[pct-l] The ADZ, then and now.

[Pea Hicks]

Tom Reynolds wrote:

> My view about thruhiking, then and now, is that a thruhike is a
> social event, not a wilderness event for many people. Reading the
> journals and reviewing the posted photographs of thruhikers both
> before and after the first ADZ, it appeared to me that a thruhike is
> a “sprint from town to town where all could gather for an
> all-you-can-eat food fest that desirably pissed off the proprietor.”
> What was important to thruhikers was the interaction between other
> thruhikers as evidenced by their photographs, largely of people not
> scenery and their journals which recorded their burning desire to
> reach town as opposed to camping on the trail and enjoy the
> wilderness and recorded food fests not waterfalls. The goal seems to
> be finishing the trail as opposed to enjoying the wilderness and the
> wilderness seems to be seen largely as a desirable barrier between
> the thruhiking community and the community at large. 

i would agree with this assessment to a certain extent, but there's more 
to the story here. if you're only looking at journals and photos, you're 
going to get a slanted view of a thru-hikers interests and motivations. 
most people aren't very talented writers or photographers, and as it 
turns out, it's much easier to rant/complain in your journal about 
various things that are bothering you, or to write about what so-and-so 
said/did than it is to wax eloquently about the wilderness or even 
personal/spiritual growth. that doesn't mean that the journalist has not 
experienced these profundities, it's just that they're not well capable 
of putting that aspect of their journey into words.

a similar thing happens with photos. most folks are not talented 
photographers, and your typical point-n-shoot cameras are optimized for 
photos of people. so even if someone took alot of landscape or nature 
shots, often they don't end up showing them around much because they're 
just not that well executed. besides, most people want to share photos 
of people with the people in those photos. so it's not that these people 
aren't taking in and appreciating the scenery, it's just that they're 
not very good at capturing that aspect of their journey with a camera.

personally, when i think back on my thru-hike, mostly what comes up are 
vivid memories of the natural surroundings, and not so much of town 
stops, social interactions, food, etc. yes, i remember those things too, 
but they're usually not the first things that come to mind, even though 
if you read my journal it would seem as if i largely had a miserable 
time hiking the pct. not true. i'm just not a very talented writer.


girlscout