[pct-l] I had to walk 5 miles in the snow to get to school...

[ronm@fallingwater.com (Ronald Moak)]

Scott writes >> Striders glory days are over. Belittling the accomplishments
of others and exaggerating his
own is his only joy left. Well, that and his captive audience at ADZ party.
By the time the party is over, I'm sure everyone within earshot
will know how 'awesome' he is. <<


Scott, if you had bothered to read what Greg had said and made a small
attempt to understand it, you'd realize that first he's correct and second
he wasn't belittling any current or future thruhiker. 

He said, and I quote "The amount of communication that is available today on
the PCT and related 
trail conditions is so overwhelming relative to what was available in past 
years that all of you hiking this year or in future years have it damn easy,

IMHO. "

Is comments were in terms of communication and not in the ease or difficulty
of hiking the trail. Nor was he saying the hike was a "Piece of Cake".
Having thru-hiked a long trail in both '77 and in '00 I am well aware of the
changes brought about both by increasing access to technology and increasing
foot traffic on the trails.

Neither were his comments about purity of the hike as some seem to have
interpreted. 

I'm not going to get into a debate about technology on the trail. Suffice it
to say there's more today than their used to be and there will be even more
in the years to come. If we can invent it, we'll surly find a reason to
justify carrying it. And there's not a damn thing I or anyone else would say
that would prevent or dissuade people from carrying every conceivable gadget
known to man.

And you know what, I'd bet Greg would admit that if some of the gadgets that
are available today were available 25 years ago, he'd have lugged them along
too. After all he and his fellow hikers (Jeff, Monte, etc.) hauled far more
additional gear than was needed to successfully complete their hike. 

All of us enter the woods with a certain about of fear and trepidation. Half
of what we carry is there to combat those fears, real or imagined. 

So in the future, try engaging your brain before you go shouting your mouth
off. It'll save all of us a bit of grief. 



--Fallingwater