[pct-l] The parental aspect of hiking

[Jeffrey Olson]

My brother and four of his friends hiked the JMT when they were 16.  The 
adults dropped out due to injuries, but assured the parents the "kids" 
would be just fine.  They met every five days for resupply, so the 
"parents" knew things were going well. 

It remains one of the marking moments in my brother's life, heading him 
down a path that had him hitchhike from London to Nepal and back over 
the course of year when he was 19 (this was in 1975, when you could 
hitch through Iraq, iran, Afghanistan & Pakistan).  He walked the 
Annapurna circuit as the turnaround of his trip. 

For the last 17 years he's been a Buddhist monk at the Shasta Abbey near 
Mt. Shasta. 

Jeffrey Olson
Martin, SD