[pct-l] RECORD SECTION HIKES

[Donna "L-Rod" Saufley]

Trail registers are one thing, as they are left out in the public domain for anyone to read. I am 100% certain that when a hikers signs a register, they're not doing so with the idea that someone will be tracking their progress and comparing or reporting it for others to see.  How creepy to have people you don't know monitoring your progress.

Permit applications are another thing, as they have personal information, such as a mailing address along with your name.  The Graham Leech Bliley Act requires this type of information to be protected by the businesses and organizations who collect it.  

To assume that the PCT has all the old trail registers is absurd.  Many trail registers have been scattered to the winds so to speak.  These were never official in any way, and there have never been any rules or instructions about what to do with them when they are full.  For example, I am still trying to recover our local registers from the heirs and estate of Darryl Readmond, who used to manage this section of trail.  He died, and the old registers were in his possession at the time of his death.  I am certain there are cases like this all up and down the trail.  

I simply respect the rights of hikers to have their whereabouts kept private.  This is because some of them have told me outright that they didn't want anyone to know where they were.  Before I've posted that so-and-so is here at Hiker Heaven, I get permission from them to do so.  To not get permission is an invasion of their privacy.  Perhaps they are on the run from the law, or other personal demons.  Then, too, there were several incidents on the AT where hikers were stalked because of their journal postings -- very scary especially for young women on their own. And, some people just don't want to be found, period. The trail is a place where they can disconnect from everything.    

There are those who want to follow the hikers progress like it's a horse race.  They want to know how fast, who skipped what, and compare them like some kind of commodity, whether the hikers themselves are seeking that type of awareness of their progress or not.  To those who wish to monitor this type of information, I say, "get a life and leave the hikers in peace!" They are not out there hiking for anyone's entertainment.

If a hiker wants you to know of their progress or experience on the trail, they will keep a trail journal, post to some list or other, ask you to post it, or write about their journey after the fact and publish it somewhere.  Some people are more than willing to share their stories.  Others are not.  I truly believe we need to be respectful of that, and I see what I consider a blatant disregard of hiker privacy almost daily on the PCT-L.

L-Rod



-----Original Message-----
>From: Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net>
>Sent: Sep 2, 2007 9:21 PM
>To: pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net
>Cc: "Donna \"L-Rod\" Saufley" <dsaufley at sprynet.com>, ed faubert <edfaubert at yahoo.com>, Steel-Eye <chelin at teleport.com>
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] RECORD SECTION HIKES
>
>It seems to me that a trail register is a public or semi-public record. 
>there is no indication that the information in a trail register is 
>confidential. In fact it seems that one purpose of a trail register is 
>to give hikers a legitimate way to say "I was here" as well as adding 
>other comments. Far better this than carving their name into a rock or 
>log. As someone else has said, if you want your where abouts to be 
>private, don't sign the registers.
>
>OTOH, I would have to look at the wilderness permit regs before saying 
>whether or not a wilderness permit should be public information.
>
>Tortoise
>
><> He who finishes last, wins! <>
>
>I switched to Mac OSX rather than fight Windows
>Using Mozilla Thunderbird  http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/
>
>
>
>Donna "L-Rod" Saufley wrote:
>> Ed,
>>
>> Because there are laws around privacy, and it's nobody's damn business who hiked when and how old they were (or for that matter, who's on the trail right now and where they are).  If someone wants you to know those details they will keep a trail journal, post to this or some other list, or write a book. Many have chosen to do so.  For many other hikers, it's a very personal experience and not for the entertainment and speculation of others with apparently nothing better to do with their time.
>>
>> I for one thank the PCTA for keeping this information private.
>>
>> L-Rod
>>
>>
>>