[pct-l] A bit much

[Glkroeker at aol.com (Glkroeker@aol.com)]

Right on, be nice to the section hikers.

This is my first post, I have been lurking for about a year now, gleaning all 
sorts of info and ideas.  My husband and I (61 and 57) are section hikers.  
We hiked Oregon the summer of 2003, half of Washington last summer until 
sidelined by a knee injury and hope to finish Washington this summer and tackle 
California the summer of 2006. Our longest hikes are about 6 days, then I go back 
to work for a week, and then out we go again. We are very proud of what we 
have accomplished, and to my knowledge, have never told anyone what we "do" 
unless we are asked - and then we just say Gary is retired and I work.

This summer in Washington we met (actually, were passed) by some of the first 
thru hikers.  We were so excited to meet them, we are in awe of the 
tremendous dedication it must take to thru hike - and want to know all about them, how 
much weight they carry, how long they have been on the trail, how far do they 
go each day etc, etc, etc.

We were thinking about coming to the Kick Off this year, but when I read what 
I consider somewhat disaparaging remarks about section hikers, I wonder how 
welcomed section hikers really are into the PCT community. I think section 
hikers bring a lot of interest and support to the PCT and our experiences, though 
not the same as thru hikers', certainly bring us to the same place of awe and 
appreciation for the wilderness. Lots of people are wrapped up in their 
identity - and they aren't just the section hikers.

Respectfully,

Judy Kroeker