[pct-l] hikefor.com - hiking for a cause

[Paul Mitchell]

Hi Mike (and other Mike)

 

Ø  I hike to hike. This is for my own personal satisfaction. I do not hike
for charity. If I wish to donate to a charity, I do so. I do not badger
friends, aquaintances or strangers to donate.

 

Nothing wrong with that, but I’m sure you can appreciate that some hikers
value being able to dedicate their epic and challenging hikes to a cause
they feel is worthwhile, including perhaps the PCTA, and hiking to raise
funds for the non-profit that works so hard to preserve and maintain the
trail is kind of poetic!  :)  As for badgering, hopefully none of the hikers
who sign on are that aggressive!  I, personally, didn’t ask anybody for a
pledge, I just let people know about the site and if they pledged it was
totally on their own volition, which is how I suspect most hikers were.
What I found in 2010 with the first trial (Hike for Haiti) was that sponsors
were almost exclusively close friends and family, and they seemed to all
feel very positive about getting involved with their loved one’s hike and
showing support via a pledge.  

 

There’s another kind of nice subtle benefit to hiking for a worthy cause; it
can help motivate a hiker on their hard days.  That was part of why I wanted
to attach a cause to my hike in 2010, to give me a little extra motivation
to hopefully see it all the way through.

 

At the end of the day it’s all voluntary for anyone involved; it’s just a
tool for those who want to use it and those who don’t can just ignore it.
:)

 

Cheers,

- Potential178