[pct-l] Shoes and Fees.

["William M. Stenzel" <manjovin@jps.net>]

I've hiked a good five months on the PCT and I saw a ranger once. He didn't ask me
for a permit for the wilderness area I was hiking through; he asked me what the
conditions were higher up so he could tell other people. The ironic part of all
the new fees is that only a fraction of the money is going back into the parks
concerned, so the infrastructure of the National Forests is crumbling speedily. In
the short run, this means that all you have to do is find a way to get to the
trailhead unmolested by fee collectors (often private companies now) and then you
are free. The new fees are basically another tax on driving a car, which we need
more of anyway. In the long term, the wilds of america, although shrinking, are
actually becoming more wild. Our population, although growing, is becoming more
and more urban. The woods are going to be these little pockets surrounded by R/V's
and subdivisions, like the lands surrounding L.A.

 Camp shoes: The concept of camp shoes on the PCT is strange to me. If 'yer
thru-hiking, you've just hiked 20-odd miles to get to camp. If it's dry, you can
put on a pair of thick socks and rumble around your camp before passing out from
exhaustion. If it's wet, you're going to hide in your tent -- the same for snow. I
think it's extra weight.

will stenzel

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