[pct-l] Marketing Campaign for ALDHA-West Gathering White Paper

[Hiker97 at aol.com (Hiker97@aol.com)]

Here is a very small sample of what is in the White Paper, Rhythm of the  
Trail and Super Secrets of Backpacking (everything is still  draft):
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Rhythm 
Rhythm of the Trail is a name for what you feel when you hike.   It is your 
reaction to hiking.  It is personal and internal.  It is an  attitude and 
outlook about your integration with Mother Nature.  Rhythm can  be good or it can 
be bad.  You can have good Rhythm from thoughtful  preparation, a positive 
attitude, and a feeling of self control.  
 
You can have bad Rhythm if you have not prepared yourself and have a  
negative reaction to being outdoors and integrating into Mother  Nature.  Remember, 
Rhythm is nothing more than your personal reaction to  the trail.  It is how 
the trail makes you feel about yourself and the  surrounding outdoors.  Good and 
bad Rhythm flow back and forth as we  hike.  What we want to do is maximize 
good Rhythm and minimize bad  Rhythm.
 
Trail
The trail is there in all its changing moods and is not just a dirt trace  or 
path through the outdoors.  For example, each time you hike a trail you  have 
done many times before, it is different.  It is not the same each  time.  
Your experience, mood, weather, and other hikers all make things  different.  
That is what is so wonderful about hiking.  You can go  back each time and learn 
different lessons, get different impressions,  and have different adventures.  
For our hiking hobby, the trail is our  mechanism for experiencing Rhythm.  
If it is good Rhythm, then it is  a feeling of oneness with Mother Nature.  A 
wonderful way to look at  the trail and our relationship to it is the following:
 
"I reflected once again, as I often do, that the trail is more than a  
physical structure or modification of the earth's surface.  It is more than  a place 
to perform an activity like walking, running, or riding.  It is a  ribbon of 
love that binds us together, that wraps around our hearts and  souls.  
Following that ribbon leads you to not just a destination of  geographical 
coordinates, it leads you to another dimension of being -- of being  more alive, 
inspired, and fulfilled."   ---- Donna Saufley (used  with permission)
                                                                              
                                                        
But is there something else than just a feeling and the trail  laid out 
before us?  Yes, there are levels of Rhythm, just like there  are elevations to a 
trail.  This is what we will look at next  along with the quantity and quality 
of hiking.
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 I think Part One of the White Paper on Rhythm of the Trail will be  about 
7-8 pages long.  The rest of the paper will be Part Two, Super  Secrets of 
Backpacking.  

I am not sure how many copies to bring to the Gathering.  One day I  think 
maybe 30 copies and another day I think 60 copies.  I plan on a lot  of 
harassment from all the trail professionals there for what I wrote.  Ha,  ha, ha.  I 
can take it.
 
Happy trails, Switchback
Scribble Den Hiker