[pct-l] Why we hike

[singewald at earthlink.net (Jeff Singewald)]

First one to Canada Loses?

Give me a break!  For as much as this list preaches HYOH I find this thread to be quite cynical.

This idea that someone is going to tell others that one will enjoy the trail more by hiking 7 miles a day rather than 40 miles a day is total BS.

We are not all hiking this trail for the same reason and therefore what we gain from the experience will be more dependant upon our goals that we have set for ourselves rather than the miles we hike per day.

For me, my goal is to finish this trail in one long continuous uninterrupted hike from Mexico to Canada.  I wouldn't do this hiking 7 miles a day.  And, by preparing myself sufficiently, I will be able to hike 20 mile days and still experience God's great creation along the way. 

If you choose to hike the PCT in sections at 7 miles per day.  Great!  I admire you.  But don't lay some line about losing to first that reaches the northern terminus.

OK, so now I can enjoy the rest of today!

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: enyapjr@adelphia.net
Sent: Nov 2, 2005 1:45 PM
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: [pct-l] Why we hike

>A couple great quotes from Ann & Myron  Sutton's "The Pacific Crest Trail - 
>Escape to the Wilderness" 1975;
>
>?A person may exercise a right increasingly restricted these days: to wander 
>at random.  This aimless roving may be contrary to the principles of 
>industrial progress, but for a wanderer nothing is better calculated to clear the mind 
>and enlarge the vision.?
>
>?In our opinion, the greatest pleasures along this trail are enjoyed not 
>necessarily by hikers who cover forty miles a day, but by those who do seven, and
>especially by those who are part naturalist, poet, musician, artist.  Getting 
>the most out of this trail involves all the senses, and if we hone these 
>senses during a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, we are apt to return home 
>refreshed and more able to enjoy the miraculous in the commonplace that surrounds 
>us daily.?

Actually that's precisely what Chuckie V has been quoted as saying, but much more succinctly!  ; )
"First one to Canada loses"...

Happy trails!!!
 
 
Greg
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