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

[wdlists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (Walter Daniels)]

> LDHers are the "icon" around which the AT is built.

False premise. The whole trail existed before there was a thruhiker. They
were not sitting around waiting for it to be done. Although both NPS and ATC
recognize that thruhikers are an important part of the trail usage, none of
their policies are driven by thruhiker needs.


> The idea
> is to have a "whole" trail that runs from GA to ME.  If we
> did not have LDHers, we "might" have a bunch of short "local"
> trails that almost might meet.  But not one trail.  And not a
> "wilderness" trail.  We would probably see significant
> sections where the trail was paved.  Lots of road walks.  And
> even lots of sections where the former trail was taken out of
> usage by hikers.  With the ideal of walking on one trail from
> Springer to Katahdin, we keep the AT alive -- even if we
> personally do not walk the whole trail.
>
> William, The Turtle
>
> PS  In 92 I bumped into a gentleman and had a nice talk.  He
> shared some of his day hike snacks with me and another hiker.
>  Later we talked to some people and found out that he was a
> minor trail celebrity.  He loved the AT, helped hikers, and
> supported trails, but he himself did not really hike.  It was
> the "dream" he loved.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rick boudrie [mailto:rickboudrie@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 9:28 AM
> To: spiriteagle99@hotmail.com; ellen@clinic.net
> Cc: at-l@backcountry.net
> Subject: [at-l] Icons, the ATC & LD Hikiking
>
>
> >Weary wrote:
> >>I think if more hikers knew more about the trail and MacKaye's wise
> >>insights, they might have more enjoyable long distance hikes on the
> >>trail.
> Jim Responded:
> >I doubt that.  Knowledge of MacKaye, his world, and his ideas has no
> >relationship whatever to long distance hiking.  That was a
> large part
> >of the point of our recent discussion.
> >
>
> 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)
>
> I am also thinking that as more and more long-distance hikers
> become involved with the ATC, the organizations vision might
> change.  And not neccessarily for the better. What do you
> think?  Long-distance hikers have a unique perspective about
> the Trail, I think.
>
> I suspect that Jim might be right that MacKaye, and his
> world, have no relationship to long-distance hiking.  Or a
> tenuous one.  Same could be said for Aldo Leopold and his
> world.  Or, Guy and Laura Waterman and thiers. Possibly.  I
> am not so sure that these Icons and the ideas they represent
> have no relationship with the Trail, and its stewards, however.
>
> Personally, I think its a good thing that ATC and the trail
> maintaining organizations are not top-heavy with
> long-distance hikers.  In part, because
> of what Jim alludes to.   Basically, I just think that the
> Trail might be
> better for everyone (including long-distance hikers) because
> the diversity of its management reflects the diversity of
> those using it.  No disrespect for the long-distance hikers
> who are making tremendous contributions, intended.
>
> I don't want to stereotype, but I do think it is rather
> natural for a long-distance hiker to quckly become a
> pragmatist about a lot of things. 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 th Trail.  Personally, I hope the ATC allways
> retains people like that.
>
> Do you guys think it still does?  Do you think that will
> change as more long-distance hikers become involved?
>
> Rick B
>
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

_______________________________________________
>From the AT-L mailing list         est. 1995
Need help?  http://www.at-l.org
Archives: http://www.backcountry.net/arch/at/
Change your options or unsubscribe:
http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l

Stay on topic!