Re: [at-l] Skipping the SNP?

[rdudley@po.father.com]

> >I asked Gutsy this weekend if there were any hikers left in Shenandoah
> >National Park.  She said she spoke to a park ranger who told her that he
> >hadn't seen any thruhikers on the trail there the entire year, and that they
> >were mostly on the drive and in the campgrounds.
> 
> Not to impugn the at-l participants, but are we to believe that 90% of the
> AT end-to-enders are hitch-hiking (yellow-blazing) the SNP?  Not thinks I.
> Rather, I think this shows where the NPS rangers are during the year.  I'm
> not a great fan of the NPS as relates to the way they connect with we
> rugged types.  Well, they deal with the general public most of the time and
> are trained to that end.

Tis is not quite true.  There are actuly two groups of rangers, the 
most obvious ones are those who patrol the Drive (the majorty) and 
those who patrol the trail.  On our hike we ran into two rangers on 
the trail.  Both of the rangers were very nice and knowledgable, 
though one apparently was quick to write tickets.

The rangers have some very strong opinions about thru hikers.  You 
must remember that thru hikers make up a very small % of the people 
using the SNP, but they cause a lot of problems.  In our hike I 
cannot ell you how many huts we came across with too many people in 
them and tents all around th e huts.  This is fine city.  We never 
stayed in the huts and were able to find campsites that met the park 
service requirements.  We actually had a ranger visit our site one 
morning. He was complaining about a thru hiker who had almost 
literally camped on the road.  The hiker was just going to get a 
warning, but instead he copped a thru hiker attitude (I am a thru 
hiker and etc.) and ended up with a $75 fine.

Hot, Hazy and Humid, but the weather will break this weekend for the 
pittsburgh tramp through the mountains

Grey Owl

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