[pct-l] attitude shift?

[jape at nethere.com (jape)]

It might be that my advancing years have triggered
the onset of curmudgion hormones.  Or I might be
suffering from an ever-intensifying case of
thru-hiker wannabe.  Regardless, I think I detect
a different timbre to the overall hiker attitude
as reflected in the journal writings of this year.

    http://www.trailjournals.com/journals.cfm

IMO, humble,  ignorant or otherwise, and based
solely on the journals, the trail seems to have
become a nuisance which must be endured until the
real goal of a Rest Day has been reached.  And,
this year, there seems to be a greater lack of
style in how one attains that goal than in past
years. I've snipped a three quotes from three
different journals, and posted them below.  It
isn't pertinant to my point to identify the
authors in this public forum, but if you've a real
need to know, I'll be glad to post the specific
journal to your private EMail.

"...We have been sleeping/resting under a bush for
a few hours. (A, B & C) came by. They are
slackpacking ..."
        This is the first time I"ve heard of slack
packing the San Felipe hills by thru hikers.

"If we're not on the trail -- we don't want to
walk"

"(they) were very sympathetic to our problem but
no one offered us a ride. It was- in my opinion-
disgraceful of them. ...Not one of the many people
in this restaurant offered us real help, not one!"

(Of course these quotes were plucked from the rest
of the text, and it would be proper to question
the context in which they were written.)
Off-trail hiker assistance seems to have expanded
exponentially this year as well, with water caches
being mentioned on Hauser mountain (although I
wonder if perhaps the journal writers were
mistakenly writing about empties that had dropped
by passing illegals), Pioneer Mail, Lucky 5,
Scissors Crossing, Chihuahua Valley Rd, and Anza.
One journal speaks of hikers passing the
opportunity of getting needed water at Lost Valley
Springs because it was a "trickle that didn't look
particularly appetizing", and they did without
until they were forced to filter enough water to
get them to the next cache from a trailside
rivulet. Other journals speak of angels offering
trailside breakfasts, buckets of granola bars
placed beside water caches, offerings of fruit and
ice cream and hot dogs.

Heck, I don't begrudge the hikers the opportunity
to yogi, and I applaud the efforts angels go
through to provide treats for hikers.  But I am
beginning to wonder if perhaps the attitude and
the drive of thru hikers on the PCT is being
modified by the generosity of the angels.
Something along the lines of "let's feed the cute
bear" in Yosemite (circa 1955) creating the
problem bear of today.  In addition, many of the
PCT hikers have previously hiked the AT, a trail
synonomous with shelter-to-shelter walking,
frequent town stops and the birthplace of the
yogi.

I suppose I ought to conclude my rambling
thoughts, but as the guy said in "Platoon",
"I've got a bad feeling about this". <g>

This note is intended to be a bit of a troll, and
not a well reasoned presentation.  I'd be
interested to read if anybody else is seeing an
attitude shift this year, I'm not interested in
debate, or making a defense of my observations.

Eckert