[pct-l] Why must there be a "Right Way & wrong way" to hike

[greg mushial]

> Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:59:09 -0700
> From: Wireless Rascal <wirelessrascal at gmail.com>
> Subject: [pct-l] Why must there be a "Right Way & wrong way" to hike
> the trail?
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net
> Message-ID:
> <AANLkTimqhp_HTogrGEM=ZeOJUfZux3Xs0_zGB=FKtvXP at mail.gmail.com>
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<snip>
> their journey their own special way.?* couldn?t ring more true to the ear 
> of
> a ?turtle,? a ?rabbit? or, in my case, a mountain biker.
>
>
> You get my point...I hope.
>

Do I detect a persecution complex? Over and above the safety issue of others 
on the trail (very real: having been run over multiple times)...  are you 
bothered by "no shoes, no shirt, no service" signs on stores? What about "no 
bicycles" signs at freeway entrances? What about gender segregated restroom 
facilities? How about no-one under 21 at bars limitations? The point being 
that society has decided on certain rules for the betterment of itself. What 
I don't hear in your posting is a concern for the environment - a wilderness 
area is such because it's been "left alone". What this means is that if a 
nominal person on foot can travel n miles per day, that the number of people 
that get into the real wilderness is self-limiting. I suspect there are 
places in northern Yosemite or KiSe that haven't seen a human for decades... 
and as such, the wildlife/ambient has been preserved as was intented many 
many years ago. This is an agreement society has with itself - that certain 
area are to be left untouched for future generations, as neat as they may be 
to see for anyone in the current generation. A mtn bike can cover 3x 
(approx) the number of miles per day that a hiker can, hence making these 
protected-by-distance area vulnerable. So: should society at large allow for 
the violation of these areas, although multiple generations have deemed them 
worth protecting, just because some "I want to have my way" factions wishes 
such? Can you see how this comes across as very self-centered, and is 
treated as such? I suspect the mtn bikers would much make further ground if 
their position didn't sound as such. :-)
TheDuck