Re: [CDT-L] [cdt-l] - Is it too late to save the CDT?

I really liked your musings. 

As a writer, the issue of impacting what we love is one I consider quite 
often. When Dan and I wrote WtWD, people in the hiking community seemed to 
think it was a real service because so little was known about the CDT. But I 
know that in the years since, as more and more people complete the AT and the 
PCT and inexorably funnel onto the CDT, the trail will inevitably change. And 
perhaps by writing about it, and encouraging people to go on it, my writing 
will have an impact I didn't intend. I guess all I can do is try to write 
responsibly and encourage minimum impact camping. I will say that there are a 
number of places I haven't written about precisely because I didn't want my 
work to be responsible for their overuse. It's a hard call to make sometimes 
-- but you'll never see my byline under an article called "The 10 quietest 
most pristine backcountry spots!!!" (unwritten subtitle: come and ruin them 
NOW!)

And there is the argument -- a good one, in my opinion, that trails that have 
constituencies have voices for their protection. Which I think is a good 
thing.

Karen 
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