[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [at-l] Apologies and explanations

On 2/20/97 Kahlry wrote

> What this list is about, is a chance to 
>share knowledge/experiences with others....not to present the gospel of 
>hiking!!!And sometimes free advice can be worth just what you pay for 
>it.

Kahley made a good point that both the giver and receiver of advice share 
 responsibility. It doesn't take long on the list to see there is no 
concensus in this group. And that's good. We're not identical. Our 
solutions won't be either. 

It's easy , though, especially for newbies, to fall into the "here is the 
gospel of hiking" way of thinking. After all, you guys have done it; I 
haven't. But the truth of Kahley's post came home to me over the matter 
of boots. Recently the list seemed to think  (I know these 
generalizations are risky) sturdy boots provided better and needed 
support. I decided that now that my husband and I are trying backpacking 
rather than just day hiking, my old boots wouldn't do (plus it's a great 
excuse for new boots!). 

The new boots arrived. The day after I decided to keep them and waxed 
them, there was a very persuasive post about how die-hard traditionalists 
wear all leather boots, but it's really much better to wear light-weight 
leather/fabric ones. AARGH! I went into an agony of second guessing 
myself.

That's when I finally realized that even if there's plenty of advice and 
even if it's in agreement, it may not work for me. The advice helps a 
lot, but our solutions have to be based on our own experiences and needs. 
A good community like this list is bound to have different views, and we 
can learn from them all. Then our job is to sort through all that we 
learned from the different people on the list and apply it to what we 
know about ourselves to reach the best decisions. We may go too far one 
way or another. Spend money on gear we don't need or fail to get gear we 
do need. We can learn from other people's journeys, but it's never the 
knowledge we gain from doing the journey ourselves. And that's not just 
the AT.

So, I love Jim Owens' philosophic bent and have always felt his messages 
come out of great caring for the trail and those who would hike it. And 
there's a place for reality checks. But I also think of reading the 
Kushman's journals and Download saying that if he and Nexmo had  
practiced they wouldn't even have started their journey, and wouldn't 
that have been a shame. 

Sally

* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================