Re: [at-l] A Hiker's Purgatory <was: A Thoreau quote>

["TheRedhead" <theredhead@hotbot.com>]

Rambleon - the greatest by far on this thread to date :) I am still laughing . . . . I've read a lot of different books, fiction and otherwise, with the seven circles of,uh, Purgatory - this is really unique, and perfect for us lister's <g>
---
The Redhead
Ga > Me  00

On Thu, 3 Dec 1998 16:16:35    Jeremy Reiter wrote:


>
>I wonder what the 7 Circles of Purgatory might look like for a long-distance AT hiker. Let's see...
>
>1st Circle: The Snore-shelter. You just did your first 30 miler. It's pouring down rain. You can't
>take another step. There are no flat or non-rocky spots for a tent. There is one spot left in the
>shelter. You take it. Everyone snores VERY LOUDLY. You get 8 minutes of sleep. Repeat every day. 
>
>2nd Circle: The Tough Hitch. It's 20 miles to the nearest town. You sprained your ankle and can't
>walk anymore. It's 34 degrees and pouring down rain. You're out of food. Every 5 seconds, a truck or
>SUV with plenty of room drives by. They slow down when they see your thumb, yell "Get a job!", and
>drive on. Repeat. 
>
>3rd Circle: The Never-Ending False Summit. You trudge and trudge and trudge, just knowing that the
>crest you see is the pinnacle of the climb. When you finally get there, you see that it's not.
>Repeat. Repeat again. Repeat again.... Think of the climb out of Wesser, except that it never ends. 
>
>4th Circle: The Never-Lightening Load. You eat all your Pop-Tarts, Mac-N-Cheese, Gorp, and Gatorade
>mix on the first day. Your pack gets heavier. You ditch your tent. Your pack gets heavier. You stop
>carrying water. Your pack gets heavier....
>
>5th Circle: The Worm-Hole Blue Blaze. You have hiked from Springer to Katahdin Streams Campground.
>It rained EVERY SINGLE DAY, but it's perfect and sunny for your summit. You decide to take a little
>side trail before heading up to the top. After what seems like a couple of miles of hiking, you end
>up back at Springer. It's raining. Repeat. 
>
>6th Circle: Lipton AYCE's. Every day, you push big miles to get to the AYCE in the next town on
>time. Every day, the AYCE is filled with faux-Mac-n-Cheese, Spam, bland beef jerkey, plain
>cous-cous, and your least favorite flavor of cold, undercooked Lipton noodles. To make matters
>worse, you get full after one bite.
>
>Somebody else will have to come up with the 7th Circle... i'm fresh out of ideas. 
>
>Walk with Dante,
>
>-Rambleon-
>
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>


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