[pct-l] Hiking Pace and Enjoyment

[Reinhold Metzger]

TORTOISE,  SWITCHBACK,  compatres, good buddies, my friends, long time 
no see.
I would describe your hiking styles as Tortoises & Switchbacks styles.
Tortoise, why do you feel your & Switchbacks hiking styles are the 
normal hiking styles?
There really is no normal, abnormal, right or wrong way to hike, it all 
depends what you want out of your hike and what you enjoy about hiking 
and then hike your hike to get the most enjoyment and satisfaction based 
on your own standards not on somebody else's standards.
Big miles, little miles, fast packing, slack packing, heavy pack, ultra 
light, it does not matter....''LOVE FOR THE WILDERNESS''  is all that 
matters...and you, not anybody else should decide how to love it.

We would be much more harmonious if we would just stop judging other 
hikers by our own standards and let slack packers be slack packers, fast 
packers be fast packers, turtles be turtles and rabbits be rabbits and 
let them enjoy their journey their own way.

Say Switchback, what kind of operation will you have on your knees?
Hope all goes well and speedy recovery.
Maybe with rebuild knees you can bring back the unsupported JMT  to the 
backpacking community, where it belongs.

JMT Reinhold
Your hopeless dreamer

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 Hiker97 at aol.com wrote:
> Tortoise73 at charter.net <mailto:Tortoise73 at charter.net> writes: I don't 
> know what term you would use to describe Switchback and mine
> style of taking time to enjoy the camp and the environment.  Perhaps 
> normal!
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Switchback wrote:
> I think if I was well physically, I would probably hike fast and light 
> too.  Though it is hard, I do remember my youth and how I hiked.  I 
> pushed big miles for those days.  Now that I think about it, if I just 
> added one more day to my trips, I would had a lot more fun for the 
> same trip mileage.  I guess the same would be true today when I heal 
> up after the knee operation.  I hope I remember this and use my head a 
> little more than my feet.
>  
> I figure 95% of backpackers do trips under 4 days out on the trail.  
> May be I am wrong, but I would guess the average hike day is 8-12 
> miles.  That is pretty good and allows for nice camp time and fun.  If 
> I am out for 3 days and do 30 miles, I am satisfied and had a nice 
> adventure along the trail.  I know I could hike farther, but that is 
> not the point.  The point for me is some good exercise, adventure, and 
> goof off time with Mother Nature and my pals.
>  
> Cheers, Switchback the Adventurer
>
>
>
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>