Re[2]: [at-l] Story about 'Jagged' who summited 10/6

[Bob C." <ellen@xxxxxxxxxx (Bob C.)]

>"...I wonder if he based his opinion on his own hikes?   Why does he bother,
>why does he care?" asks Sly about a WF comment on the nature of modern
>thru-hiking.

Since the most vocal on this list think they already know the answers to these
questions, I wonder why the questions were asked.

But regardless, here are my purely speculative answers. First I suspect some of
WF's "thru hikes" really involved hiking every mile. I sort of doubt if they all
did.

Why does he bother? I suspect someone asked a question, and he replied to the
best of his knowledge.

Why does he care? I think the most logical answer is that he has devoted much of
his life for many years to the trail. He cares about the trail, as I care about
the newspaper where I spent a quarter century. I'm appalled at the deterioration
in news coverage -- especially coverage of environmental issues. I'm appalled by
the mistakes and missed opportunities to provide a genuine service to its
readers.

I suspect that most of us who enjoy what we do over the years, find it difficult
to observe deterioration of goals and quality among those who follow. Though I
believe in hiking your own hike, I'm not convinced that substituting hundreds of
miles of yellow-blazing for walking qualifies as hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Weary