[pct-l] Dangers?

[msaenz at mve-architects.com (Mike Saenz)]

It's been said that "Variety is the spice of life". I think the varying
magnitudes of risks are what truly make life interesting.
How boring life would be if we were assured every minute that no matter
what our decisions and actions are, there would be no consequences. Or
more accurately, how unsatisfying life would be if we could not realize
achievements from our own endeavors.
When I was a young boy, the biggest attraction of backpacking was the
feeling of self-sufficiency. To have everything you need on your back to
sustain you for several days in the wilderness provided a feeling of
freedom I've rarely experienced to this day. Putting myself in an
environment where the normally mundane decisions I made carried the
weight of very real consequences was and still is very exhilarating. My
parents held a strange mixture of amazement, fear and pride that their
son would want to spend days on end in the wilderness with nothing but
the things I packed in my backpack. I'd return dirty, smelly and
sometimes scratched and bruised, but always with a smile on my face and
enthusiastic stories of the mountains I'd climb, forests I'd walked
though, rivers I'd crossed and the things I'd seen.
After one trip, where the car we took to Independence broke down (a
truly epic story best told by candle lantern over an oilcan), my parents
were both fascinated with the story of how we made it back home without
the car and appalled that I had not called them for help.
I think we can all agree that it takes a special person to enjoy doing
what we do. Living out of a backpack isn't for everyone, isn't for MOST
people. And I like that! I see things and places that the vast majority
of people would never see outside of a TV documentary. To me, THAT'S
living!


Michael Saenz, Associate Partner
McLarand    Vasquez    Emsiek   &   Partners,   Inc.
A r c h i t e c t u r e  |  P l a n n i n g  |  I n t e r i o r s
MVE       MVE    Institutional       MVP    International
w  w  w   .   m  v  e   -   a  r  c  h  i  t  e  c  t  s   .   c  o m

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
[mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of
Trekker4@aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 9:11 AM
To: pct-l@backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Dangers?

It's far more dangerous to get in your car and  drive anywhere, than it
is to hike anywhere. People frequently ask about the  dangers of hiking;
I always told them it was far more dangerous for them to ride  in a car
I was driving than to hike anywhere. I was, and am, a professional
driver and a good driver. 
I've been complimented on my driving by  strangers.
 
Bob "Trekker"  
Big Bend Desert Denizen
(Naturalized Citizen, Republic of  Texas)
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