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

[RoksnRoots@xxxxxxx (RoksnRoots@xxxxxxx)]

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     Weary quoted MacKaye:

> "I hope the trail will never become a race
> >track. But if so, I for one would vote to give the prize to the slowest
> >traveler,"
>


     Jim replied:

>
> So tell us - what does it mean to you?



        Isn't it obvious Jim? Benton MacKaye conceived of the AT as a huge
conservation project binding the Appalachians together. As Weary's references
to MacKaye's life over on TA showed us, he was worried about civilization's
progressive destruction of nature. He wanted people to think of the AT as the
conservation device it was intended to be.

     This is proven by his departure from the Project when Avery cooperated
with a wilderness-damaging scenic drive in the Shenandoah. Avery also swung
the focus towards centering the AT on being a hiking path. MacKaye's comment
about the Trail becoming a race course becomes obvious when properly aligned
with this history. He never approved of the Trail's identity becoming singly
identified with the footbed. His original AT plan, philosophy, thoughts, and
behavior all tell us this.

     When Benton saw his conservation concept being subverted to the
phenomenon of a 2000 mile footpath challenge, he thought that a rather
superficial approach to his creation. People refuse to accept it, but hiking
was a secondary purpose for our ambitious regional planner. The AT was
supposed to be a lot more than that. It had an agenda. That agenda was
somewhat more sophisticated than hiker rap and endurance challenges.

     When Benton saw the end to end pinwheels in member's eyes, he knew they
were missing the bigger picture. He was obviously communicating that he
didn't want his creation's entire meaning to become an end to end foot race
to see if hikers could complete a 2000 mile footpath. The man who provided us
the AT was telling us it was meant to be more than just getting from one end
to the other...