[pct-l] safety on the pct

[Donna Saufley]

I am both a woman who likes to hike alone and a mother of a 20-something
son.  I hate to tell you this, but there is probably nothing you can say to
your mother that will make her feel that it is safe out on the trail.  This
is especially true in light of the recent and horrific news regarding a
female hiker's death at the hands of someone who looked like another hiker.
The usual reassurances of how wonderful and supportive other hikers and
hosts are probably won't appease her fears right now.  

Most of us fear that which we don't know. I'm going to guess from your
question that your mother does not have much, if any, backcountry hiking
experience, so her fear of all the things that might happen are playing bit
in her mind. It doesn't matter that tens of thousands of women hike every
year with great success and enjoyment; if you've never done it, you fear
every remote and infinitesimally small possibility ranging from bear and
snake attacks to falling off cliffs, to criminals hiding behind every tree. 

The truth is more women are abducted, raped, and murdered from grocery store
and mall parking lots than killed on hiking trails. Driving our cars is
probably the most dangerous thing we do, yet most of us drive every day.
Absolutely no where is safe from peril -- not schools, our workplaces, or
the public places and businesses we frequent. The very food we eat is
suspect and kills people every day (some slowly, some quickly).  Our lives
are full of risk; you can either wall yourself in and live in fear, or take
the risks head on and live a personally fulfilling life.

A true story that illustrates this well is that my mother's best childhood
friend was killed while she and her baby son were napping at home one
afternoon.  A small passenger plane crashed into her house, killing her and
the pilot. It is a story that has stayed with me and shaped my life, and I
think of it every time I confront something I fear and put an end to the
fearfulness.  There is nothing more empowering than conquering the demon of
fear.

In this country we only believe that we're safe, but our sense of safety is
false. In many other countries they live with the knowledge that they are
not safe.  We usually feel the things we know best are the safest -- like
going to school or church.  But you only have to read the news to know that
the possibility of someone going berserk on a murderous rampage is possible
anywhere, in the places we feel safest. 

Not one of us gets out of here alive, and none of us know with certainty
where we will be or when the hour will come.  So, if your mom let you drive
a car, fly in a plane, or go off to college, she has already accepted many
possible risks with regard to your perceived safety. Hiking on the PCT or
any trail is no different than any of those events. Maybe you can invite her
along with you, so that she herself can see that in many ways we are safer
on the trail than anywhere in civilization.

I wish you luck in convincing her.

L-Rod 


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Jana Bregman
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 2:38 PM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] safety on the pct

i am a college freshman and my friend (who is also college age) and I  
want to hike a section of the PCT this summer for about 2 or 3 weeks.  
We are having trouble convincing our mom's that 2 girls will be safe  
alone out on the trail.....what should we tell them?
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