[at-l] Bob

[orangebug74@xxxxxxxxx (Orange Bug)]

He has taken about a week to get to Neel's Gap. At his pace, the
Smokies are about a month away. This is not necessarily a bad
thing, as he is likely to develop trail legs and improve his
confidence in backpacking and survival skills. He has chosen a
tough time to start, especially as a newbie. Personally, I'd
avoid the Smokies prior to St. Patrick's Day.

As he has left the trail for a week or two, he will start over
with developing trail legs and skills. If he stayed put, he is
about 1 week away from getting into the pace, once he deals with
the trail between Unicoi and Dick's Creek Gaps. By the time he
hits Standing Indian, he would have become a climbing machine.
Now, this will occur much further north.

A good mentor sometimes needs to cut the cord. If he gets too
accustomed to seeking relief and reassurance, I don't think he
will be able to deal with the mundanes and the rocks. Perhaps he
is to become another section hiker, skulking the trail like
Gollum, following the thru-hikers, seeking the chance to glimpse
his "precious." There are worse things in life, but he had set
his goals so much higher.

One idea he might consider - start all over at Springer. He will
find it less odd, will see the change of a few weeks of weather,
and will see that his barriers are less severe. If he makes
Neels Gap in 3-4 days, he knows he is on a reasonable pace for a
thru hike this year. Georgia is deceptively tough. We don't have
the Smokies and the big scenes and the big scary mountains. The
PUDS sound like a minor nuisance, but they are a major insult to
the average weekend hiker and wannabe.

I think he needs to recall the first few times he fell off his
bicycle. Momma didn't take it back to the store. She washed his
skinned up hands and knees and shipped him back to the driveway
to try it some more. Dad just checked to see if he hurt the bike
and told him to get back on. He has some poor gear choices, and
his feet are sore. He ought to hear about Sloetoe's troubles. He
has a terrific gear shop at Neel's Gap. Dust off, pay the $75 to
Delta and postpone that ticket home.

(Don't tell him about the rain and wind we expect this weekend,
nor the cold front Tuesday.)

Bill...
<sneaking away to bed, very quiet and Gollum like. Where is my
precioussss?>

--- Shane Steinkamp <shane@theplacewithnoname.com> wrote:
> I tried very hard to talk him out of it...  He doesn't really
> need to come home, he just wants to hold his security for a
> few days and have his 'mentor' tell him that everything is
> OK.  (That would, unfortunately, be me.)
>
> The weather in the Smokeys is pretty bad...

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