Re: [pct-l] Re: pct-l-digest V1 #698

["Brett Tucker" <blisterfree@surfree.com>]

Diana wrote:

I cannot help but reply to Blister.  It is too simple a solution to the
problems of the world to say "Let's make it unbearsble..and then I will
have it all to myself."  Water, Y2K...? Problems start with human
awareness, or lack thereof.  I have hiked in So.Cal quite a bit and there
is not enough water on the trails, or off them for that matter.

------

I'm not suggesting we make the PCT unbearable. I'm offering the idea of
accepting what nature provides along the PCT corridor, of making due, of
making it as bearable as possible. It is all too easy to close ourselves off
to nature's lessons, to convince ourselves that we cannot possibly learn to
adapt to a world uninfluenced by our fellow humans. To say that "there is
not enough water on the trails" is a judgement call, made by you - it is a
relative statement. But the truth is, there is what there is, and someone
else may think "there is plenty of water on the trails," as evidenced by
their stocking up on water, of accepting the sources where they are, and of
pulling through the entirety of So Cal without relying on caching or the
work of trail angels.

I'm not suggesting everyone reach the latter conclusion. Most would agree
with your assessment. But the bottom line is, it is a relative matter.
Largely in the mind. And what part of it may not be in the mind, is often
best off being adapted to. And if we cannot adapt, then we find some other
activity or locality to which we're better suited. Am I saying that those
who can't haul water through So Cal should pack up and go home? Absolutely
not! But what about those people who want to spend time on the PCT, but only
if they can have a raging bonfire every night, at trailside? To them, that's
what makes the wilderness manageable. Should we say, okay, whatever you need
to make it to Canada is fine with us? What about a group of 5 hikers who
demand coolers full of steak and beer at a 10 mile interval along the PCT?
Do the rest of us simply walk past these eyesores with a smile, knowing that
someone is having a happening time on a trail "that doesn't have enough easy
access to food resupplying"?

And what about the equestrians of yore, who worried over grades and such?
Can't go far without switchbacks, they reckoned. Better blast out that cliff
face. :)

Again, water drops along the trail is a minor thing, but just like all these
other things, it represents an impact, a human presence, that stems from a
group that concluded Nature wasn't acceptable on her own terms. That
decided, perhaps, that the minor visual impact of plastic jugs is less of a
concern than the perceived need for water. I'm just arguing that our
perceptions of need are sometimes unfounded, and that the more we work with
what we get, the less we may cramp the style of other trail users.

So I suppose LNT benefits us socially as much as it does the ecology.

Now it's time for me to get a grip again, and say "do as you see fit."

- Blister

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