[pct-l] Lonliness/burn out

[m_factor@hotmail.com (Mara Factor)]

Hmm, here are some other thoughts...  (warning, I support statistical data 
analysis software for a living - there are never enough factors included in 
analysis... ;-)

I wonder if it could just be that there are a higher percentage of younger 
hikers out there and they are more likely to run into each other.  They 
might also perceive other younger hikers as more likely to have something in 
common with then than with the older hikers they meet.  If there are fewer 
older hikers out there, they are less likely to run into each other - and 
therefor less likely to form groups.

Hmm, on a mostly unrelated thought...  I wonder if PCT thruhikers tend to be 
older (on average) than AT thruhikers.

Then again, the group that I ended up spending most time with on AT had five 
people, a married couple in their 20s, and one individual each in their 30s, 
40s, and 50s.  It was a great group.

Just remember, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics...

Not a statistician,
Mara Factor (yes, that really is my last name)

>From: Jeffrey Olson <jjolson@uwyo.edu>
>Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2002 14:05:25 -0700
>
...
>Here's a hypothesis that is probably easily falsified.  The younger the
>hiker, the less likely s/he is to hike alone for any length of time and 
>stay
>on the trail!  I suggest this only because the persons I met who were alone
>were in their 30s and 40s.

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