Re[2]: [at-l] Re: Shelter, Skelter

[at2002@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Gary Wright)]

On Friday, February 28, 2003, at 03:11  PM, Bob C. wrote:
>> "...How about a tent site with a covered picnic table?" asks Gary
>> Wright.
>
> That has been my "compromise" ever since my walk in 1993, but I've
> never gotten
> much support. Some think a picnic table is less compatible with the
> "wilderness"
> than a shelter, though it's a distinction that I could argue either
> way.

Wilderness is such a funny term to apply to the AT.  Before my hike I
certainly
thought I was going into the wilderness.  After a couple weeks, I
realized that
I was certainly in the woods, but hardly in a wilderness.  After
finishing my
hike and starting to find out more about other trails I've realized that
trying to keep the AT wild is like trying to put the genie back in the
bottle.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want the AT threaded between houses and
development
anymore than it is, but claiming that a picnic table is going to take
away
from the wild nature of the AT seems a bit silly.

One of the hikers on the trail last year, Wicked, called the AT a
"catered
wilderness'.  That seems about right.

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