[pct-l] Hey, easy on the "easy-PCT"

[HikerQs@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-10-15 14:48:36 EDT, you write:

<< It almost seems to me from
 reading thruhikers journals and watching videos that the PCT is more
 monotonous than the other two - much more of the same type of terrain
 for much longer. It is in many ways the most scenic - but there is less
 variety. On the AT, each state is different. There is a constant
 variation of vegetation, wildflowers, types of trail, weather, towns,
 etc. On the CDT, there are big differences in terrain between low
 desert, high desert, low mountains and high mountains, on trail and off
 trail. It isn't boring.  As Karen said, after hiking half the trail, she
 was still in her first state. >>
>>

Gosh, I thought state boundaries were largely arbitrary--at least relative to
the geographic considerations. Are you suggesting that because the AT travels
through 14 states and the PCT *only* three, that the AT is much more diverse?
Could you please outline for me the differences between North Carolina and
Tennessee as they pertain to the AT. How about the vast change that occurs as
one moves from Virginia to West Virginia and into Maryland? Connecticut vs.
Massachussetts? Wow, on the PCT Karen was halfway through the hike and still
in one state? Imagine having to play a single type of lottery all that time. I
didn't realize how boring that must have been for her. All this time I figured
she was travelling through deserts, high mountains, and everything betwixt.
But it was all in the same state. Mercy. (My image of China's geography has
changed immensely.) 

Seems to me that the AT is much less diverse than the PCT since it is
virtually all temporate forest (with some sub-alpine blips in New Hampster and
Maine). Yeah, you get some birches as you get further north, and you get some
different animals (moose and fishers spring to mind), but it's virtually all a
similar type of forest with virtually the same sort of weather patterns.

Not so on the PCT. Heck, in the few miles descending Mt. San Jacinto to San
Gorgonio Pass, one travels through six bio-zones. One walks through the
searing Anza-Borrego Desert before ascending to the mighty High Sierras where
one can walk through nothing but snow for days. In non-Ninyo years, nary a
drop of rain is not uncommon in arid California, while Washington remains
extremely mushroomy-moist. (Virtually all of the AT is similar in terms of
humidity). In terms of rocks AT is granite pretty much the entire way, PCT
gradually changes from granite to volcanic midway through. 

Monotonous? Yeah, I guess. Each day you wake up and walk, eat some pasta, then
sleep, then do the same the following day. All those views and solitude sure
gets boring. While the both Trails offer different challenges, the AT has some
more significant difficulties. For instance, while it it is a relatively easy
climb up to 14,500 foot Mt. Whitney, the trek up to Mt. Washington invariably
takes one through endless summer camps, Dartmouth Frat Boys, and FatBoys at
the summit with trendy sandals and camcorders. Now that's a challenge. The AT
also has the obstacles of rodent-infested shelters, poseurs explaining how
ironic their Trail Names are, and buttheads telling you how to hike, while the
PCT is generally favored by people who just dig backpacking. 

And while the AT travels through such varied places as Vermont AND New York,
the PCT has to settle for completely unique spots like Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake
and Mt. Hood. 

Sorry, but the PCT is much more diverse relative to climate, weather,
geography, geology, ecosystems, and flat-out unique features. 

As to which is more difficult, who cares? Let's try to keep 'em different
trails. 

As ever,
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese
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