[at-l] Record time hiking the appalachian trail

[Bob Cummings <ellen@clinic.net> (Bob C.)]

> The trail is better served if it is viewed as... ### "...Weary wants."
> interprets sloetoe.

I guess the difference between sloetoe and I, may be that I view the trail as a
learning opportunity. sloetoe thinks of the trail as a competition.

I don't give a shit what others do, other than I worry that if enough people
come to view the primary purpose of the trail as a competitive event, what is
truly valuable may be lost.

Is this a real danger. I told folks in '93 I was going to Georgia to explore the
southern Appalachians and then walk home. Immediately, I was faced with
questions about what cause was I raising money for? Was this a competition? What
was the prize?

When I had to take 10 days off because of a physical problem, I was offered all
kinds of condolences for having failed this challenge. No one seemed to have any
recognition of why, when I recovered, I wanted to go back to the trail.

The talks of records and competition distorts the basic fact that this a
recreational trail. Something that families, kids, factory workers, single
parents, the great mass of Americans, can and should enjoy for its own sake -- a
place to enjoy what is left of the wildness of the eastern mountains --  not as
a competition that only athletes should attempt.

If records are set as a "personal challenge,"  rather than "for the publicity,"
let me suggest there is no need to then publicize those records for the world to
oh and ah over. I'm glad that few "people even knew" what Peter was attempting
until he started. Now if he had kept his "accomplishment" to those same few
people when he finished, few would be encouraged to emulate his "record" or
applaud, whatever, if anything, significant, it may have been. smmv. (sloetoe's
mileage may vary)

Weary