[pct-l] TRAIL ADDICTION/TRAIL RUNNING

[reinholdmetzger at cox.net (Reinhold Metzger)]

JIM WROTE..........MY APOLOGIES........................
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Jim,  no apology is necessary.  Like I said in my prior post,  I can see how
you might feel this way and I was not offended in any way.  I would like to
take this opportunity; to clarify a few things.
Jim,  you seem to be under the impression that because I do high mileage
days that I plow down the trail like a bulldozer in a cloud of dust
disturbing flora and fauna along the way.  If you read my Wednesday, March 8
post, you will see that that is far from true.  I used to think that I could
keep up with anybody, but that was once upon a time, very long ago.  Now at
age 65, I no longer have that illusion.  I realize that if I'm going to
outdistance the younger hikers,  I can only do it by hiking harder & smarter
and pushing my body to greater extreme.
It seems to me that I read somewhere, "IN A MARATHON THE WINNER IS NOT
ALWAYS THE FASTEST OR MOST FIT, BUT THE MOST DETERMINED."
So I don't really barrel down the trail like a hot shot trail runner, I'm
more of a STEADY FREDDY hiker nowadays.  I walk the ups, jog the downs and
alternate on the straights.  And remember most of my hiking is with the boy
scouts as a high adventure leader.. We take pride in our motto, "LEAVE NO
TRACE."  We try to teach the scouts good citizenship and trail ethics.  I
have hiked the JMT at high speed, low speed & medium speed and enjoyed each
hike immensely in a different way.  I frequently meet hikers on the JMT that
take considerably longer than 30 days.  Those same hikers might ask you,
"Why did you hike it so fast in 30 days?"  Hike it again a little slower
next time.  It seems to me that appropriate hiking speed is in the eyes of
the beholder.  I tend to see more animals on my high mileage solo hikes
because I move silently and swiftly.
You asked, "What is Deems?''  Deems is a highly respected hiker who
frequently posts on this site.  If you wish to know more about Deems and
visit his photo gallery,  read his most recent posts   3-6 " love of the
trail"  &   3-7 " trail  addiction.
I noticed that your posts are long lines that run several feet off the
screen requiring constant scrolling from right to left and make for hard
reading.  Some people don't bother to read it all.  I used to have the same
problem.  I don't know who your server is, mine is Outlook Express.  I press
FORMAT  then PLAIN TEXT  to send my posts in a page format which makes it
easier to read.  Try it and see if it works for you.   I LEARNED THIS FROM
DEEMS.
Hope to see you on the trail someday.   Until then,   HAPPY TRAILS

     JMT Reinhold
     Your hike silent, hike swift without a trace trail companion