[pct-l] Introductions

[Philippe GOUVET <philippe.gouvet@univ-pau.fr>]

Many thanks to Jim Owen for such a great idea. The introductions I have
read so far have proved very interesting. Such a variety of backgrounds!
Even though I know I cannot call myself a long-distance hiker, I have been
on the list for more than one year, and it is my firm intention to hike the
PCT (thru-hike ?) as soon as my professional commitments give me the
opportunity to. This is not so easy, particularly because I live on the
wrong side of the Atlantic.
I am mostly a member of the lurking community on the list. I am French, 48
years old, and I live in France. I live with my two kids (23- and
21-year-old). My 'job' (not a job really, a passion would probably be more
accurate) is to teach American Studies in a French university. This has
given me lots of opportunities to travel in the West, and being a hiker,
having read about John Muir, it also gave me the desire to hike the JMT two
years ago. This was a fatal mistake, because the beauty I discovered has
probably transformed my life, and I must be a pain in the neck to my French
friends, family, students, you name them,  because I am always talking
about the high country and the PCT...
While hiking the JMT in '96, I also discovered that one one the great
enjoyments was the people you met and talked to: I remember meeting Charlie
Jones and his friend Chuck  at Red's Meadows. Charlie introduced me to the
list and here I am (Hi Charlie!). Besides, Bob Ballou next asked me to be
your French representative, which I am very, very proud of. But I know the
best way to talk about the PCT here would be to hike it first, so...

Well, I started hiking at age 14, in the Pyrenees, which is the constant
backdrop where I live in Southwestern France. The Pyrenees are the natural
and political border between France and Spain. I should be ashamed to say
this, but there is a thru-hike there too that I have not done yet : from
the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean, a 500-mile,  40-day hike. The big
difference with your trails is that European mountain areas have huts where
you have dinner and a bunk, if you can put up with the overcrowded,
snoring, and smelling dorms...
Over the 30 odd years that constitute my hiking career so far, I have tried
several activities that have become quite popular here, such as white-water
rafting, and what they call 'canyoning,' which is picking up a deep wet
gorge, and hiking, rappeling, jumping, swimming, whatever... down, in a wet
suit, helmet, and climbing harness. I have enjoyed it for some 20 years but
got fed up with the overcrowding when that activity became too popular. I
also had a go at something they call 'hydrospeed' (French people love
complaining about  their language being invaded by English terms, and the
first thing they do when they need to find new terms is invent
English-sounding expressions). I guess there must be the same kind of
rather insane activity in the US : hydrospeed is a kind of floating device
with two handles which you hold in front of you. You jump with it into a
wild mountain stream, lying flat on your stomach, your upper body being
somewhat protected by the 'hydrospeed.' Then it just becomes a matter of
survival, because I often had the feeling I didn't really control what was
going on. I sort of grew tired whenever I lost the sense of a 'wilderness'
experience. Europe being overcrowded, the mountains are too, and we very
often have the 'Yosemite Valley experience.' The typical mountain hut
here-and they are positioned within a day's hike of one another-will gather
100 to 200 people a night. Not exactly what we are generally looking for in
the 'wilderness.' Yet the Pyrenees are still a wild place, as compared to
the Alps. We have the privilege of having the possibility of getting lost,
and we can hike without stepping on other people's toes. Maybe that is one
of the reasons why I fell in love with the Sierras. It must be John Muir's
fault too...  I never got tired of hiking, and after 34 years, I still
enjoy it. Hiking also allows me to indulge in my other  passion : taking
pictures. What worries me-and you sort of confirmed it-is that I do not
often meet young people hiking. I, for one, was not able to give that bug
to my own kids. The over-40 gang seems pretty large among the hiking
community, doesn't it ?
Thanks to you, folks, I have now discovered new aspects to hiking, and I
hope one day I will be able to think I gained the title of long-distance
hiker. I guess the first steps will be to thru-hike the Pyrenees, and
complete the JMT, which I did not do 2 years ago. In the meantime, I also
have to complete another type of time-consuming thru-hike: writing the PhD
dissertation I started working on last year. Well, being a 48-year-old
student  shows hiking keeps you young, doesn't it ?

Philippe Gouvet


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