[pct-l] Arguing with Idiots

[Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com]

I don't believe I am an idiot with my head in the sand. I'm as big a  
fraidy cat as you'll ever meet, and had a pretty negative attitude to  
go with it.

Still, what I discovered is that there are lots of OH MY GOD THE  
WILDERNESS IS SO DANGEROUS hand-wringers before you get to the Sierra  
and very few afterwards. There are also a lot of huge packs in the  
Sierra and almost none afterwards. There are people who worry  
terribly about heat, rain, creek crossings, snow, bears and whatever  
else before the Sierra and almost none afterwards. People I met in  
Washington, when I complained about the weather, said to me,  
"Weather? Oh, you mean the rain? I like the rain. It makes me walk  
farther." When I heard that, I realized the key to success on the PCT  
is a positive attitude toward all adversity.

The longer you are on the trail the more you realize that all the  
dire warnings are mostly just hype and that it's all manageable. Even  
by unbalanced scardy cats who complain about everything like myself.

I still have 60 miles left to complete in the Sierra. I'll complete  
it when my boyfriend can do the JMT with me. Then I will celebrate  
with my PCT 2600 miler patch (even though I have hiked 3000 miles on  
the PCT I don't feel I've yet earned the patch.) There are scary  
creek crossings in the 60 mile section I still need to do. I'm not  
afraid anymore.

So, worry all you want and keep posting that it's a dangerous Man  
against Nature kind of experience. Maybe you'll post some information  
that's useful to someone who has never hiked in the wilderness  
before. I just want people to know that the experience really is more  
a quiet, contemplative walk in the woods than a battle with nature  
and don't let all the scary stories make you think it's going to be  
really, really hard. The hardest thing is really just getting up and  
walking day after day after day.

Diane

On Nov 9, 2009, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Arguing with Idiots