[at-l] Thru Hiker inviting a relative to join them

[jbullar1 at twcny.rr.com (Jim Bullard)]

At 07:40 AM 4/23/2004 -0400, Mark Nickerson wrote:
>A fit 15 year old flatlander in my Scout Troop has been invited to join his
>college-age cousin on the AT for a week this summer.  The cousin is planning
>to thru-hike the Trail, they would meet somewhere in Virginia.
>
>The Scout's mom told me about this past week, as it would mean he could not
>join our modest Scout High Adventure trip.  I recognize that the thru-hiker
>would love the company, for about 5 minutes.  I've heard that inviting a
>friend along, mid-way is a bad idea for thru-hikers, because it messes up
>their routine and adds to their homesickness once the other person leaves.
>
>As I recall, over the past four years, this 15 year old has only backpacked
>12 miles with our Troop in the Ocala...and that was a two-day trip!  What do
>the list readers suggest?  Should I discourage it?
>
>Mark

Rather than "discourage" it you should take the approach of "enlightening" 
this scout. He has backpacked a total of only 12 miles? By the time a 
college-age thru-hiker reaches VA he will likely be doing 16-20 mile 
*days*, possibly more. I'd have a talk with the scout's mom and perhaps 
suggest that she and the scout read some journals to get a feel for what 
jumping into a thru at mid-hike will be like. Point them to "Then the Hail 
Came" <http://www.skwc.com/exile/Hail-nf.html> and some other on-line 
journals from past years. Perhaps others can recommend specific journals. 
If they don't want to read the whole thing they can go straight to the VA 
sections (chapters 7-11). It could be a good thing but only if the scout 
emphasizes the scout motto "BE PREPARED".

Of course only about 50% of thrus are still hiking when they get to VA so 
joining his cousin md-thru may be never come to pass anyway.