[at-l] Wingfoot bashing

[stringdm@yahoo.com (Dawn Stringer)]

Don't you people have anything better to do than piss and moan about Wingfoot?  Go take a hike or go to an anger management class or something.  The fact that you people are talking about slandering the man's good name is making me sick to my stomach.  


I've noticed that most of the people who have been talking smack about him on the AT-L are people who were kicked off Trailplace.  With all the mean-spirited comments being posted, I'd have to say Trailplace is better for it.  What's the problem?  You didn't follow the simple rules (and they are simple because I have not yet been kicked off Trailplace), and are now trying to get even with the guy?  Get over it already.  You seem to forget that with all his quirks, eccentricities, opinions, rules, what-have-you, Wingfoot has done a lot for the thru-hiking community, whether you want to admit it or not.


First of all, for all you WF haters who wear Thorlos, he helped design them.  So, if you hate WF, you better start burning your socks and invest in Smartwool.  


Secondly, can somebody please tell me of a website that is more in depth with information about the AT than Trailplace?  I consider Trailplace as a type of WalMart for the Trail.  You can find background information on the history of the AT, Benton McKaye, and Earl Schaffer;  There are thru-hiker journals;  Information on shuttle services;  Classified Ads for gear, hiking partners, etc.;  hiker directory;  thru-hiker planning forum; information on the latest property/political battles of the AT; etc.  It's like a one-stop shop.  I don't need to go anywhere else.  And to think that one man was able to do all of that by himself.  Yes, Trailplace is his baby.  If you had invested as much time and energy as he has, you would treat it and care for it the way he does.  If that means telling people to shove it up their ass when they don't follow his rules, then so be it.


Third, no matter how much you want to argue on it, you know he has the most concise, and best AT companion on the market.  I stupidly travelled with the ALDHA companion last year, and absolutely hated it.  There were so many misprints and so much incorrect data, I wondered from where had the information been compiled.  WF's 1998 companion had better info than ALDHA's 2000 companion.


Fourth, if it wasn't for wingfoot and trailplace, y'all would have never been able to read my journal.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have finished my thru-hike because I wouldn't have transcribed Sheltowee's journal the year before and gotten wonderful advice from him to take with me on the trail.  I also would not have met Waterfall.  You may say "but you would have had Trailjournals.com."  I doubt it.  I didn't even know that website existed until I was in Delaware Water Gap.  Besides, would Sheltowee have kept his journal there?  Would I have transcribed it?  Would Yogi kept her journal?  Would Waterfall have transcribed it?  Maybe.  But, is there a place on trailjournals where Sheltowee could have posted that he wanted a hiking partner that Yogi would have replied to, thus making all of the situations right for me one day sending Waterfall a "hello fellow transcriber" e-mail, thus starting a wonderful friendship?  I seriously doubt it.


Fifth, being a seasoned thru-hiker himself, he has vast stores of knowledge locked in his brain.  Sit down and talk to him for twenty minutes, and you will be amazed at the things you can learn.  


As for speaking for the thru-hiker community, from what I've seen from both the AT-L and the ATML, when I think of which list's opinions most reflect my own, being a thru-hiker, ATML has my vote, hands down.  I'd much rather have Wingfoot speak as the voice of the thru-hiker than any AT-L lister (myself included), that's for sure.


I have been deliberating getting off this list for some time.  I don't find it very productive.  I delete half the posts before I read them because most of them don't apply to me, anyway.  I found the whole Kincora/Laurel Creek debate extremely tiring.  I was angry that my post about going to Springer turned into an Ayn Rand debate simply because I have one of her quotes as my signature.  Now there's this whole "I hate Wingfoot" campaign.  Let's not forget the debate a couple months ago that turned me into the supreme SAETH, either.  I did not join the AT-L to fight over who's right and who's wrong about anything.  I did not join the AT-L to say that wingfoot is a good or bad person.  i joined the AT-L to extend my AT experience to anyone who needs it, share some stories, make some jokes, etc.  Instead, I am innundated with hateful e-mails that do not reflect the spirit of the AT.  If I were planning a thru-hike right now, and an AT-L lister, I probably would not want to hike and become a member of the thru-hiking community based on this sample community.

I will not bother asking what you think, as I know you will tell me, and everyone else on the AT-L.  Do it quick, however, as I will be unsubscribing sometime in the next few days, what with all the flames I anticipate, thus proving my point in writing this post in the first place.

Belcher


"One can't love man without hating most of the creatures who pretend to bear his name." -Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead


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