[at-l] Genuineness of Contemporary Thru-hikes

[Slyatpct@xxxxxxx (Slyatpct@xxxxxxx)]

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Saunterer

I'm glad you pointed this out.  If you read walking With Spring closely
enough, there are several passages where Earl bushwacked in and out of towns,
took old AT, not the official new relo, and perhaps even took a short yellow
blaze near Delaware Water Gap.  I pointed this out to WF one time and he said
he's have to ask Earl about it.  If it were true, then Gene Espy was the
first thru-hiker.  WF's words, not mine, give me a break!  It's likely that
Gene took some liberties and Chester and Grandma.....

I'm also under the impression that even Myron Avery may have hiked trail
"unofficial" sections of trail on his hike.  I'm not about to question early
pioneers on their hikes, so why are comtemporary hikers so quick to question
their peers today?

Although the ATC has a specially worded guideline for 2000-miler, it's still
open to interpretation.  I've yet to see a official definition for
thru-hiker, so I'll use Earl's hike as the basis, but in my opinion as long
as your out there enjoying yourself for months at a time, that's all that
counts.

Off my stump,

Sly




bullard@northnet.org writes:

> Not even the original thru-hiker, Earl Schaffer, hiked past every blaze
> (markers back then).  When he did it the trail was in such bad shape from
> neglect that he often couldn't find it and just went where he figured it
> should be.  Why all this angst over doing it in a way that even the
> originator of thru-hiking didn't manage?