[pct-l] replies to g l, and Jeffreyn

[O.d. Coyote]

I'm not quite sure yet how the PCT-L machinery works.  I sent the following
reply to g l, but it ended up going to her directly, not to the board.  I'm
not sure how to post a reply to make it appear below the post it refers to.
Sorry.

But here's what I sent to g l:
________________

But g l, you haven't yet listened to my reasons.

I'm not saying the Triple Crown is worthless, I'm saying it's not the
ultimate it's cracked up to be.  I'm not belittling its worth to people who
find it meaningful.

People have walked tens of thousands of miles in single journeys from
Ushuaia, Argentina to Barrow, Alaska; from Paris to Viet Nam; from Norway to
the Cape of Good Hope; on journeys lasting many years through foreign
countries with foreign customs and strange food, -  far, far, far from home
in a way US distance hikers never experience, without guidebooks to tell
them what's ahead.  In my opinion, those are the post-graduate distance
hikers.  Even the first people to hike the CDT and PCT did it without
guidebook help - they had to study maps and make up their route before they
followed it.  Surely you recognize what Toby Heaton and Jim Podlesny did on
the CDT, before even Wolf's guidebooks had been published, accomplished
something more than today's CDT hikers do.

You really should ask for reasons before you call someone an opinionated
buffoon unworthy to be taken seriously.  What does your jumping to rash
conclusions without learning anything about a person's reasoning say about
you?

Maybe this is an example of what I've heard about distance hikers having
short horizons...
Maybe this is an example of the mindset of those who only know distance
hiking after the guidebooks and "how-to" books were written.

Please g l, slow down and think a bit before you jump in so deeply with your
purely emotionally-held opinions.
_______

My response to Jeffrey -

I don't believe anything I said really qualifies as "flaming."  I'm not
responding in rage or anger.  They were carefully worded responses to folks
who were misbehaving at my expense when I wasn't able to respond.  The
alternative I follow is not to take the distance hiking community and it's
repeated misbehaviors personally serious.  But it saddens me to see people
around an activity I love, and still do, so frequently behaving badly.  This
was my way of calling attention to it, and doing something to get people to
maybe behave better this time around... or maybe just to recognize bad
behavior as such when they see it.  It is an alienating experience, to have
people do that stuff behind your back... and the purpose of this list is the
opposite of alienating people.

Strange as this may sound, I've only recently finished the journey during
which this event last year occurred here.  (Do the ramifications of an "18
month journey" mean anything to you?)  I don't do e-mail stuff on my walks.
This is my first opportunity to respond, within the system I live.

It is easy to go back to the archives, and read what you don't remember (the
time frame here is Nov 27 - Dec 2, 2006).  I didn't expect people to
remember anything about this.  But I did expect them, if they so wish, if
they have sufficient interest in this topic, to go back to the archive and
read what was there.  It's quick and easy, and then you have some facts and
context to base your thoughts on.

Besides, it is the same time of year again - offseason - when people at
PCT-L get bored and irritable, and are likely to misbehave the same way
again.  Do you get surprised each autumn when it gets cold again like it did
last autumn?  If you're an old fart, you must certainly realize there are
certain patterns which recur again every year.  That people get bored and
irritable here at this time now, just as they did last year at this time,
can't be news to you... it's even been commented on, repeatedly, by list
members here.  One type of thread discussion happens during hiking season,
when so many are out on the trails, then another in the off-season, when
people get stir-crazy.  This is an off-season topic, presented in the
off-season.

Thank you for your welcome to the list... not sure how long I'm going to
stick around, however.  This is an out-of-character episode for me, but one
I thought about and decided to do.

Cheers! - O.d.