[at-l] Shane's postings re the Dateline hiker Story

[icw at esisnet.com (Clark Wright)]

Shane, I am surprised at your thoughts on this guy.  I saw the program; 
it was informative and moving to me.  Yes, it was TV, with each side 
seeking to gain (the usual book, cleverly titled "between a rock and a 
hard place."  Re retrieving his arm, when folks went back to do that, it 
took something like 11 men, and over 1,100 pounds of leverage from some 
device like the jaws of freedom used by rescure workers to get the 
boulder off.  He either lost the arm or died, and he had no chance to 
react when the huge boulder moved.  I think it is counterproductive to 
engage in these hindsight postulations about hiking alone, changing 
routes, leaving itineraries, etc.  Heck, the whole point for me is to at 
least occasionally experience a taste of "closer to real freedom," which 
- to me anyway involves having to deal with the natural world closer to 
her terms than ours, where not every base is covered.  The guy does not 
come across as a publicity seeker, or hero status seeker; part o his 
journey through the Dateline story was about closure - he literally 
returned to the spot to scatter the ashes from his cremated arm and 
erase his personal "last words" that he had scratched into the rocks 
around him when he thought he was going to pass from this world.  It did 
indeed remind me of the magazine article on the other hiker who had a 
similar boulder pin his leg; that person died affirming his love for 
life, family and God . . . you know, it may sound strange, but I 
respect, even envy a bit a death like that, and from your writings, 
would think you would, too.  I respect the side of you that teaches 
prevention, self-defense, etc.  However, in the end, those goals can 
become so consuming that you fall into the real tort reform issue of our 
day - the tendency for us all to over-analyze and implicitly believe 
that there is no such thing as an accident anymore - a simple twist of 
fate that is nobody's fault, and - in fact - is part of an important 
reaffirmance of our humble place in this incredible spinning mess of 
live, death and rebirth . . .

I do not mean to start some point-by-point thread discussion on all 
this, but I felt a deep urge to somehow, in a very imperfect way, try to 
express the feeling that this hiker sought not to experience cheap 
thrills, but rather to experience a deeper, more real form of living.  I 
admire him for it, for his actions to hold on to life, and for what he 
has done since.  I admire the guy who died, too; and I admire all of us 
who, in our own small ways, feel a kinship with the wildness of nature.  
Let us not forget, in our discussions about gear lists, safety, etc. 
that there is something freeing and spiritual about wildness that 
touches our souls deeply - and that touching must be for a reason . . . 
just as the fury of Hurricane Ivan triggers all kinds of emergency 
preparedness efforts, evacuations, etc. it also triggers in me a deep, 
visceral desire to experience it, and find beauty and spiritual meaning 
in such  immense power . . . hope this makes some sense, at least to one 
soul out there - especially on this day, when we need to find beauty, 
spiritual understanding and comraderie with all mankind as we remember 
what happened so close to our beloved Trail three years ago.  Sometimes 
we have to let go in order to get free . . .

Thru-Thinker