[at-l] Confessions of a failed "purist"

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

First let me say that I'm a firm believer in HYOH.  I'm a charter member
of the RAS and don't give a Rat's A.. about how others hike their hikes.
I don't particularly feel a lot of people are being honest when they say
they have hiked the whole trail, but I only really care about whether
I'm honest about my own.

As a personal quest I have attempted to be as much a purist as possible.
To me that means walking the whole trail, carrying my pack the whole
way, not skipping white blazes, and hiking the trail only one direction
in a consecutive end to end fashion, although I must do it in long
sections instead of one thru-hike.

Having said that, however, my first .9 mile of my hiking of the AT
didn't even meet my own "purity" standards.  At the time I had never
even heard of slackpacking, and it didn't even occur to me to carry my
pack up Springer Mtn. from the USFS 42 parking lot from where I started
my hike.  It didn't seem to make much sense to carry the pack up the
mountain and then turn around and pass the car I came in.  Thus, I
slacked the first .9 mile section of the AT.  

My attempts to "pass every white blaze" has also met a somewhat similar
fate.  I have been so diligent about doing that that I sometimes hike
backwards on a blue blaze "D" loop trail that would take me to a
shelter.  Silar's Bald Shelter (not the one in the Smokies) is one I can
remember, and the blue blaze trail to Gooch Gap shelter I believe does
the same thing.

My real heartbreak for my own "purity", however, came at Duncannon, PA.
After earlier backtracking for nearly a half mile to cover my mistake on
leaving the trail upon entering town I later missed the fact that the
trail leaves the main street  and jogs back a block or so through town.
I stayed at the Hotel Doyle (which should make up for any guilt I feel
about almost anything) and hiked straight down the street the next day
and out of town on the other end, after another half mile out and back
to make a phone call at the truck stop.  I didn't realize the mistake I
made in missing the "jog back" of the trail through town until I was
miles away at a shelter that afternoon.

Although I unintentionally violated my own purity rules, I will still
apply for my 2,000 mile rocker to add to my patch if I eventually
complete the rest of the trail.  The "rules" for the patch cover such
mistakes.  No excuses,  just stating the facts.  Will I have hiked the
"whole trail"?  I'll say "Yes", but I'll put my own caveat asterisk on
the comment just to be totally honest.  It isn't about judging others.
It is about the standards I set for myself.  That, I feel, is all that
really matters.