[at-l] advice and attitude

[spiriteagle99@hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Shane wrote:
>I understand and appreciate everything you said.  To be honest, though, th=
e
>idea of 'thruhiking' is rather alien to me.  I don't care if I make it all
>the way through.  I don't care if I 'finish'.  Finishing is not important
>to me, and never has been.

S'OK - I love you anyway  <VBG>

Finishing isn't important to everyone - thank God.  But it is to some  of
us. But even there - it holds more importance for some than for others.
There are lots of journals that tell of 30 or 40 mile days - even when it's
not necessary.  Some people are driven - some (even some that find finishin=
g
important) are driven to a lesser degree.

Anyway - I dug out our CDT journal - and lifted part of it that had to do
with our "contract" for the CDT.  Thought you might be interested. I edited
some parts that are not AT-applicable.  What's left is still long - but can
be directly related to the AT - or any other trail.

Walk softly,
Jim

***********************************************************************
Jim:   We=92re now less than three days from the Mexican border and I=92m g=
onna
do something I hadn=92t intended to do - talk about our =93contract=94.  Be=
fore we
started our hike, we did some serious thinking about what we wanted the hik=
e
to be =96 and why.  And we (Ginny and I) decided (and agreed) what our
=93contract=94 would be.  Those who don=92t know about contracts can find m=
ore
information on the subject in the Thruhiking Papers at
http://trailwise.circumtech.com/.
This is =93OUR=94 contract and =93OUR=94 reasoning, based on =93OUR=94 prio=
rities,
experiences, preferences, etc.  It has no relation to anything that anyone
else is doing, has done or will do.  And it=92s NOT a comment on, criticism=
 of
or comparison to anyone else=92s hike =96 we don=92t have the time, energy =
or
inclination to judge what others are doing =96 we=92re too busy living our =
own
lives =96 our way.

The Spirit Eagle contract isn=92t complicated - it only has 5 points.  And =
it
reads like this:
1. =09We=92ll walk from the Canadian border to the Mexican border along or =
near
the Continental Divide.
2. =09We=92re out here for 6 months.
3. =09We=92re here to see the country, to meet the people and to learn what=
ever
lessons God has to teach us.
4. =09We=92re here to walk the mountains and the wilderness as much as poss=
ible
- not to =93roadwalk=94 the Trail.
5. =09Finishing the Trail is important, but not as important as enjoying th=
e
Trail.  If the push to finish gets in the way, we=92ll re-examine what we=
=92re
doing and why.  If necessary, we=92ll take 2 years to finish rather than
compromise on points 1, 3, and 4.

=09Now - isn=92t that simple?

But then comes the hard part - the underlying assumptions, implications and
explanations that go with that contract. For some people the first point of
that contract will raise the question - Why didn=92t we just follow the CDT=
?
Why didn=92t we do =96 or even attempt to do =96 a =93pure=94 hike (ala =93=
purity=94 of
the AT variety =96 which basically means following the =93official=94 trail=
 all
the way).  And the answer has several parts, some of which concern the
nature of the trail and some of which concern the nature of thruhiking.
The first part is that there is no such thing as what some would think of a=
s
a =93pure=94 CDT.  For example, of the northern 350 miles of the CDT in New
Mexico - only 25 miles is =93marked=94.
=09The second part is that, in keeping with contract points 3, 4, and 5, we=
=92re
out here to see what WE want to see =96 not someone else=92s idea of what w=
e
=93should=94 see.  If we=92d followed the =93official=94 route through the =
Black Range
in New Mexico, we=92d have missed the West Fork of the Gila and the Gila Cl=
iff
Dwellings.
=09The third part is that thruhiking is about learning, and personal growth
and freedom - the freedom to make your own choices =96 and to live with the
consequences of those choices.  We made our choices - it was our choice to
do the Anaconda and Creede cutoffs.  It was also our choice to go through
the Cirque of the Towers and the Indian Peaks Wilderness - each of which wa=
s
longer, harder and more time-consuming than the "official CDT=94 routes. Bu=
t
it was our choice, our time, our sweat --- our hike.
=09The fourth part is that time, weather, injury, safety, water availabilit=
y
and a host of other considerations can sometimes make following the =93Trai=
l=94
impractical or even downright dangerous.
=09The last part is that I doubt that anyone has hiked the CDT as a =93pure=
=94
hike in the sense that the term is used on the AT (and sometimes on the
PCT).  Undesignated trail sections, mazes of unmarked dirt roads,
snow-covered trail, etc. make route-finding a constant challenge such that
few hikers manage to stay on =93THE TRAIL=94.  Is there anyone who=92s hike=
d the
CDT without getting =93lost=94 or =93off-track=94 or =93misplaced=94 at som=
e point with
respect to the =93Trail=94?  If so, I=92d like to meet them.
=09The bottom line here is that on a trail that=92s partly undesignated, la=
rgely
unmarked, generally unmaintained and often a non-existent bushwhack or a
cross-country route, the AT concept of  =93purity=94 is an alien and invali=
d
concept.  So our hike was never designed or intended to be =93pure=94 =96 i=
t was
designed to be what we wanted it to be.  And it has been.

