Take "two" on Re: [at-l] Mt. Katahdin and Park Closing

[Sloetoe <sloetoe@yahoo.com>]

Apparently, in attempting to be succinct (in my first response) I ended up
being vague. Sorry 'bout that. Let me try it agian:

> > > At 07:50 PM 10/12/2000 -0400, david horton wrote:
> > > >I feel bad for those who have not summited yet. 
> > I am sure it would be
> > > >extremely difficult to finish now.   If I got
> > there and the weather was
> > > >bad I have an idea what I would do and it might
> > not be wise.

And then I wrote:
> > ### You know, reading David's post reminded me of
> > all that stuff I posted
> > of my own trip up the mountain -- and then I get to
> > the end: "...I have an
> > idea of what I would do and it might not be wise."
> > Now, I barely know the good Mr. Horton in person,
> > and only somewhat better
> > via emails... But I have to tell ya, he's an
> > intense, serious, focused kind
> > of guy, and when I read that last line, I cracked up
> > laughing -- long and
> > loud. Maybe grim, too, but long and loud.

And then goslowgofar writes: 
> I had a very different reaction to David's comment.
> After reading his account of his summitting after his
> friends wisely decided to get off the mountain, I was
> ANGRY.  I spent a few years working in Search and
> Rescue in the Sierra.  I remember the pain and anguish
> of the friends and families of those who were lost,
> injured, or dead.  I assisted with three body
> recoveries.  It was not pleasant.  David deliberately
> did something very foolish and dangerous.  It could
> easily have had a very different outcome.  His friends
> and other would-be rescuers could have been put in a
> dangerous situation if they had had to look for him. 
> I hope you will think again before glorifying a very
> stupid decision.
>  (I will apologize about this comment now.  I normally
> shy away from confrontation, but this really got to
> me.)

And I respond:
1) When I laughed at what David wrote, it was out of commiseration and
sympathy for facing a bad situation.
2) David wrote "If I got there and the weather was bad, I have an idea what
I might do, and it might not be wise." He did not specify the *prospective*
weather conditions, and he did not *recommend* a course of action; rather,
he indicated what he felt his inclination might be, and he did so with
clear caution.
3) "David deliberately did something very foolish and dangerous." David
Horton is the only one qualified to say this. David Horton (though he won't
say so himself) is one of the most experienced self-propelled travelors in
this country, let alone on this list. Go back and read his post: what he
said was that it was the worst weather he'd been in -- he did *not* say he
was unprepared, overmatched, underequipped or overwhelmed. He did *not* say
the weather was any different from what some hikers experience as routine
in other locations or other seasons. He certainly did *not* recommend a
cavalier attitude to weather or trail condition. He said, basically, that
he pushed the envelope. Grimly, and almost reluctantly, but he pushed the
envelope for himself. And if none of us pushed the envelope, we'd none of
us make it off the damn couch.

Go Slow, Go Far.
Sloetoe

=====
There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of the great and generous emotions of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder.

T.Roosevelt 4/23/10

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