[at-l] Jan...the missing day eleven

[kahley@ptd.net (kahley)]

hmmmm...I screw up seven and eleven...maybe I should go to Vegas?


                       So here we are, the first 100 miles under our belt,
the Long Trail
                       more than 1/3 done. In the next few days, we will
pass the half-way
                       mark.
                       The AT thru-hikers climb these hills with ease, with
graceful, long
                       strides up the steepest slopes. We are still
grinding them out in trudge
                       mode. But trudge on we do.   The hardest, they tell
us, is yet to
                       come.

                       There are nine of us Long Trail hikers staying here
at the Inn this
                       morning, all who started on the first of August. So
we are pleased to
                       be amongst "the norm" (whatever THAT is, given the
left-of-center
                       hiker bent). The speedy young LT buck Excalibur has
been pulled
                       off the Trail due to a serious illness with his
beloved grandfather. He
                       says "You've got to take care of your family. The
the Trail will
                       always be there." The AT thruhikers we have been
keeping pace
                       with are here also: Cous Cous, Cupcake, Foxfire.

                       It is good to suck on coffee, which I have given up
as a carboard
                       hassle while camping. The bags just don't cut it; it
is just easier to
                       abstain. Makes the first real cup in awhile taste
splendid, that's for
                       sure. The bean oils in this cup, brewed minutes ago,
curl up my
                       nostrils and explode in my head. Marvelous!

                       We have been so blessed with the weather, getting
our rain early on
                       to toughen us and increase our appreciation of these
grand fall-esque
                       days we have now.   With any luck it will remain
clear. I went
                       outside last night for about a half hour and lay on
the manicured lawn
                       outside the Inn, looking for shooting stars from the
Perseid meteor
                       shower. Tonight, they are suposed to peak, so I plan
to sleep out
                       underthe stars, far away from town lights, and catch
a few to wish
                       upon.

                       Here, at the Inn, is where we Long Trailers split
from our AT
                       bretheren. I will be sorry to see them go, they have
been an
                       invaluable source of information for next year.Class
of 2003, listen
                       up. Most of the AT thrus, by here in Vermont, are
burned out. They
                       have lost touch with their sense of
wonder-in-the-woods, having
                       been ground down by sheer trail rigor, endurance and
generally poor
                       nutrition. They freely admit this.

                       What is keping them going is three things:
                       1). A burning desire not to quit, now that they are
a little more than a
                       month from their goal.
                       2) The excitement of the upcoming White Mountains to
the east, and
                       southern Maine, which they hope will restore their
sense of wonder
                       3). Incredible support from home. Most of their
family and peers are
                       amazed that their couch-potato beloved has actually
walked 1500
                       miles!

                       So, if they weren't on board when the hike began,
they are really
                       enthused by this point, and send love, snickers,
homemade goodies,
                       encouragement and - above all- phone cards to call
home and get
                       more of the same(love, strokes and cheering). So,
sports fans,
                       muster up the home team. Looks like we are going to
need it by our
                       fourth month.

                       There is another issue I would like to bring to the
table with the Class
                       of '03, and that is the thru-hiker attitude. This
was surprising to me,
                       as one expects all others to share one's sense of
pride and
                       accomplishment in actually walking this far on the AT.

                       Alot of service people around here, in the last 100
miles, including
                       outfitters, hoteliers, retauranteers, manufacturing
reps, waitressess,
                       etc. are SICK TO DEATH of thru-hikers. This
genuinely caught me
                       off guard. Why would this be?
                       Short and simple: Thru-hiker attitude.

                       Let me share what I have discovered, then maybe we, the
                       internet-bonded of the Class of '03, can take a
leadership role on the
                       Trail next year and reverse a little bit this
unfortunate paradigm. Or at
                       least npt add to it, by not reacting to it as personal.
                       After 1500 miles, only the grittiest (and, face it -
the luckiest to
                       escape injury, illness and family draw-back) have
gotten this far. The
                       hiker feels - justifiably - proud.

                       But what happens with some (not all, but enough to
sour folks) is a
                       subtle indulgence as pride bleeds into arrogance -
and a certain
                       "better than" air creeps in.   This attitude, while
subtle, really puts
                       other people on edge, is my observation.
                       There is also the natural bonding of
comrade-hiker/brothers-in-arms
                       who have gone thru many trials together, which can
sometimes be
                       interpreted as "us" vs. "them." There is not much we
can do about
                       other people's pre-installed "buttons," but maybe,
by being aware
                       they are there to be pushed, we can sidestep all this
                       baggage/garbage that is just waiting there to be
stepped in.

                       Just a heads up.

                       A number of the thrus I have talked with agree with
this assessment.
                       The laid back Mo of Mo-and-Jeannie said he's even
observed the
                       superior NOBO attitude rankling the southbound AT
hikers, who
                       have just traversed the toughestof the AT - Main and
the Whites.

                       "It's like, some thru-hikers act like, well, I've
just walked 1500 miles
                       and you've only walked 500, so I'm better and can
give you all kinds
                       of unasked-for advice," said Mo. "That your 500
miles doesn't count
                       for much. You can tell it really pisses them off some."

                       But it doesn't have to be that way. Mo is living
proof. He seems
                       accepting and happy to see everyone, no matter how
long they've
                       ben on the Trail. He also added that overburdened
day hikers,
                       weekends and section hikers have ben his greatest
source of trail
                       magic along the trek. Maybe his attitude has a way
of attracting
                       those rides, free phone calls and extra pack goodies.

                       I would LOVE to hear some discussion on this subject
when I get
                       back. But now, it's off to breakfast and chores.