[pct-l] Re: Four New books and

[Bighummel@xxxxxxx (Bighummel@xxxxxxx)]

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Wish I could have made the meeting.  Any hecklers at Whitiker's speech, or
did all of the naysayers loose their nerve when having to face the man?

Another good book on the PCT is "A Pacific Crest Odyssey" by David Green,
another 1977 thru-hiker that came through at the end of the pack and made
some cutting and fun comments on those that raced ahead of him including
Monte, I and others.  But that's not my point.  His writing style is good and
his descriptions of his mental outlook, his physical transformation and
phylosophy are well thought out and his choice of words is sometimes fun and
sometimes insightful.

An example:

"We had camped over seven miles short of Pinchot Pass and set out expecting
sun-softened snow.  But expectations are only set in the mind; I know of no
way to forewarn the body of the grueling ordeal of tightwiring across
snowfields that make random grabs for the crotch, the metamorphosed crust
taking trophy scalps from calves and knees at each inadvertent plunge.  I
move up onto a shattered rock ridge as I approach the pass, my body long
since set on automatic pilot.  Instinct guides my feet and hands to proper
holds; I am mere observer."

"But the reward, my God, the treasures at the end of this ragged rainbow of a
pass . . . the grand arc of ice-sculptured summits across the way, highlights
set off by snow and sky . . . the delicate pearls of iced tarns in the basin
below . . . and mare's-tail clouds feathering over the whole.  Sitting down
below now, sunning on a lakeside granite slab, it's as if it had never
happened.  The body forgets so easily its discomforts, only remembering the
pleasures of the eyes."

Published by Wilderness Press, out-of-print, available online at used book
sites for cheap.

Greg