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[pct-l] Love on the trai
Yes I do agree that there are some discimnation against section hikers on the trail and being accepted in "the tribe" might not happen. There is even a bigger discrimination between long distant hikers and weekend warriors and I classify myself as a LD hiker.
I personally have my goals and will accomplish them in incrimates and am out there hiking my own hike. The main goal is to complete the PCT in 3-5 years and I am a little under 1000 miles since the first of the year. I first did 25+ for a week in June. I then pushed further last month with 25+/day for 15 days and have plans on biting off more this year. After I complete the 2650 miles I have contemplating turning around becoming a BONIFIED Thruer.
Right now I do have intentions to start in Campo next Spring (at that time I will be over 1000 miles) and then if things work out skip the desert and rejoin to do the Sierras and/or Oregon. The PCT bug is hard to get rid of and I think I got it!
Duane
Marshall Karon <m.karon@comcast.net> wrote:
I'm feeling the need to chime in on this.
First, "each to their own". Some folks want the solitude and not to be part
of the group. They love the independence of the hike. Yet, there is no
question that there is a camaraderie which builds for those doing a
thru-hike starting from Campo. You see the same folks, hike with them, hike
without them, and then connect again. If they aren't with you, you wonder
how they are doing. You do feel part of a movement.
But, a caution if you want to "hook up with the tribe/clan" if you jump in
for a section when the thru-hikers are coming through. Even though most
thru-hikers would probably deny it, a section hiker is not looked at the
same as a thru-hiker. And, you most likely won't be able to keep up. My
unfortunate point: unless you start from Campo and intend to hike the whole
trail in one season (or do a very large, 2-3 month part of the trail), you
won't be part of the "tribe/clan". Your experience will be great
nevertheless - just a bit different.
Marshall Karon
Portland, OR
m.karon@comcast.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shutterbug steiner"
To:
Sent: Saturday, September 25, 2004 11:06 AM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Love on the trai
>I have yet to experience the entire "solo"ness that you speak of but did
>feel that human need for "social"ness. I sectioned hike 320 miles
>southbound in Washington a few weeks ago going "against the grain". I
>often would find myself looking around the next switch hoping for that
>other human being. And when I ran into someone else I found myself to be
>very "chatty." And I am not normally a chatty person. I observed the
>"community/tribe/clan" of the many groups of PCT thruer that I passed and
>had a longing to "belong". But I chose the same path just but the wrong
>direction. I noticed many would inquire of where their friends were -
>asking me if I saw so and so. They wanted to connect and be social be a
>part of the group. I observed the desperation of one individual who "lost
>his group" and was anxious enough to find them again that he claimed he
>would hike until midnight to find them -- sorry to say that they were just
>behind him trying to catch him and bring him back
> into the
> "fold."
>
> Next year when I section hike again I will probably go North Bound and see
> if I can hook up with a tribe/clan so that I can experience that more
> fully. Going solo and going against the grain was a good but different
> experience. I learned a lot fo myslef and I learned how much more
> mental/pscho the hike is rather that physical. Going completely
> isolationist would be tough but appealing in a strange sort of way.
>
> Duane- shutterbug
>
> Jeff Olson wrote:
> Dear All:
>
> I find really interesting that "love" is not a regular topic on the
> listserv. So many hikers start the trail with a basic need for sociality -
> hanging with others - that the "solo" hiker is really an oddity. I think
> that it is the solo hiker that is most ready, and most seeking of "love."
>
> Read the journals of thru-hikers and you'll see a pattern that affirms we
> are a social species, that we need contact with others to create meaning
> in
> our lives. Being alone on the trail is a daunting prospect . We scurry
> around at home putting togehter the "Trip." Yet, if you go to the journal
> archives you'll see there is not one account of a thru-hike that wasn't
> social. Not one.. There is not one journal chronicling what it's like to
> be alone for five months. Not one thruhiker has cast themselves as a
> hero... There is not one account of a thru-hiker who eschewed sociality,
> who had the hootspah/depth to hike day-by-day without seeking and finding
> connection with another person.
>
> I met a fellow who had no sense of his contibution to thru-hiker lore. I
> met him around Dorothy Lake. He was a Jardine devotee, and didn't know
> there was a controversy about Jardine's hiking style. He started a month
> late, and was about to catch the pack. He was 40 years old and had adopted
> the Jardine way 100%. He actually said that he didn't hike any faster than
> anyone else. He hiked for more hours. He was walking 30 mile days, each,
> and every day.
>
> I saw one of his stealth camps, and it was awful. He stirred up the duff
> underneath a tree and didn't try to rectify his impact. He was on the
> trail... His version of a stealth camp was a bit out of control.
>
> When a person is in his/her 20s, emotions" always" determine mileage. I
> read the journals and if a person is honest, unfettered, unbridled,and
> undampend, emotions rule. You don't often see this in the onlne journals.
> It's not difficult to do 20 miles a day. It really isn't. What's difficult
> is doing 20 miles a day six days a week for five months and not freaking
> out.
>
> It's a good thing to freak out. The hard thing to do is just to continue
> hiking, day to day, hour by hour, moment by moment - and continue to
> "freak
> out."
>
> I'm damed conscious of what I'm doing... I'm fucking freaking
> out...!!!!!!!!!!!! This is what drives us from the trail, from the "Trip."
> I'm too damn conscious and it hurts too damn much! I can't handle
> freakiing
> out. I got to leave and bury myself in the unconsciousness of living day
> to
> day by other norms than the trail...
>
> When I hike day after day, my emotions are rampant, wild, unfettered,
> dangerous and really, really scary. I can't stand being alone. Yet this is
> the ultimate challenge. Can I hike the trail alone? Can I spend five
> months alone? The pain is so exquisite, so intense, so "present."
>
> The answer for most of us is, "No, I can't hike the trail alone." I need
> the warmth of human companship, the opportunity to say how I feel, how
> much
> I hurt, and to find commiserating eyes that validate my experience of
> hiking
> 2600 miles.
>
> I'm freaking and you're freaking, and in our shared freaking, we are ok...
> The 20 something person going through this is preparing her/himself for
> love. There is no better lover/partner than someone who has gone through
> the trials and tribulations of being alone on a thur hike. No better...
>
> Jeff...
> Laramie, where winter threatens and spits...
>
>
>
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