[at-l] Cell phones VS Nature - An attempt to clarify - LONG

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C)]

This particular child of a single Mom had lived much of his life in the company of multiple females. His presence contributed a bit to the wildness on that 283 mile walk. But as I said, this was primarily a trip to introduce him to the woods and moutains. I was more concerned with his experience than with mine. Though as it turned out those 30 days were the closest thing to the experience that Jim O. was describing as I've ever had, which provides further evidence that Jim is right on in his analysis. 

Certainly, those 30 days in 1991 with only two brief town stops far exceeded any sense of wilderness that I experienced on my 1993 walk north from Springer to Katahdin, when town stops occurred every 3-6 days usually.

However, I have no hope of convincing non-believers of the damage cell phones do to the experience of hikers who carry them -- and to others on the trails as well, for that matter. The trail is a less wild place now that a significant number of hikers keep cell phones in their packs. For everyone the sense of freedom from every day life is diminished a bit because of the common knowledge these days that instant communication with the outside world is available just by asking most any group of hikers. 

Weary