[pct-l]PCT Hike Planning Guide

[jmertes at verizon.net (John Mertes)]

ISTM that just in explaining "why" a Planning Guide was useless, 
Podlesney described a needed component of the planning -- being 
psychologically prepared. The knowledge that many of the psychological 
obstacles which assail a backpacker or thru-hiker are common and to be 
expected is a valuable tool for overcoming these obstacles. Such 
knowledge can replace the belief that one alone has all these 
afflictions with the knowledge that these are part of the journey; and 
with some relief that one is more afflicted than others who 
hiie/backpack. Or put slightly different, the description becomes a 
psychological support group in print.
John


Deems wrote:

>[quoted part of message:]
>I found the the Long PCT Planning Guide a perfect perspective into
>what was needed to be successful to thruhike the PCT in the mid 70s.
>The gear, the maps, the books and info were very limited. Many hikers
>hit the trail blind, and succeeded. True adventure! Today it seems to be
>somewhat formulated and cookbooked. The access to info is extreme; the
>only constant in the formula that is untested is the human spirit. I tried
>800 miles on  the trail 30 years ago, and didn't succeed, and I still test
>myself on it today.
>
>I looked to see if you were mentioned in the book, but didn't see it.  I did
>enjoy Jim's Podlesney's contribution to the guide, it fit's the rebel
>hiker's
>mind set from that long ago time.  When Jim was asked by letter to
>contribute to the book, he wrote back a brilliant letter explaining why a
>PCT Planning Book was not a great idea, because.... The few of his quotes
>that still ring true follows:
>
>"It is my belief that anyone who writes on planning will never help another
>do such a trip as a long-distance hike....Hiking Maine to Georgia or Mexico
>to Canada is a thing of the heart.  The planning, the doing, is inside a
>person.
>The desire to do the long-distance hike is the only thing which can get a
>person through it. Certainly not a book as you propose. Is your book going
>to
>walk the miles for a person? Can your book give a person the will power to
>push on when need be? How can a book describe the psychological factors a
>person must prepare for....the despair, the alienation, the anxiety and
>especially
>the pain, both physical and mental, which slices to the very heart of the
>hiker's
>volition, which are the real things that must be planned for? No words can
>transmit those factors, which are more a part of planning than the
>elementary
>rituals of food, money, and equipment and how to get them. These are only
>incidentals which are the smallest part compared to what's really needed to
>tackle a long-distance hike. Your book will fall into line with the others
>and be
>no more useful in planning than last year's camper sections of 'Pennsylvania
>Game News'. Of course,  I can give you the wordy tripe of how we planned,
>and so
>can the other hikers I consider peers. But since 'want' is the only factor
>which
>needs preparing, all we can give are empty words. Unless you have sweated
>for
>every step of a long-distance hike, you could never know what's really going
>on..."
> Jim Podlesney 1975
>:)(It goes on for a couple more pages on the same brillant words)(:
>I think his words tell, no matter how hard you plan, the trail is the best
>teacher.
>Expect the unexpected, plan for the worst, but rejoice during the best
>moments.
>On the day of the last step along the trail, you will not be the same person
>who
>took that first step so many miles ago. Only by taking the risk or chance to
>hike the
>long trails, will you ever get to know yourself.
>
>I wonder if Yogi has a copy of Chuck Long's 1976 "PCT Planning Guide book"??
>Enuf words. Dinner time..
>Hikon!!
>
>  
>