[at-l] News

[TrailR at aol.com (TrailR@aol.com)]

In a message dated 10/11/2004 4:31:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
wb4pan@mindspring.com writes:

Ok I come out of every Gathering like this. Man I had a great time.  
It was nice to meet up with so many friends and see so many great  
presentations. I'm listening to Walking Jim's new CD now :-) As usual  
I didn't get to see every presentation that I wanted to. Some rooms  
were overflowing with viewers while other  key presentations ran at  
the same time :-(. 
**
Yep... I always want to go hiking after the Gathering. This time it was 
workshops on the John Muir Trail, the Colorado Trail, and the PCT that 
had me ready to head west.
 
I also missed quite a few workshops due to scheduling, but that happens 
every year. :-( The high quality of the ones I went to made it more  bearable.

The  campground was the quietest I have ever seen 
it. Most folks went to bed  fairly early. Hmmm maybe I was the only one 
that zonked out early haha. I  am always so exhausted after attending a 
full day of events in  town.
**
Before I say this, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed ALL the workshops I  
attended
at the Gathering. But the weekend lacked it's usual "sustained" energy.  
Although 
it made up for it with the special moments that brought many of us to  tears.
Maybe attendance #'s were a factor....
 
One area I thought the Gathering lacked it's usual energy was at  night. 
The night time socializing at the Gathering was spread out more than  usual, 
groups were staying at 3 different locations, instead of all being at the  
Folk 
Life Center.  The FLC was quieter than it has ever been, and  fewer people 
went to
the campfire. It was a spread out mix of small clusters of people that  made 
socializing more difficult. I missed the usual large group at the campfire 
where people were easier to find. On the positive side, when I did find the  
people 
I was looking for, the conversations were better than with large groups.  
Unfortunately, 
that only happened one night out of the three. This was partially due to  the 
fact that 
I refused to drive around to the other sites and stayed sober (_&*%#@*&%#^&$_ 
(mailto:&*#@*&#^&$) #), 
and at the FLC, where most of the people were.
The college activities, they were great as usual, but it seemed (to me)  that 
there
were less workshops, less presenters, and not as diverse a collection  to 
choose 
from as I remember in past years (though the quality of all the workshops I  
went to 
remained high). Add to that a lower attendance (or so I thought), and you  
had a
different Gathering than I was used to in past years. Not a typical  year.
 
If this was the first Gathering you went to, keep going back to more,  and 
socialize 
as much as you can during the day. I had great conversations with hikers  
from 2003, 
AND Gene Espy, Warrens father & others, because I couldn't find the  people 
I was looking for.  An unexpected bonus.
 
A hint for next year. The people that walked around the Gathering with  chips 
on 
their shoulders all weekend, need to lose them... ALL of the people.  This is 
a 
generic statement, not directed at anyone in particular, on or off this  
list).  The 
negative undercurrents of the Gathering were very unpleasant this year.  Make 
a 
positive impression on people next year. It's all about hiking, not all  
about you. 
I carried on a conversation with a 2005 dreamer, at his first Gathering,  and 
his 
comments about the behavior of some of the ALDHA people was  negative.
What a great impression we all made. 
 
Hotdog
AT 2003