Re[3]: [at-l] Good News...

[rickboudrie@xxxxxxxxxxx (rick boudrie)]

>"... Beyond escape, I was never seeking a social experience.  I'm not >a
>very social person.  My desire was to see and photograph 'the >trail',"
>reports Saunterer.

After my thru hike, the idea of short trips on or around the AT held little
interest for me.  A ten mile weekend loop?  Why bother.

I got smart some seven years later and have found my weekend trips to have
provided many of my very best trail experiences.  Even so, it took a while
for me to be able to appreciate them. Glad I do now.  With all do respect to
other other hikers, spending time with a baby porqupine or a curious  AT fox
after a 7 mile day is hard to beat.  As is seeing the same part of the trail
over different seasons, and remembering times spent at a particualr spot
over the years.

I think going with a camera could add a wonderful dimension, but I have yet
to figure out how to take full advantage of one.  I can recall a photo essay
I saw some years back where the photographer took a neat approach. I think
it was in National Geographic or some other magazine approaching that
caliber.   Rather than taking rolls and rolls of shots to get the perfect,
professional picture, he limited himself to taking just one shot a day over
an extended period of time.  As such, he created memories specific to each
press of the shutter and was constantly asking himself whether or not to
wait for something better. He wrote of his missed photos with the same
passion as those he got.  I think I'd like to do some variation of that on a
hike.  Right now when I take pictures I do so with out much thought other
than that I like the subject, then I hope for the best.

Final thought: If you still feel a buring desire to thru hike, you could
always head out to Ranier and thru hike the Wonderland Trail.  Its not the
AT, but by the time people notice you are gone, you'll be on you way home.
Plus, you can't get a shots of pika and mountain goats on the AT.

Rick B





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