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[at-l] Trail Magic - The downfall of the AT?

Reading the banter crossing the wire these days, I'm often reminded of the
many ironies of life. The discussion between Wingfoot and Richard reminds me
of the story of the three blind men that approach an elephant from different
directions. Then attempt to describe the creature they've stumbled across.

Its not that I think either is blind or wrong, both view the trail from
different perspectives. The real irony is that the two are far closer than
the dialog would indicate. The increase in trail magic is simply a
consequence of other actions and decisions that were made years before.
Decisions that at the time had little to do with trial magic.

Most would admit, the increase in Trail Magic is directly linked to the
increase in social aspects of the trail. The increase in social
opportunities is due to the increase in number of hikers. The increase in
hikers is due in large part to list like this, sites like trailplace, books,
journals, newspapers, talks & presentations, etc. The irony is that without
the extensive number of thru-hikers each year, both Dan and Richard would be
out of business.

The "Law of Unintended Consequences" strikes again. Blaming Trail Angles for
the downfall of the AT experience is a little like striking a match to
kindling, then turning around and blaming the wood for burning. What do we
expect when we popularize the trail. Can we really expect the trail
atmosphere to be the same when there are 30 people at a shelter instead of
2.  We are in fact social animals. When ever a few of us gather together you
can bet we will act in predictable patterns.

Does that mean we can't influence the future of the trail? No. But to do so,
we must take into consideration human actions. To often I've heard it said
that if only we educate people on the correct behavior how great things will
be. That may be true to an extent, but at some point it will break down. I
don't believe education will ever take us beyond our own basic tendencies.
There's just too many years of evolution to overcome.

So if we can't convert the man can we alter the environment. Much of the
environment on the AT that is conducive to the social aspects is man made
(shelters, road crossings, etc). There are a number of things that could be
done on the AT to alter this environment.

Are we really prepared to honestly discuss how to change the trail
environment? Or we do we simply feel more comfortable blaming others when
the trail fails to me our expectations?

Ron


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