[pct-l] Do you really not want to hear?

[Point North]

These are the types who will lunge headlong into "virtual reality" hiking from the comfort of their armchairs, when the technology gets a little more advanced.  Why bother with the hassles and expense of the real thing, when you can strap on a pair of VI goggles, earphones, and Special Sensory Stimulators?  Give these types another 10 years of aging, and they'll be glued to their Teeeee Veeeee every day of the year "living vicariously" through the tube instead of actually hiking.

Jim Keener <jlkeener at yahoo.com> wrote:
Greetings:

I have thought about this since the issue came up a
few days ago. And I usually do not want to carry an
iPod when backpacking. I do often carry one on
exercise hikes - in areas I frequently visit and hike
primarily for exercise. I had an iPod in my bounce box
when I hiked in 2004, and carried it in one section.
There were times when the music added to the
experience. Grand music in a grand environment. I'm
thinking about Beethoven's Ninth on the Big Horn
Plateau. But after a while the music seemed
superfluous, and I turned it off - even before the
battery wore down. 

Now when the hike is about movement, music is
marvelous. Terrain dancing. Flatt and Scruggs playing
"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" while I'm going up a
moderate grade helps produce a powerful high, at least
for me. And Enya - a lot of her songs.

So, I guess we are back to HYOH. If there is one
orthodoxy among trail people, it seems to be: "no
orthodoxies." One of my favorite things about Colin
Fletcher's "The Complete Walker" is his admonition
against authorities, remarking that he once came upon
some hikers who were quoting him as an authority. He
had a good laugh about that.

Best,
J J

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