[at-l] Baxter vs AT

[mfuller@somtel.com (Malcolm Fuller)]

> There's no doubt that the "irrational exuberance" of
> hikers completing a 2,000 mile walk conflicts with the
> ultra conservative rangers, used to dealing with the
> typical "little old ladies in sneakers" that tend to
> camp in the Daicey pond cabins.
> 
> But I think rational people could probably work out a 
> compromise if both sides were willing to do so.

The trick is finding rational people.

A compromise that more-or-less maintains the status quo
may be agreed to for the near term, but I don't believe
that this is an issue that will go away because it isn't
strictly one of hiker misbehavior. If thruhiking continues
to increase in popularity, a point is going to eventually
be reached (in another ten or twenty years) at which Baxter
State Park simply says, "Enough." What happens after that
could be interesting.

-MF