[at-l] What Bugs Us About Max?

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

"...Is  he  lying  about this too?" asks RnR, as he ponders the possibility that
Max Gordon and a team of Boy Scouts thru hiked the trail in 1936.

I don't think it necessary to assume Max was lying in order to disbelieve that a
thru hike happened in 1936.

I  think  it more likely that as a 15-year-old and the youngest member of a team
of  older scouts he never understood the nature of what was being undertaken and
what  was  accomplished.  In  his  mind  he translates a summer of hiking on the
Appalachian Trail with doing all of the Appalachian Trail.

Possibly  the original goal was to do "all" the trail. The fact that they didn't
may explain why the adventure -- planned as a promotion -- never was publicized.

Nor, does the fact that his school mates suddenly looked on him with new respect
upon  his return tell me anything about the the nature of the adventure. If they
spent  121  days,  the  Scouts  had  hiked at least 1,000 miles -- certainly far
enough to win the awe of Bronx compatriots.

I  occasionally tell the story of Tux, who I met in 1993. After hiking 800 miles
and  losing  50 pounds, his doctor told him to throw away his heart medicine. He
did so, and then quit the trail.

Thru  hikers who hear the story aren't impressed. Others are amazed. "Wow," they
say, "he actually hiked 800 miles!"

At  age 15 in 1944, I was by far the youngest of several kids who rode our bikes
on  a 250 mile round trip to a campground in the shadow of the Presidentials. We
spent  two  weeks hiking daily. I have but the vaguest memories of the trails we
took.  I remember watching a sunrise on Mt. Washington. I know we did a traverse
of  the  range,  but the trails to the summit are a complete mystery. I was just
tagging along. Wherever others went, I went.

My  suspicion is that Max was in the same boat. It may not be fading memory that
blocks the details. He may have never bothered to notice in the first place.

Weary