[pct-l] Thru-Hikers Against Thru-Hiking

["Staggerin' Willie" <staggerinwillie@hotmail.com>]

Hey all,
Since I re-joined this list a week back, I have had inquiries from a few 
people asking what T.H.A.T.H. is about and whether it's a joke or not.  I'm 
not quite sure about the second question, but in response to the first, i 
worte up this little manifesto.  Thought it might be of general interest:

T.H.A.T.H. (Thru-hikers against thru-hiking) was something the Menacing 
Vegetables came up with this last year as we were hiking the trail.  You 
see, we had planned for years to do a thru-hike of the PCT, Mexico to Canada 
and all that.  So we started out on April 11th (way ahead of the "pack"), 
full of vim and vigour, with no hard deadlines except what the weather gods 
were planning on serving up in Washington.  Very soon on our hike, however, 
we realized that we were going to have to make a decision:  either hike to 
Canada in one marathon effort, or spend the entire season enjoying the 
scenic wonders of the PCT and the dubious delights of trail life, without 
necessarily attempting to do the 2600 miles in 5-6 months.  We chose the 
latter, and THATH gradually arose from that decision.  THATH is about 
convincing people that they are not "failures" if they do not reach Manning 
Park in one year; that in fact, completing the entire PCT in one season may 
be mutually incompatable with having the most enjoyable possible experience 
over the course of 4-6 months on the trail.

The PCT, we learned, is not like the AT back east-- the latter trail takes 
you to most all of the high points (figurative and literal) of that mountain 
range.  the PCT, by contrast, merely takes you near many of the attractions 
along the western mountains.  Dozens of lakes, summits, swimmin' holes, hot 
springs, and the like lie 5 miles or less from the PCT; contrary to what you 
may read, the PCT does not always take the most interesting, most direct, or 
most wilderness-oriented route.  One quick example:  Mt. San Gorgonio, at 
11,500 feet the highest point in southern California, lies at the heart of 
of San Gorgonio wilderness, the largest wilderness in Southern California.  
The mountain's thick forests and alpine plateaus are a stark contrast with 
the scraggly desert/scrub country surrounding the wilderness.  The PCT, for 
some unknown reason, bypasses this wilderness entirely.  We decided that it 
was silly to hike the entire length of California without paying a visit to 
this landmark summit, so when we reached Big Bear City, we took a three-day 
detour to the wilderness and climbed the snow-clad peak.  I found the climb 
up Gorgonio (and the Glissade down!)to be one of the true highlights of 
Southern California.  From San Jacinto all the way to the North Cascades, I 
felt like some of the best hiking I did, many of the most memorable spots I 
reached, were areas that didn't lay directly in the path of the PCT.  These 
were places that were visited by very very few thru-hikers, although they 
lay as little as 0.2 miles from the trail.  Despite what Ray Jardine and PCT 
orthodoxy claim, I don't think you can really have a quality wilderness 
experience at 25-35 miles a day, day after day after day after day....

All this side-tripping came at a price, of course:  I didn't finish the PCT 
this year.  I missed out on much of the trail community, made up of those 
who hike fast enough to keep up with one another (although our early start 
date and slow pace meant that we met just about everyone on the trail this 
year).  And although I considered myself a "thru-hiker" when I was actually 
walking (we covered nearly 2000 miles this year, about 1700 of them 
on-trail), I can't say now that I have "thru-hiked" the PCT.  But while I 
didn't receive any gold medals at the Canadian border, I left the trail with 
memories of just about the best 6 months of my life.

THATH is not goal-oriented.  THATH is about process, not product.  THATH 
says "What's the hurry? Slow down.  Have fun.  Stop and smell the roses (and 
eat the blueberies)."  THATH says "Go ahead and pack out that extra day of 
food.  Sleep in this morning-- you're not on the clock.  Take that side 
trail out to the lake and do a zero-mile day out in the wilderness."  THATH 
knows that the PCT will be there next year (and the year after that)-- 
whatever part you don't finish this year ain't going nowhere.  Most 
"legitimate" thru-hikers think we're nuts, but then again, you have to be a 
bit nuts to spend 4-6 months hiking, whether you're going 1500, 2000, or 
2600 miles.  Hope that answers your question.


Staggerin' Willie
Charter Member of T.H.A.T.H.
(Thru-Hikers Against Thru-Hiking)

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