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[pct-l] Why I boycotted the ADZPCTKO



> When we hiked the PCT in 1999, the Kickoff was still young, perhaps ? the
> size it is now.  Although it sounded like a lot of fun, and there were

Guess again. In 1999 (the first ADZPCTKO), there are only 29 legible
names on the sign-in sheet. <http://pct77.org/adz/archive/1999.htm>
This year, we had about 600--a twenty-fold increase. Yikes.

At that first kickoff, about 80% of the attendees were aspiring thru
hikers, whereas at the just-ended seventh kickoff, only about 25% are
current-year thrus. It's becoming a gathering for past thrus, future
thrus, and *lots* of folks who have a more general interest in the
PCT. We (the organizers) are glad the others enjoy the event, but our
focus has always been on the current-year thru hiker. So the success
of the ADZ adversely affects two constituencies: an increased number
of thrus affects towns up the trail, and an increased number of
groupies affects the ADZ itself.

Cheers,
Carl