[pct-l] Solo Woes

[rellinwood at worldnet.att.net (Robert Ellinwood)]

 "No Way Ray" wrote:  
" I  learned just how unlonely being alone can be."

A wonderful, timeless thought, it appears.

??I was never less alone than while by myself.?  - Edward Gibbon, Memoirs I, c.1793

??Never less alone than when alone.?  (Nunquam minus solus, quam quum solus)   Latin proverb

"No Way Ray" continues...
"my  mind starts to float; thoughts without order or relevance come and go?"

??One travels more usefully when alone, because he reflects more.?   Thomas Jefferson, letter to J. Bannister, Jr.  June 19, 1787

But one of my favorite "alone" quotes is:

?"I hike alone sometimes. It's during these solo hikes that the number of arrogant and ignorant people I have to deal with is reduced to one."    -   Jack Hampson

:)

Dr Bob




> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-
> bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of StoneDancer1@aol.com
> Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 1:07 PM
> To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Solo Woes
> 
> Except for the first part of the Trail, until about Wrightwood, I hiked the
> entire Trail alone.  I rarely saw other hikers, and except at places like
> Tuolumne Meadows, Kennedy Meadows, etc... where hikers congregated... I spent
> every night by myself.
> 
> I can remember only two times when I felt lonely... one night above
> Cottonwood Creek in the Mojave, and one above Jawbone Canyon.  I found the  solitude
> and the utter self-reliance to be marvelous and exhilarating.  I  learned just
> how unlonely being alone can be.
> 
> That being said, it may not be for everyone.  When you have all day,  every
> day, the mind roams where it will.
> 
> This is from my writings:
> 
> 
> When I first start  walking my mind is full of thoughts.  I think  about how
> this or  that muscle hurts, how heavy the pack is, how steep the hill is, how
> far is it  to water, where will I have lunch, how many miles do I have to go
> today, and  just where is that toilet paper ? you know the stuff.  After
> awhile, I get the rhythm, and my  mind starts to float; thoughts without order or
> relevance come and go? movies  I've seen and would like to see again? books
> I've read and want to read again?  poetry I've read or written? people I know?
> people on the trail? old friends  that have come and gone? places I've been?
> songs play? scenes from movies roll?  conversations are repeated? things I
> wish I had done or hadn't? or said? or  didn't? Matters Philosophic? the
> Meaning of Life, both Monty Python?s and my  own.  I compose letters that should
> have been mailed years ago, or perhaps tomorrow.   I wrote this.
> Eventually you have  thought and delved and pried into every cranny of your
> brain, laid bare the  details of your life,  reveled in  every strength, and
> without ruth, exposed every weakness (I call it ?wrestling  with the demons.?).
>  Because I tend  to melancholia, once in a while I run some negative tape
> loops too.  As Nietzsche said, ? The worst enemy you  can encounter will always
> be you, yourself; you lie in wait for yourself in  caves and woods,? and in
> deserts too, and so, the shattered marriage of a man ?  boy really ? far too
> young and inexperienced and selfish to succeed upon a path,  partly chosen,
> partly forced upon him, and the subsequent difficulties of a  single father
> adequately raising two young children, is a common enough  theme.  This was more
> than forty years ago and you?d think I would have long since come to terms  with
> it? and, of course, I have, but the mind has little sense of time and no
> sense of shame.  Left to its own  devices, it will dredge up events of yesterday
> and yesteryear, parading them,  will ye nil ye, through your consciousness with
> equal cheerfulness ? be they  from times of joy or sorrow, strife or
> tranquility, drudgery or ease, poverty or  plenty.
> If  you can  get past all of that...it's Perfect!  (And it   *does* go
> away... eventually.)  Many cannot.  In 2003 I met a solo  hiker... Brian.  We talked
> about solo hiking.  I said, "At least  there's plenty of time to wrestle with
> the demons."  To which he replied,  "That's why I carry a radio."
> "No Way Ray" Echols
> 
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