[at-l] Questions For MacKaye

[RoksnRoots@aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

In a message dated 3/24/2002 12:38:49 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
cdc43@juno.com writes:


> Although I will admit that it would be interesting to ask Benton Mackaye
> just what our every action should be re: the AT, we cannot, and should
> not, be so constrained by what someone wished for 75 years ago; noble
> though that desire might have been. I may be in the minority by saying
> that the site if a distant fire tower doesn't really get me upset. A
> road crossing can sometimes be reassuring as to distance traveled. To
> many hikers the site of a saw mill, or some such rural industry, is a
> travesty upon the world. We should try to be objective and realize that
> to us it is a momentary blight upon our tranquil walk but to someone it
> is a means of supporting a family. It's all part of "the trip". If one
> feels they must have an absolutely pure rustic adventure I would suggest
> walking in big circles somewhere like the Nantahala's. In the traverse
> of 13 states a person should expect to experience more than rocks and
> roots. (not that there is anything wrong with that!)
> 


     ***   Well, that is one possibility. Bryson spoke about wanting more 
farm valley walks to experience rural culture and break up the green tunnel. 
Like you say, there are places where a city boy is given a golden opportunity 
to experience the country life first hand by walking by a working farm. Some 
of our country AT-L members may take for granted that some hikers originating 
from urban areas might never have seen a cow on a pasture up close and 
smelled the hay and manure. Just being able to spend a day at a farm is a 
treat for somebody who has never seen people who make their living directly 
from the earth. That is definitely part of the AT experience! There are 
places on the AT that will invariably remain that way because of their 
location.

      What doesn't hold is the feeling given by many that MacKaye's plan is 
outdated and therefore irrelevant. If anything the reasons for his 
outdatedness prove his relevancy more than anything. The only reason he would 
be outdated was because the very things he planned to counter had progressed 
too far to be resolved. His wilderness camps plan is less relevant only 
because the forces he was fighting have managed to squeeze out the available 
lands and make them too expensive. As illustrated here, much of the needed 
backing has also dried up due to many social and cultural factors -the main 
ones being apathy and cynicism. Your same logic would be reason to ignore the 
US constitution or even christianity as being too old to be relevant. 

      If you look at the Trail today, you'll see that encroachment is 
creeping up on all sides of the AT. The ATC is a little wiser and understands 
their obligation to the Trail's original purpose. They view the Trail on a 
greater timescale with a greater objective. Areas you now think of as remote 
will be much less so in the future. Soon *anyplace* that manages to preserve 
an unbroken corridor of eastern wilds will be very rare. Those who are able 
to go in and experience them will be experiencing something very special and 
not easily had other places. This is the prime objective of the AT both as 
conceived by MacKaye and as it is still pursued by ATC. By reading some of 
the responses here on AT-L, I'm not sure that all Trail users understand just 
what exactly the AT is...


--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
---