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[at-l] Perception - Cell Phones.



  I have to chime in,  I carry a cell phone with me and I honestly 
don't care what someone thinks about it.  I don't require nor desire their acceptance
nor approval of carrying one.  As a matter of fact, it is none of anyone's business what
I carry in my pack and what equipment I use.  I hike my hike the way I want to hike my hike and if someone has a problem with it, it doesn't make it mine.    With that said, I am conscious of other hikers, I don't sleep in shelters, I freely share my food, I pick up trash from sites and fire pits and haul them out,  I am friendly to ALL hikers, and most of all I respect a hiker because of who they are not what equipment they chose to carry or not carry. If you ever met me on the trail you will not see me chatting on the cell phone around the shelter or near the trail.  But I do use it to check in daily with my spouse and to arrange the pick up point the next day in an out of the way area.  If that is an issue with someone then it is theirs to work through... Get over it, the 21st century is here, there will be power lines that cross the trail, there will be roads you have to cross, there will be aircraft flying overhead, some hikers will carry fire arms, some hikers will be wearing headphones on the trail, you will hear the cars on the highways, you will see someone using a cell phone... Get over it and don't let something that disturbs YOU destroy your entire experience and the experience that person is attempting to have.  I am not out there to ruin anyone's experience and at the same time I will hike my own hike and bring what ever equipment I want.  

    I guess what ever happened to "hike your own hike" and when did we start labeling hikers and holding one group in esteem above another by what equipment they carry or don't carry.  By the way, I also have deep lugged sole boots and use hiking poles...AND I am a card carrying ATC member as well.  

  Russ

  

  


-----Original Message-----
From: at-l-bounces@backcountry.net
[mailto:at-l-bounces@backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Steve Adams
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 14:53
To: RoksnRoots@aol.com
Cc: AT-L@backcountry.net
Subject: [at-l] Perception - Cell Phones.


RnR,

Reference your post, "Perception/Quote," dated 1-13-04, advising 
"(C)onscious or not, intentional or not, the cell phone can create 
situations that may not have occurred without them."

I didn't read this thread when it began, nor have I read all the posts since 
I began reading it, so I may have missed something.  That said, your point 
as to cell phones has always seemed clear and valid to me.

I recall that, on another forum, I admitted to carrying a cell telephone in 
my pack while day-hiking when I was on call.  [A digression: a colleague 
discovered he had no days off, including no holidays off, in over a year.  I 
rarely had a day off, and never two days in the same week.  Taking my cell 
telephone along on a precious day off was the only way I could hike, since 
it permitted me to respond to my telephone pager.]  You took me to task for 
intruding upon the AT by carrying a cell telephone.

Hiking was important to me and helped me continue working until I retired.  
I was willing to intrude upon the relationship I had with nature - the real 
world - in order to maintain both my perspective, which hiking provided, and 
my economic need which my job provided.

I agreed with you, and I still agree with you, that including a cell 
telephone on a hike is an intrusion upon a special relationship some hikers 
can realize with nature; not just the hiker carrying the cell telephone but 
also the other hikers who are aware of the cell telephone presence.

The problem may come when your "theory" meets "reality."  I label your 
thesis "theory" because if I accept your premise, that the availability of a 
cell phone may cause me to overextend my bravery/foolhardiness - the 
distinction turns upon whether my venture succeeds or fails - I must also 
accept your premise regarding other hiking matters.  And I think your 
premise is limited to a "pure" point of view.

Consider the crowd of hikers ever present along the Appalachian Trail.  
There's always another hiker coming along.  Most hikers rely upon others for 
help - even if just subconsciously - just as the presence of a cell 
telephone provides a non-natural source of help.  Are "pure" hikers to avoid 
the AT in preference for a less populated trail?

Some people hike without carrying a tent/tarp/bivy relying instead upon some 
other self sufficient hiker to vacate a crowded shelter during bad weather 
allowing them to take his/her place.  This is usually considered just rude 
behavior but it does rely upon the kindness of others to facilitate their 
successful hike.  Does this diminish the purity of their claim to have 
completed a thru-hike?

You have picked but one example: the easy security afforded by the 
availability of a cell phone.  Some people recognize they dearly want two 
conflicting things at the same time, a cell phone for example, and a 
guaranteed warm and universal acceptance into the society of "pure hikers."

There are many reasons to argue your point which have nothing to do with the 
point itself.

Hang in there.  Fight the good fight.

Steve


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