[pct-l] (no subject)

[Jeff Singewald]

Meadow Ed wrote:

>If you had seem some of the posts from Listo way back in the early >spring you would understand why some folks had already written this guy >off as a fruitcake full of mostly nuts...so the strong opinion perhaps was >formed long before the incident on the trail....

Meadow, well I must admit that last spring I was one of those that fully misunderstood many of Adam's posts on this list as well as the PCT2006 list.  However, I am grateful that I had the chance to meet and hike with Adam this summer, even though it was only for a couple of days.  I found Adam to be a confident young man with a vibrant wit and one that held true to his ideals.  Frankly, I was embarrassed by my earlier email interactions with Adam after meeting him.

While Adam may choose to share his ideas and his feelings in ways that some of the folks on this list may not appreciate, at least he is sharing information that future hikers can mull over and choose to utilize or not.  This information is much more valuable in my opinion than many of the posts on this list.

To another point, dubbing a hiker as anti-social simply because one wants to hike alone is complete crap.  I left my hiking partners at Old Station this summer in order to find some much needed solitary time.  Before I knew it, I arrived in Canada about 40 days later and I hiked much of this on my own.  Was I being anti-social?  Heck no.  My wife shared with me just two weeks before leaving that she wanted a divorce.  I needed the time with my God to consider this and better understand his plan for me.

I know that Adam also enjoyed hiking in solitude.  Hiking alone allows for so much more freedom on the trail.  I would highly recommend it at some point in every thru hike.

Adam, stay true to yourself and continue to express yourself my friend!

Elevator