[pct-l] The long wait!

[Slyinmd@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/26/98 12:50:32 PM US Eastern Standard Time,
jrowen@ibm.net writes:

<<  Hardest is going to be in the spring, watching
 friends sign off one by one to hike the AT, CDT and the PCT, while we
 still have to wait.  >>

Would a post card help, from say.....Idyllwild?  ; )


Ginny, think of it this way, most of us will already be off the trail, with
some luck, completed, while you're still out there, hiking!

It's interesting on how some feel about pre-hike conditioning.  Coming in off
the street, I was more into the "fatboy" routine and if one hike is any
indication that may have been the wrong approach to take. But, unless I wanted
to wait another year to  get into quasi physical condition, I  didn't have an
alternative.

When I started the AT, I was overweight and not in good shape, 25 years of
sendentary living will do that.  A self-diagnosed stress fracture in the foot,
knee problems, knee injuries (there's a difference), etc.  Ended my 'thru-
hike" prematurely.  However,  I'm also under the impression you can leave your
hike at home, that is, being burnt out or injured before the long hike
actually begins.  

Having to lay up for winter, nursing a knee injury, gaining some weight back,
but luckily not all I lost the previous year, while only doing a few shake
down hikes, I continued my AT hike.  I may have been fortunate, although, in
the early going I did suffer from some severe foot pain, I believe my hike
went from physical to mental and barring any major injury, I was dead set on
finishing.  

Which lies the rub, for any potential thru-hikers here on the list, you gotta
*want* it, and of equal importance, you have to be able to turn drudgery into
something meaningful.

All told, anyone that attempts a *first* time thru-hike, without the benefit
of experiencing what they're actually getting into, is better off being in the
best physical shape possible.  Whether or not they can handle the mental
demons may be the key, as to, if they're successful in completing a thru or a
long distance hike. 

Of course, this is only my opinion, your mileage may vary.

Patiently waiting,  Sly


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