[pct-l] Monkey (9yrs old) is YOUNGEST to complete PCT

[Melanie Clarke]

I have not followed this thread but I want to comment on the few postings
that I have read:

Please be aware that this thread is a discussion involving children!  These
postings can get personal and angry sometimes but most of us are adults and
we can get past this.  Please be mindful of the unique sensibilities of a
child.  I understand that people are trying to figure out who the oldest,
youngest, slowest, fastest etc. as humans can be competitive by nature but
let us not pollute the experience for a child.  I just feel bad that no one
seems to ask anyone else to "prove" they hiked the complete trail, it's
kind of on an "honor system" and we leave it up to the person to define
their own experience.  Yet, I perceive a degree of cynicism in this thread.
 Are we holding these children to a higher standard?

I read the book, *Wild, (*Strayed) and *A Walk in The Woods*, (Bryson).
 Neither claims to have hiked the entire trail but at the end of his book,
Bryson and his partner, Katz; come to the mutual agreement that "in the
spirit of the experience, they feel like they indeed hiked the trail".
 This is an experience unique to every person.  We allow adults to define
their experience so maybe we should give this deference to children.  Let
us respect the joy and experience that these children walked away with.
 Also understand that parents like to brag (excessively sometimes) while
the children hate this and are just rolling their eyes about the whole
thing anyway.

I don't want the perceived threat of ridicule or "losing face" to force
parents into making bad decisions on the trail regarding their children.
 Let's not turn this into a "pissing contest".  This is an experience!  We
need to be extra judicious in our discussions about children!

Toga

On Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 10:22 AM, Nathan Miller <erccmacfitheal at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Do these young folks...or their parental units...have online trail
> journals?  (I looked on trailjournals.com and found one for Balls and
> Sunshine [seem to be the pair mentioned elsewhere on this thread].)
>
> -Nate the Trail Zombie
> Newberg, OR
>
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