[pct-l] from the runner

["PCT Boy" <pctalker@hotmail.com>]

Hope I'm not too late to weigh in on the PCT running event thread, 
especially since I'm the one who ran the AC100 this year!

Image: After crossing the slopes of Mt. Baden-Powell, the 150 runners of the 
race had spread out several miles. We all moved along, jogging/walking 
silently and efficiently, picking our way among the roots and rocks. Coming 
the other way, I came across a giant Boy Scout Troop -- maybe 70 kids 
trooping along, kicking at the embankments, making a lot of noise, wearing 
lug soles and heavy packs. Who's causing more trail damage here?

There's a high snob factor in this discussion. Issues at stake? Keeping the 
PCT a "secret," and fearing anything that might make it more popular. Then 
there's the, "should we let the runners use the trail" issue, just as 
snobbish. Finally, why do we even talk about this kind of thing, since we, 
the members of this mailing list, have absolutely nothing to do with who 
uses the trail? The dirt bikers and ATV folks are out there in the Mojave, 
ripping up and down the PCT without any one of us going out there and 
preventing them from doing so.

Personally, I'd like to see an eco-challenge "trail of death." Muir Trail 
traverse in May? I'd enter it in a heartbeat.

will
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