[pct-l] Re: Did Lowder have an ice axe

[mardav@charter.net (Marion Davison)]

Thank you to Helen for clearing up the facts in the case.  
It really does come down to each person choosing their acceptable level
of risk.  Brick's photo of a hiker on Fuller Ridge in the snow gives me
the willies.  Like some others, I choose to section hike, so I can do
each section during its best time of year, when conditions are most
favorable and risks are lowest.  
A colleague of mine tells me I am crazy because I have kept my food in
my tent in bear country (no lectures, please, I now own bear cans) and I
only filter water when I consider it hazardous.  This same colleague is
a skydiver.  I would NEVER jump out of a perfectly good airplane.  So
each of us has determined her acceptable level of risk.  
Anyway, I hope the original question, "Do I need an ice axe, or will
hiking poles do?" has been answered definitively. I for one don't want
to read about any more thru-hiker deaths. But I know they will happen.  
Marion Davison

Another frequent cause of airplane crashes--a short between the
headsets.