Aubrey
03-02-2003, 11:41
I just read a post where someone asked if it were possible to create a forum for current trail conditions. The response was that this forum already exists and that there are other websites out there covering the same topic. That started me thinking...
My first thruhike was an exercise in ignorance for the most part. On 3 days notice (to the world) and preparation (for myself), I headed south and started walking north. I simply dealt with what I found around each bend. Now, however, it is possible to hike the most remote sections of the trail while talking to friends at home, see your exact position on a moving map ala gps, or ask what the conditions of any given section of the trail are like BEFORE you ever set foot on it. Yes, it is amazing. It is also a bit frightening and worrysome. But the +/- of various technologies available is not my driving concern here.
To whit: The lessons I learned on my first Thruhike were unimpeded by prior expectation. My own complete ignorance of life on the trail meant I had no "Unlearning" to do. I wonder if people are actually helped or hindered by all the information now available to them. Are more people sticking with their thruhike because of "lessons learned" from others or are more people severely disappointed because of expectations they developed based on the experiences of others?
For example: On several occasions I witnessed thruhikers bemoaning a lack of trail magic or lost trail magic. One woman actually shouted, "Where's MY trail magic? They said there would be trail magic here!" Another quit the trail at Neel's Gap because no one told her the climb DOWN from Blood Mountain was so long and steep; "They only ever talked about the climb UP!"
I agree, these are rediculous episodes and are probably symptomatic of people ready to quit their hikes. Evenso, I can't help but wonder at the teenager-like disappointment and angst they exhibit when they find life on the trail is not the fairy tale they were told it was.
My first thruhike was an exercise in ignorance for the most part. On 3 days notice (to the world) and preparation (for myself), I headed south and started walking north. I simply dealt with what I found around each bend. Now, however, it is possible to hike the most remote sections of the trail while talking to friends at home, see your exact position on a moving map ala gps, or ask what the conditions of any given section of the trail are like BEFORE you ever set foot on it. Yes, it is amazing. It is also a bit frightening and worrysome. But the +/- of various technologies available is not my driving concern here.
To whit: The lessons I learned on my first Thruhike were unimpeded by prior expectation. My own complete ignorance of life on the trail meant I had no "Unlearning" to do. I wonder if people are actually helped or hindered by all the information now available to them. Are more people sticking with their thruhike because of "lessons learned" from others or are more people severely disappointed because of expectations they developed based on the experiences of others?
For example: On several occasions I witnessed thruhikers bemoaning a lack of trail magic or lost trail magic. One woman actually shouted, "Where's MY trail magic? They said there would be trail magic here!" Another quit the trail at Neel's Gap because no one told her the climb DOWN from Blood Mountain was so long and steep; "They only ever talked about the climb UP!"
I agree, these are rediculous episodes and are probably symptomatic of people ready to quit their hikes. Evenso, I can't help but wonder at the teenager-like disappointment and angst they exhibit when they find life on the trail is not the fairy tale they were told it was.