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[pct-l] Hiking Speed



Oops, hit the send button accidentally. How stressful it must be to hike the 
PCT competitively -- always worrying about catching up or staying ahead, 
having to hike past dark, and eat while hiking to save time. I propose a 
hiking axiom: For the "spiritualists" The necessity of devoting mental energy 
to interact with others playing the "first" game must take away from the 
amount of mental energy available for "awareness" of the surroundings. And 
another for the mathematicians: The awareness of any given place is directly 
proportional to the amount of time spent there. 
   That's the best thing about hiking the PCT at 52 was being peer pressure 
free. No one expected me to keep up by doing 30 mile days or do a sub 100 day 
hike, so I was REALLY free since I wasn't tied down to some "game." Except of 
course the one I had chosen to play. Getting to Canada before snow blocked 
the way- (I missed it by ONE night on a 6 month trip) You don't see too many 
people rushing through the Sistine Chapel and I'm willing to bet that those 
that lingered there saw more. And Norman Clyde knows a lot more about the 
Sierras than I do. Ditto for Harvey Butchart on the Grand Canyon. Why? 
Because they spent more TIME there, I presume.
  And false piety gets old quick but I'll give it a try. The above does not 
apply to SOME hikers, most notably Mr. Lightning Bolt, whose pursuit of 
happiness seems to be the pursuit of other thru hikers to show whose fastest, 
not getting to really know any given place except for how it "looks." That 
seems to be the gist of the list, but I'm certain their will soon be other 
interpretations.