[pct-l] Impact of WILD on PCT numbers

[Scott Williams]

Books can have a remarkable influence on people.  It was reading "A Hiker's
Heart", No Way Ray's posthumous book that finally got me out to hike the
PCT in its entirety.  I agree that the hike is not the center of Cheryl's
book, which is a story of her own personal redemption, but the trail is the
vehicle for that change.  Since reading that book, several friends who have
looked on a bit quizzically at my long hikes have now put it on their
bucket lists.  I'll bet there are many thousands more out there who've done
the same thing.  If just a fraction actually start, it could still be a
sizable increase.

Shroomer

On Thu, Jan 31, 2013 at 5:54 AM, Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

> I went to hear her read excerpts from her book and do a book signing.
> It seemed to me from the things she said that basically out west, she
> talks a lot more about the trail because more people know about
> hiking-related things but almost anywhere else she goes, nobody is
> interested in the trail. And overall, MOST people are interested in
> the relationship part of the book and consider the trail part to be
> more like a vehicle to tell the story of getting over her mom's
> death, which indeed it is. Several people who got up to ask questions
> after her talk were very interested in one day hiking the trail or
> they were currently working on sections. I didn't get a sense that
> overwhelmingly everybody wanted to rush out and hike the PCT. Just as
> many or more people got up to ask questions about details in the book
> regarding her relationship with her mother or to ask about how to be
> a writer.
>
> On Jan 30, 2013, at 8:59 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > From: Lindsey Sommer <lgsommer at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] Impact of WILD on PCT numbers
> >
> > I remember there was several threads discussing this last year
> > (maybe?) and
> > I think that we concluded that it COULD increase the number of people
> > starting in socal. But then we also concluded that reading a book
> > doesn't
> > mean you can hike the entire trail (because it's really hard), so
> > there
> > could also be more people dropping out.
> >
> > Should be interesting this year to compare the numbers though.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 3:32 AM, Paul Mitchell <paul at bluebrain.ca>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I'm wondering if the popularity of "WILD" has translated into
> >> increased
> >> numbers of hikers on the PCT.  Anyone have any thoughts on this?
>
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