Re[2]: [at-l] Speed Hiking

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

>"...you disappoint me.  You didn't understand the answer the first time and you
>obviously still don't," says Jim &/or.... about the quote from a MacKaye letter
>to a friend about speed hiking. One or the other adds, "MacKaye hated
>thruhiking. And that statement was NOT made as an expression of approval of
>those who took longer to thruhike - it was  contemptuous sarcasm with respect
>to anyone who thruhiked the AT."

Well, in fact, I prefer to take people's words at their face meaning. Lacking
evidence to the contrary, I generally assume that most people try as best they
can to express what they mean in words people can understand. The history of his
long life suggests that this was particularly true of Benton MacKaye. He was
only marginally employable during much of his long life because he refused to
temper his beliefs to match political realities.

Well anyway, I can't find any evidence other than Jim's claim that Benton's
championing of slow hiking was anything but his own belief. Certainly the
evidence we have of his hiking career provides little evidence to the contrary.

Nor can I find independent evidence that  Earl Shaffer was a subject of
MacKaye's contempt. The two didn't meet until five years after Shaffer's
pioneering 1948 walk. Anderson reports "the two men talked late into the night
about his trail adventure." Shaffer certainly gave no hint of the alleged
contempt when he later published his account of the meeting.

And no Jim, I didn't deliberately save your comments for almost two years. I
remembered them because the trail, its history and future is what I mostly work
on these days. Your comments were contrary to everything I knew about MacKaye,
but I had no evidence that would withstand the skeptical scrutiny of the list,
so I remained silent. The biography seemed to confirm what I had believed.
Today, while waiting for some sheetrock compound to dry, I read a post that
referred to the archives and purely by accident ran into your ancient comments.

Nor for that matter can I find any evidence for Sloetoe's suggestion that
MacKaye qualifies as a "pace Nazi." He urged folks "to walk, to see, to see what
you see," which for him, a skilled naturalist, required close observation of the
plants, insects, birds, animals, geology and environment of the trail.

Many years ago I took pleasure in running the trails. Age and curiosity have
slowed me down.

Weary

Weary