[pct-l] Eric Ryback

[waynekraft at verizon.net (Wayne Kraft)]

I read this book when it first appeared. Eric and I are about the same age. 
It left an impression on me that has lasted through the years. Throughout 
all these years of college, marriage, law school, establishing a career, 
raising kids and pursuing literally dozens of interests only to abandon them 
in the end, the dream of hiking the PCT remains.  I owe that in some way to 
Eric.  I recently bought a copy of his PCT book and read it again, after 
thirty years.

I've thought about the possiblity that the account might not be truthful.  I 
am not really too impressed by the dismissal of a libel suit. Winning a 
libel suit is not easy.  It is not enough merely to prove that the defendant 
said something false and damaging about the plaintiff.  The plaintiff must 
also prove that the defendant was at least negligent in making the 
statement. If the defendant can come up with someone who plausibly, though 
perhaps falsely, conveyed the defamatory information to the defendant, the 
plaintiff will lose. So, for example, if the defendants in Eric Ryback's 
lawsuit were able to come up with some witnesses who told the defendants 
that Eric had skipped parts of the trail and they weren't obvious slobbering 
loonies, the defendants would win the libel lawsuit even if Eric had hiked 
every millimeter of the trail and the defendants' sources were mistaken or 
liars themselves.

All that aside, let's imagine that Eric's account was untruthful in some 
respect.  That he neglected to mention skipping a section or exaggerated a 
detail here and there.  That would be very bad.  Very bad, but I am hoping 
not unforgivable.  If I could not be forgiven for some very bad things I did 
when I was 19 or 20, I would be in a sorry state indeed.

Eric went on to become an investment expert.  Last I heard he was manager of 
the top-rated Lindner Dividend Fund.  It is hardly surprising that the 
determined, strong-willed youngster depicted in his books would become 
successful, and his success in a field riddled with spectacular failures is, 
maybe, a little circumstantial evidence that Eric portrayed himself 
truthfully in his books.

I hope I am not speaking out of turn when I say this, but I have this 
nagging feeling that there is something unreconciled or unresolved about the 
Eric Ryback saga.  If Eric were to show up at the kick-off or one of the 
Gatherings or Trail Fests, I cannot help but think he would be greeted not 
with skepticisim, but with overwhelming affection and acceptance.

Wayne Kraft



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <pcnst2001@covad.net>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 7:17 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Eric Ryback


>> He allegedly dropped the suit when affidavits  were
> produced from more than 1 person who'd given him rides - meaning he didn't
> hike the whole PCT.
>
>
> Despite all that, I agree that the book is fascinating and still rings 
> true in a
> couple of
> important aspects:
> 1) loneliness
> 2) hunger
>
> Doing a southbound hike starting in mid-June of a normal to heavy snow 
> year is
> still a
> gutsy thing to do.    In 1972 there were no caches, no trail angels, no 
> guide
> books, no PCTA,
> no ADZ, no pct-l, and in many areas no trail, and certainly no ten-pound 
> base
> weight pack systems.
> There were hardly
> any northbound through-hikers to meet, and certainly no other southbound 
> hikers.
>
> So I would hope that nobody who has done a northbound through hike in a 
> recent normal
> snow year would feel too superior to Eric Ryback or other pioneers.   His 
> book
> inspired
> me then, even if it took 30 years to being to bear fruit.
>
>
>
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