[at-l] Re: Icons, the ATC & LD Hikiking

[spiriteagle99@xxxxxxxxxxx (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

rick boudrie wrote:
>I got a question for you guys.  From what I have seen, the majority of
>those who have shaped the ATC's vision, and those who are doing the bulk of
>the work out on the Trail, are not long distance hikers.  (I am not saying
>long-distance hikers aren't making worthy contributions every day, just
>that they are still in the minority and are not the core of the ATC)

Rick -
You said that well.  I had no intention of getting that deep into the
discussion, but as long as I'm being dragged kicking and screaming into it -

1. MacKaye was not a long distance hiker
2. MacKaye had no interest in long distance hiking
3. MacKaye did not like long distance hikers (thruhikers)
4. MacKaye worried about the effect thruhikers would have on the Trail (not
without reason)
5. Weary's MacKaye quote ("see what you see") is not a MacKaye quote.  That
paricular line is at least a thousand years old and has been quoted in more
literature and attributed to more people than either Weary or I know.  But
it's good advice - as much so as it was in 11th century Japan and 9th
century China.

Weary wrote:  I think his enjoyment of his walk would have benefited from
reading and understanding MacKaye.

My answer -
His enjoyment of his walk would have benefited from reading and
understanding books that would have told him about the trees and flowers and
creatures he encountered - before he hiked.  Reading MacKaye (or about
MacKaye) would have contributed little or nothing in that regard. That's why
I advocate 'planning' for a thruhike.  One can make the decision to go; pack
up; and be on the Trail is 2 or 3 days.  But it's nearly always a much
better hike if you take enough time to plan the hike - to learn about the
trail, the "trees and flowers and creatures" along the way, the history, the
times and people and places associated with the trail.  Regardless of what
trail you're talking about.  It's one reason to carry the guidebooks - they
provide a lot of that kind of information about the trail.

Reading MacKaye's writings might give a better sense of the history of the
Trail - but that's questionable since MacKaye's writings are rarely specific
to the AT from a hiking point of view.  They're generally aimed at the
relationship between mankind and nature with a heavy emphasis on nature. And
very few hikers are interested in that kind of history until after they've
finished the hike.

Which brings us back to Rick's comment:
>The Trail needs pragmatists.  It also need people with vision and zeal who
>have a viseral reaction to race tracks and windmills and adventure race
>competitions.   In short, I think it needs people for whom Mackaye, or more
>importantly the ideas that he represents, do have a relationship to the
>Trail.

I think you'd find that after one finishes a thruhike one becomes more
pragmatic, but you'd also find that thruhikers, as a group, are more likely
to have that "viseral reaction" you speak of than those who haven't
thruhiked.

And for the ATC - I think if you took a close look, you'd find that the
Board of Managers includes more thruhikers than you know about. But you're
right - thruhikers are still not the "core" of the ATC.  And may never be.

Walk softly,
Jim



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