8-year old quits thru hike, a mile from summit
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story...-ascent,155867
Here are the details from the Bangor (Maine) Daily news
Weary
Great story!
KK4VKZ -SOTA-SUMMITS ON THE AIR-
SUPPORT LNT
This kid was passing through Hanover around the time i completed my hike, my friend Tumbleweed had to take him to the hospital. I'm glad to hear he kept going (obviously), but it's crazy that he "quit" one easy mile away.
That was a good story. The best quote from the article was "his upper body is Gandhi-like".
Perhaps his trail name should have been "Upside Down Popeye"?
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
Actually, it reflects a healthy attiude in my view.Originally Posted by Roughin' It
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
hes crazy???your the mofo. give him credit.
I'm so confused, I'm not sure if I lost my horse or found a rope.
I guess the purist would say he's not a thru-hiker or 2000-Miler. LOL...
what a dream. my plan to save youth in this world is to have them all do the trail at 8 as a right of passage. this child will not suffer lazyness in life and will have advantages unrivalled. our scociaty has lost a valuble asset in forgoing the trial of manhood thinggy we used to do. it wouldnt have to be the trail exsperience to awaken the race memorized strengths we lock away to become the city dwelling punks we have.just throw a kid to his own in some way. staop dotting and catering to our childrens every need. makes em week and want filled. rather teach them to fufill their needs and control their wants. humans were made perfect. idiots we become. and to our body and worlds death we march. i propose thge way to save our souls is hiking. world wide hike now!
matthewski
The unanswered question left by the article is why didn't he just wait a day or two for the winds to die down. I agree it shows great maturity to place safety over all else, but the article doesn't indicate that they simply postponed their completion, but implies they ended their trip.
"Hike your own hike" in it's purest form. Good for him, he knows how to make a decision for himself! Looks like he may have learned a great deal out there
ad astra per aspera
Well said. . ."Hike your own hike" in it's purest form. Good for him, he knows how to make a decision for himself! Looks like he may have learned a great deal out there
My dad would have dragged me that last mile! LOL
Lets see what Mr Webster has to say:
Entire: adj.
Having no element or part left out. Whole.
Heck of an accomplishment for an 8 year old, though. Hope he returns.
this is a great accomplishment. But how can dad let his 8 yr old son quit one mile from the end? Heck, I'd carry him if he was that close! But then on second thought, when conditions are bad they are bad and discretion is the better part of valor as they say!
DavidNH
you tell'em Max...
no way we want an 8 year boy claiming to be a "thru-hiker" when he didn't reach the sign. If we ever hear him say he thru hiked let's agree to call him out!
Naw, a purist would just say he didn't hike the entire trail.(he didn't) He is obviously a 2,000 miler.
I wish I had the opportunity to thru hike when I was 8. I think I would have loved it. Congrats to this kid, fantastic accomplishment!
Ran into he and his dad back in May near Siler Bald in NC. He was carrying his own pack and seemed very happy to be out. Very nice people, I'm happy for them. Last time I saw them, they were hiking into the NOC.
It's a great day to be alive !
I think there's something poetic about stopping 1 mile short. I mean, if you think for a moment, if you hiked every trail everywhere in the World (we're talking hypothetical here so work with me) then there wouldn't be anything "left" for you to do.
Stopping one mile short leaves the trail unfinished, and so in a way...he never "left the trail". We all have struggles in life, and we all push hard to get thru them, but they never go away. We all know the dangers of hypothermia and you know for a fact that those dangers are much more severe, and come on faster, for an 8 yr old.
I'm not trying to get a "fortune cookie" here, but the only failure in life is the one that stops us. If he doesn't stop hiking - I see no failure. You get knocked down, and you pick yourself back up. I have three boys (2, 4, and 8 yrs old). I don't want to be rude, but some of the negative comments on here I would imagine are coming from people who don't have kids.
I'd like to quote Rudyard Kipling: The Law of the Jungle. I think it certainly applies here because of all the people that thru-hike the AT, I'm sure there's a very tiny percentage (next to 0) that can say they had no support, and actually hiked it alone. As if they were the last person on Earth.
Now this is the Law of the Jungle -- as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back --
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
I fully support and respect the decision to go home at that point. I have quit climbs within easy view of a summit and felt that I had given it my all, and went home safely with self-respect intact. The hiker reached the end of the journey and knew it. Some people reach that point on the approach trail.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
Weary - you missed this on the same web page.
EDUCATION TECH DIES FROM FALL ON THE AT.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story...ld-trip,155899
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
