[at-l] "Why" and "Purpose"

[rafeb at speakeasy.net (Raphael Bustin)]

At the risk of spooking thru-hiker wannabees,
I'd like to pursue this discussion.

As a failed thru-hiker, haunted ever since by
that failure, it's a hot-button topic for me.

Sloe and Jim O. seem to feel I don't get it, and
that's clearly the case.  But neither of them have
done much yet to enlighten me or set me straight.
Their arguments, to my feeble mind, feel like
linguistic/semantic sleight-of-hand.

One thing I know is that mine is by far the
majority experience.  We all know the stats.
For every ten starters, only one or two finish.
Thru-hikers have something special.

I know that in '90 I completely misjudged who
would quit and who would finish, including
myself, most disturbingly.

I shed more tears, leaving the trail in Blacksburg
in 1990, than at any other event in my adult life.

Mind you, I still love to hike, still love the trail,
but apparently in smaller doses.

So someone tell me, really, what it means to "live
in the moment" and "mind the miles."  Call me
cynical, but these just sound like platitudes.

What gets you through the pain, hardship,
loneliness, and sheer boredom of a thru-hike?


rafe b
aka terrapin


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