[pct-l] Thoughts on the ADZPCTKO thread

[at2002 at mac.com (Gary Wright)]

On Apr 27, 2005, at 10:04 PM, Ronald Moak wrote:
> The bottom line is that it's not the responsibility of the ADZ to 
> alter its
> policies to service Donna.
No one, including Donna, ever made this claim.

It isn't necessary to come to some consensus regarding
the issues that Donna raised at this point in time.
Nor do I feel that Donna was asking for a consensus or even claiming
that the "sky is falling".  It was basically a heads-up to the community
from someone who has a reasonably unique vantage point on the situation.
It is sort of similar to seeing the brake lights on the car in front
of you, the wise driver will take notice and slow down until the 
situation
is more clear.

> Since there are a number of 2004 hikers on this list it should be their
> voices that should be heard. So far I've not heard any significant 
> complaint
> about last year's kickoff.

It is entirely possible to make observations and suggestions to improve
the PCT thru-hiker experience without registering any complaints at all 
about the ADZ.  I hiked last year and did observe the clumping effect. 
I perceived
it as an unintentional side-effect of the growth of the ADZ.  I feel no
need to assign blame to anyone for the situation. I myself scheduled my
start date so as to attend the ADZ. Should we blame or complain to all
the hikers who started +/- a couple days of the ADZ? Unintentional
or not, the ADZ organizers are in the best position to respond in
the future as the situation clarifies itself.

> The only people to whom they should ask
> are the thru-hikers they are attempting to service.
Most reasonable organizations love to get constructive feedback
(about the good, the bad, and the just mediocre)-- whatever the source.
If I throw a 4th of July party for my friends it doesn't mean
I'll ignore the request from my neighbors to have people
park somewhere else next year just because the party wasn't
intended for the neighbors benefit.