[pct-l] goals

[saskia.home@wanadoo.nl (Saskia)]

Gina,

That's what I hope the trail will be for me: a way of forcing myself 
to give me a chance to develop my own pace. By following a trail 
instead of going into the woods and just walk, I give myself sort of 
a 'relief'. I don't have to decide IF I will walk, or exactly WHERE 
I'll be walking, as the trail is there, ready-made. And I also won't 
have any distractions that could keep me from going out there. I'll 
be there, period. So although for some the marked trails are 
constrictions, for me they are kind of liberating. They make it 
possible to start. Now it is up to me to finish...

Hope this makes some sense
Saskia

>Very nicely said. Although I am late jumping in this debate over thru hiking
>and speed, in the end we must hike the trail alone. While the very nature of
>thru hiking entails meeting some "deadline" in order to beat the elements
>and finish the hike, people do tend to let busyness take over when perhaps
>they should take a deep breath and pause to find themselves. I by no means
>am anywhere near an expert on what it takes to thru hike. I am but a mere
>wanna be. Still, even on short trips or struggling to make the peak of a
>mountain before the sun gets too high I find myself in that struggle of the
>busy world. About the time I've slipped into an easier pace with myself the
>weekend is over and I must submitt to the usual rush of returning home to
>all the expectations waiting for me.
>
>Gina
>wishing I was backcountry somewhere right now...
-- 
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"If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawn mower"
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