!
Because it hasn't rained over the past three days, I've had the chance to walk without rain gear on, which means I can tighten my hip belt further and relieve a lot of the back pressure (the hip belt can't get a grip on the rain jacket). Here, alas, the problem is that the belt slowly loosens up thanks to my gut's constant outward pressure (I have to pull that belt tight to make it work at all, otherwise the pack's bottom just slides down to cover the upper half of my butt, which is all wrong). I can't blame Gregory, the company that made my backpack, for that problem; I have only myself to blame. The situation will improve as I continue to thin out and actually reacquire hips (my waist-to-hip ratio remains well over 1.0 at this point; for guys, the ideal is about 0.9), but in the meantime, it's annoying to have to constantly retighten my belt.*
As I've walked through various towns, I've seen plenty of cars on sale. Many are under $2000, which is within my price range. Would it be worth someone's while if I were to purchase a car, take care of title, tax, tags, and insurance (gack), and recruit one or several chase car drivers? I seriously doubt I can find a single person to perform such a service for the entire walk, but what if people signed up to do "tours" with me, each tour lasting, oh, I don't know... a week? Does this sound workable to any of my readers? Does it sound like a way to spend a week of summer vacation? Should I buy a car, put an ad out on Craigslist.com, and pray I don't wind up with crazies as my chauffeurs?
And what are the disadvantages of having a chase car? Let's chew on that for a moment.
First and foremost, a second person is going to be inconvenienced, because that person will have to be on site. S/he will be taking time out of his/her life to help out without being able to go home right away, and that's not an easy thing to do. There's also the food, clothing, and shelter problem: instead of dealing with only one person's needs out in the field, the addition of a driver effectively doubles the pressure. How does this affect finances?
Second-- and this is just as serious an issue-- I have no clear concept as to how expensive it would be to have and maintain a chase car, and whether I would really be saving money by having one. If, for example, I'm using the chase car to cart me to a motel every night, then having such a car would offer no advantages: I'd be paying for lodging plus the vehicle's normal expenses. Why bother? I imagine I can clear most of this issue up through research, but I don't know how much time I can devote to it while on the road.
Third, despite my ignorance of specific costs, I can imagine, in general terms, how expensive things might get if the car broke down. Very, very expensive.
Fourth, let's say that having a chase car frees me up to walk nearly unencumbered in almost any terrain, so I attempt something like the Rockies during a dangerous season. A breakdown would strand not only me, but also my driver. Two people would find themselves in a potentially deadly situation where only one person should properly be. This is another sense in which a breakdown would be "expensive": it could potentially cost more lives than necessary.
So there's a lot to consider. I don't have to buy a car, necessarily; perhaps the people willing to do a week-long "tour" with me would be willing to provide their own car. After all, I doubt I can walk more than 140 or 150 miles in a single week, which means that a person who finishes his or her tour can drive back home in just a few short hours.
For me, the advantages of having a chase car seem almost-- almost-- to outweigh the disadvantages, but I'm very wary of the risks involved in including a second on-site person in this walk. Even though that person would likely be a cheerful volunteer, I would never be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to him/her.
So tonight's Kevin is a torn Kevin. Comments on the chase car issue are welcome.
*Strap adjustment is a simple fact of life when backpacking; you never really stop tweaking your straps as you're moving along. Loads naturally shift; certain patches of skin and muscle become more (or less) comfortable throughout the day. The natural rock, roll, or bounce of your stride can throw straps out of adjustment. My point is that the hip belt issue will never
really go away, but it will improve greatly once my body is significantly less doughy.
_
