[pct-l] The destination deserves a pat on the back too...

[yawho_hiker at yahoo.com (j rhoades)]

Actually, if it weren't for the fact that I ended my
hike on Oct 23 with more snow coming and also that I
have a mortgage and some other responsibilities and I
am not independently wealthy, I would have turned
around (avoiding the clearcut boarder hike :-) ) and
headed south to do some more hiking.  I wasn't really
done psychologically.

I plan to do another long distance hike someday, but
don't get me wrong - I am not someone who is
dedicating my life to long distance hiking.  I am not
interested in working to hike.  I have a lot of other
interests.  I enjoy city life.  Blah blah blah.  

So why did I plan a hike to Manning Park instead of
stopping in say, Etna?   Well, I liked the idea of
seeing all that variety: desert, burned areas (vastly
underrated), the Sierra, the volcanoes,  Alpine
Lakes!, the way the climate and vegetation changed
from south to north, etc. (I'm one of those people who
actually read the "run-on", "boring" and "useless"
geological descriptions in the guidebooks.) Plus, the
3 state hike turns out be a reasonable amount of
distance that one can hike in a summer. It's a good
amount of time to get away from my normal routine.  
Also, it's actually kind of cool that in this day of
US goverrment border crackdown I can still legally
walk across the border with having to deal with any
overly serious border patrol.

Did I get any satisfaction from getting to my planned
destination?   Some I suppose - I did overcome some
dicey snow hiking.  I can honestly say, though, that
my hike was not about getting there "just as much," as
you claim, as the "passing through" aspect. I realize
that others don't or won't feel the same about their
hikes.

Jeff

--- Chuckie V <rubberchuckie@yahoo.com> wrote:

> As cliche-ish as the Lao Tzu adage, "the journey is
> the destination" sounds, we all generally agree it's
> true. But the hike doesn't have to end in Manning
> Park--there are plenty of trails within the park
> leading from it, just as there are before your reach
> the park. Heck, the swath of missing trees at the
> border is a trail, albeit a bit rugged! So while I
> completely agree with those who say the journey is
> the destination, I wonder why the bulk of northbound
> hikers (if not all) stop when they reach Manning
> Park, their "destination". Surely, the destination
> holds some merit. Or else nobody would stop there.
> Based on this, and contrary to what the cliche
> repeaters say, thru-hiking IS about hiking "thru" to
> somewhere, just as much as it is enjoying what you
> are passing through. Just because the PCT has
> reached its terminus, doesn't mean a hiker has to. 
>  
> -Chuckie
>  
>  
> I completely agree with Jeff.  Thru-hiking is
> **not** about the destination.  If you want to go to
> Manning Park that badly, then drive there.  Manning
> is simply the end to the thru-hike journey. Whether
> that journey takes 150 days or 70 days, it's still
> the JOURNEY that matters.  It's the JOURNEY that
> draws you to the trail.  
> 
> Have you ever heard any potential thru-hiker talk
> about how excited he/she is to go to Manning Park
> next summer?  No.  We're all excited about our
> THRU-HIKES.  The Journey.
> 
> Manning is a nice place, but I hate getting there,
> because that means my thru-hike journey is over.
> 
> yogi
> 
> 
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