=09The second point of the contract carries implications in terms of daily
mileage.  To spend 6 months (~180 days) on the CDT implies a 16 to 17 mile
per day average.  Getting into =93male-macho-mileage=94 mode and increasing=
 our
average to 20 mpd would have us finishing in about 5 months. Higher mpd
averages would mean even less time on the trail, an increased probability o=
f
injury or burnout, and less time to see the country, meet the people and
learn what we=92re here to learn.  It might also necessitate skipping some =
of
the mountains and road-walking more of the trail.  That would violate point=
s
2, 3, 4 and 5 of our contract.  It=92s not what we=92re here for.
=09There are those who come out here to =93do=94 the Trail in minimum time.=
  They
either do =93big=94 miles (20 - 30 - 40 miles per day) or they take no time=
 off
in town or they road-walk or they skip sections or some combination of the
above.  God bless them =96 it=92s their hike.  But that=92s not why we=92re=
 here =96
this is a =93Spirit-walk=94 for us.  It was meant to take 6 months - and it=
 has.
  And that=92s the way we wanted it to be.  We=92ve seen a lot of wild and
beautiful country and met a lot of wonderful people along the way.  And I
believe we=92ve learned more than a few lessons.  We=92ll find out about th=
e
lessons over the next couple years.

=09With respect to point 4 of the contract, we=92ve done a couple =93short =
cuts=94
along the way - the Anaconda cutoff, for example.  And we=92ve talked about
them.   The conclusion is that, with only one exception, we won=92t do thos=
e
road-walks when we walk the CDT again.  We=92ll take the other routes inste=
ad.
  There=92s no regret about what we did - simply curiosity about what the
other routes are like and an increasing preference for choosing routes as
wild and natural as possible.
=09The last point was sometimes the most difficult to keep in mind.  With b=
oth
of us being =93thruhikers=94, there was always the desire to finish in one =
year.
  There was also a high probability, given our deliberate decisions about
time, speed, distance and routes, that we could have been stopped in
Colorado or northern New Mexico by snow or cold and have to come back next
year to finish.  Resolving that conflict was an exercise in mental
discipline.  It required a decision about what we wanted - and then a secon=
d
decision to adopt, internalize and accept the attitude that would achieve
that goal.  It also meant accepting the possibility of NOT finishing this
year - and accepting that as one of the lessons we were here to learn.

One of the hardest parts of thruhiking is the way the push for miles can
take over a hike.  When it becomes an endurance test - a death march - then
the purpose of the hike changes from exploring and enjoying the land and th=
e
wildlife and the people to a joyless quest for more and more miles in order
to get to the end of the trail.  On the CDT, that translates to the =93race
for the border=94 =96 and the destination becomes more important than the
journey.

There=92s also the consideration that constant exhaustion can easily lead t=
o
burnout, both physical and emotional.   For us, there were many days (too
many) when water or weather concerns forced us to push harder than we liked=
.
  There were other times when we stretched the miles just for the fun of it=
,
but we always tried to remember why we were there.
We were lucky.  We had snow and cold and injury and long days with little
water, but nothing that we would allow to end our hike.  More than that, we
never lost our enjoyment of the trail.  We'll end the hike being sorry only
that it wasn=92t longer. Our contract was a good one =96 for us.






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