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[pct-l] Re: pct-l-digest V1 #120

Here's a little antidote from my AT hike of 78. I came hiking down into a
saddle and met up with some true hillbilly types that were coming back from
some kind of jamboree or something. They were traveling in a horse drawn
wagon. Well we got to talking and the one thing they kept coming back to is
"Why ain't ya got no gun". I explained that a gun probably wouldn't do me
much good as it would be totally inaccessible in my pack if I every needed
it and weighed to much anyway. "Well what about them bars" they would ask.
Actually I never saw a bear the whole trip, although I remember seeing a
shredded backpack and hearing stories about that one in the Smokies.

Anyway I ended up drunk on some "shine" that they offered me and eventually
I staggered off. It had been a chance meeting between two vastly different
cultures, yet they had looked after me in their own way. People in those
situations usually do.

It is in the cities where you encounter most of the true crazies of this
world. This is because they are out of touch with themselves, each other,
and with Nature. When embarking on a long distance hike a big part of the
reason for going is to exchange the chaos of "civilization" for the
relative tranquility of the wilderness for awhile. Taking a gun, a cell
phone, or a radio just runs totally contrary to this philosophy at least
for me. The true escape is a mental as well as a physical one. You will
never get the fullest experience if you refuse to leave your artificial
fears, desires, and expectations behind.

			Andyman
			Campo May 9th


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