[at-l] Thoughts of Slackpacking: WAS: Helping a newbie update: Warren's School Report 1

[orangebug74@yahoo.com (Orange Bug)]

What wonderfully juxtaposed paragraphs.

Let me squeeze those right here and skip past them:

--- Shane Steinkamp <shane@theplacewithnoname.com> wrote:
> You aren't really long distance hiking.  You're hiking lots
> of day trips in a row.
> 
> I'm not saying that slackpacking isn't a thruhike, I just
> think that the experience is different.

Ah, I'm back down here. 

Shane, this is a trap for your friend, you and the list. 

Your friend and his wife are looking at sharing the AT in a particular
way, with neither one knowing if they will like it or make it. It is a
different hike than the one you imagine for yourself. It is a valid
hike, although not the classic hike. As you have mentioned, Bob hasn't
spent that much time alone out in the woods, nor has his wife had that
experience of his being out there and out of touch.

Git chure noze out of their buzniss, bud. 

This is the path toward becoming a purist and puritan, and toward
imposing those views upon others. Your/our job is only to help lead
people toward the AT and allowing them to find themselves and the AT in
the way they meet each other. One of the criticisms of the AT is that
it is not real live long distance hiking. It is in a populated corridor
and really is composed of multiple section hikes. I, for one, do not
see that as a problem as it leads people toward something very
different from urban and suburban existence. You have to learn the
Catechism before you can become the Pope (I'm an Irish Episcopalian and
not trying to be insulting, but only trying to strike a metaphor). 

Let your friend and his wife deal with the information before them,
digest it, gather more information and make their own decisions. Be the
midwife, not the laborer. 

Bill....

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax
http://taxes.yahoo.com/