[at-l] has the AT become too easy??

[sloetoe@yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

--- Desert Nomad <lucy@uia.net> wrote:
> Several reasons why I think it has become easier:
>  1. switchbacks put in in steep spots
>  2. more shelters
>  3. more hostels
>  4. more trail magic
>  5. more advice from ex-thru hikers, etc.
### BINGO. Damn that Wingfoot! Drat that Wheldon! Confound that
Garvey!          (ewwwwww, only kidding about that last one!)

>  6. lighter gear choices: this was inevitable
### Actually, historically and all, we're now getting back to
gear which makes some sense. The 4.5# delrin-jointed PVC frame
pack I have is 28 years old. In '79, my pack, bag (TNF Cat's
Meow), shelter (Marmot Mountain Works' Marmot Burrow bivy), and
pad (3/8" ensolite) weighed in at a tad over 10#. That was
nothing out of the ordinary, from (limited) observation.

>  7. cell phones: can call loved ones to get over the blues


### Reasons that it has become "harder"
1) Trail is removed from comfortable, well-routed old forest
roads, logging roads, etc, and routed to the most obnoxious
paths developable, by people who should be sentenced to tote
themselves over that run as distance hikers with backpacks, so
they wouldn't be tempted by cute routings ruled by parochial
interests.
 
>   Several questions to ponder:
>  8. Does the fact that it has become easier lead to more
> hikers and more pressure on the AT?
### No. "Easier" is a relative term, and throughhikers
don't/can't talk about it as being any tougher (excepting Earl),
than before, unless they've got the before/after to share. I
think the big reason is #5 above: intelligence is MUCH greater
about the hike and how to do it.

>  9. Will the mystique of hiking the AT soon be lost and how
> will this loss affect the AT?
### The mystique? Again, "relative" effort -- it's still a huge
undertaking -- arguably remains the same, but throughhiking is
not just about walking the trail. It is about the effort AND the
voluntary privation that one must undertake -- the effects of
that voluntary privation are MUCH more substantial AND longer
lasting than any effects of the walking. And to the extent that
certain changes in the actual hiking experience, whether driven
culturally ("Trail Angeling") or physically (more switchbacks;
less forest roads), add to the ability to sustain the voluntary
privation, those changes will ADD to the mystique/reward of
finishing. To the extent those changes take away from the
voluntary privation (and so diminish the change wrought by a
hike -- section or through), those changes would diminish the
gravitas we ascribe to the hike. Thus, depending on the person
and their immediate mental state, a pizza at the 501 shelter may
be a blessing or a curse.

> 10. Should the shelters be removed?
### Clearly, yes. No. I mean yes. No. I'm not sure. Don't know.

=====
Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.

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