[pct-l] Thru-hiking in 3 months?

[Donna Saufley]

I freely admit to not being a fan or advocate of record keeping, though I
know it's an opposite view from many (not the first time I've gone against
conventional thinking, and won't be the last).  

It's not so much the record keeping that I find troublesome, it's what seems
to come with it, the comparisons, disputes, and loss of privacy for hikers.
It becomes a horse race, with people betting on the side.  Suddenly the gift
of being able to hike the trail becomes fodder for others' entertainment. It
comes from a deep personal feeling that my hike is my hike, and I don't want
it put under a microscope and commentated upon. It takes away, for me, the
very essence of the freedom of the trail. 

I know that, despite my view, it's inevitable that statistics will be kept
and monitored; it just seems innate in human nature to do so. Some people
revel in this type of attention, but I know from experience (over 3,000
hikers and counting) that not everyone shares that sentiment.  

There's just so few places to escape and find yourself alone, Being
"staticized" isn't part of my hopes and dreams for my hikes, and I have the
same respect for others wishes for privacy.

L-Rod


-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of ed faubert
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 8:37 PM
To: diane at santabarbarahikes.com; pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Thru-hiking in 3 months?

Meadow Ed here....
Years ago when i was the PCT statistion of records i was aware of many folks
who would indeed start in early June a few 100 miles up the trail then
indeed come back and finish this section last.  It was an amazing fact of
trail lore that often the last person who left Mexico would end up being in
the top of the list of finishers. i ran into a guy call ed agnew at
messenger flats in early june who was #3 to Canada that year. He had just
gotten out of the Navy and was doing 30 mile days on day 1......These folks
tend to not take no days off as in most cases they are alone out there and
have their nose to the trail....Many folks have compleated the trail in 100
days or less,  thats 27 miles a day for 100 days and you can increase that
milage quite a bit by the time you reach Shasta.  so yes its doable and lots
of folks have done it in 90/100 days but again its putting your nose to the
trail every day and not many days off.

Too bad some many folks out there was opposed to this record keeping and
that no one has continued this.  The last few years we see more of an
interest in rekindling this record keeping and maby someone will step up to
the plate. I think the people who were opposed to this have to see the value
of this information for future hikers........ if not then its their
problem........

Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com wrote: 
> On Nov 18, 2008, at 6:15 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>> Thru-hiking in 3 months?
> You'll find So Cal very uncomfortable (hot and dry) starting in mid- 
> June. Why not just start at Kennedy Meadows? That's when the herd'll  
> be there. Or start at Tehachapi so you get a taste of the desert  
> before hitting the Sierras. You can always do So Cal some other time,  
> even at the end if you get all the way to Canada.
> Piper
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-l mailing list
> Pct-l at backcountry.net
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