(Guest Post) [pct-l] RE: PCT questions to you post

[CMountainDave@aol.com (CMountainDave@aol.com)]

 Ron - Amen I say if your plan for a through hike works, good. If it works 
without trashing your feet and/or other parts of your body, better. As far as 
pace goes, I don't think there's one fit all approach, although Tom makes a 
lot of sense in his approach to Kennedy meadows. I planned a 6 month journey. 
That meant 100 miles a week and I gauged my progress using this yard stick. I 
had no feet problem to speak of so that didn't delay me. I felt I was falling 
behind at times because every ultra light on the trail was passing me, but I 
reasoned that for whatever reason, they had their own pace to maintain and 
that I shouldn't judge my progress by comparing it to theirs. I was 3 days 
behind schedule at KM, 8 days behind by the time I finished the Sierras, and 
right on schedule by the time I hit Washington. I had to forsake a lot of 
rest days to do it.  Every hiker is going to have a myriad of circumstances 
to make him or her adjust their schedule along the way. The main thing that 
will get you through a through hike is willpower steeled by attitude. If you 
seek a way to stop you will. It's certainly not wrong to stop for ANY reason. 
You will have a worth while experience no matter what befalls you along the 
trail. But if you want the goal of completing a through hike to become a 
reality, you MUST somehow overcome those reasons (except, of course, for 
serious injury) for getting off the trail. If you don't, simply change your 
goal, hopefully without rancor towards those who do not and complete the thru 
hike. I've climbed Rainier with people who turned around because they simply 
did not place much importance on reaching the summit. Their goal was simply 
to experience being on the mountain. They tried climbing it and found it 
wasn't to their liking. They had a great time and there is no doubt in my 
mind that they could have made the summit if they so chose. It just wasn't 
important enough to them to suffer for it. I've seen others literally crawl, 
puking their guts out because the summit meant that much to them. Who's 
right? Neither and both, depending on your point of view.