[pct-l] 8 cy VS 4 cy and seeing the light

[jeff.singewald at comcast.net]

Tortoise wrote:

>Maybe, just maybe, one of us 
> slow one will show you the pictures of all that you've missed in your haste

It appears that you think that simply because one walks the trail faster than you that one is going to see less than you.  I think Tattoo Joe recently shared some great insight with regards to the benefits those thru-hikers that hike faster have.

While I averaged nearly 34 miles a day between Castella and Manning last year, I really didn't consider that my pace was fast by any means.  I typically started no earlier than 6:00 a.m. and would only hike until 7:00 p.m.  I stopped for breafast/lunch/dinner and still had time to take hundreds of photos.  I am blessed with a long gait/stride, but I would never have considered this speed hiking, nor would I consider that I missed more than someone going at a lesser pace.  Frankly, my pace allowed me to see so much more as I wasn't forced to trudge through the incredibly beautiful north sections of the PCT in inclimate weather as some people do in order to complete their thru-hikes.

I may never understand why you feel a need to suggest that we are missing something by hiking at a faster clip.

Jeff


-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Tortoise <Tortoise73 at charter.net> 

> Reinhold. 
> 
> You are soooo right! 
> 
> I'll never understand why someone wants to set a speed record for hiking 
> the PCT, JMT, or any other trail. 
> I've even stopped trying to understand. 
> I'll just chuckle to myself as you all go running by, then take a short 
> break while I wait for the dust to settle. Maybe, just maybe, one of us 
> slow one will show you the pictures of all that you've missed in your haste. 
> 
> Tortoise, just amblying on thru life. 
> 
> <> He who finishes last, wins! <> 
> 
> I switched to Mac OSX rather than fight Windows 
> Using Mozilla Thunderbird http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/ 
> 
> 
> 
> Reinhold Metzger wrote: 
> > Joe, 
> > You are so right, speed hikers are a misunderstood breed.....they are known 
> > as the ''crazy ones'' and forever criticized by ''purists'' for hiking to 
> > fast and 
> > and not enjoying their hike. 
> > Many folks just don't understand us......but we crazy ones, we understand 
> > each other. 
> > 
> > I LOOK AT IT LIKE THIS: 
> > There are rabbits and there are turtles, they each enjoy their journey in 
> > their 
> > own way. 
> > Turtles will forever criticize rabbits for going to fast and not enjoying 
> > their hike. 
> > Who is to say how to hike or how to enjoy a hike? 
> > Who is to say if turtles enjoy their journey more than rabbits? 
> > 
> > In nature not all things are created equal. 
> > 
> > I like the way Lance Armstrong puts it......''Some of us are born with 4 
> > cylinders 
> > some of us are born with 8 cylinders''. 
> > The 4 cylinders will forever complain that the 8 cylinders are going to 
> > fast. 
> > 
> > I say ....HYOH....and who cares what everybody else thinks. 
> > 
> > By the way Joe, the first time I hiked the JMT in 1996 with the Boy Scouts 
> > we also 
> > did in 21 days and I hauled a 75 - 85 lb pack........NEVER AGAIN!!! 
> > 
> > As I got older and wiser ''I SAW THE LIGHT'' now I go ultra-light. 
> > But you know Joe, some folks don't get wiser as they get older, they just 
> > get older 
> > and they never see the light. 
> > 
> > JMT Reinhold 
> > The old wise one 
> > 
> > 
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