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View Full Version : Amazing Feats on the A.T. (Long)



rafe
12-11-2006, 22:04
I seem to have raised a few hackles with my views on speed-hiking and other "amazing physical feats" on the trail. By way of explanation for my odd attitude here, I offer the following. This was originally presented as a sermon -- the last before our church closes for summer. I'd asked the minister if I could give a sermon about hiking, and this is exactly as I "preached" it, on June 11, 2006, at First Parish Unitarian Universalist, Bedford MA.

There were two props used during the sermon. One was a small framed poster I swiped off the wall of a hotel lobby. The other was a large map of the A.T., which most of us are familiar with (or have hanging on a wall somewhere.) It took about 15 minutes to "deliver" the sermon, so figure about that long to read it. Here goes.

-----------------------------------

Last night I went to Google maps and plugged in these two endpoints: Millinocket, Maine, and Gainesville, Georgia. Google reported the distance as 1,372 miles and estimated travel time at 1 day 2 hours. Hah. What do they know?

In the spring of 1990, I acquired this bit of propaganda from a certain hotel lobby. It's meant as a warning against using a fake ID to buy alcohol. [Show framed poster]

JPG of poster http://www.terrapinphoto.com/six_months.jpg

It says, "Six Months is a long time to Walk." It shows a man in jeans, with his back to the camera, walking down a lonely road. It's autumn, sunset, and there's a brooding sky in the distance.

In smaller print, it says,

"Do yourself a favor. Don't even try to pass a fake ID. Because the only thing it'll buy you is a long, long, walk.

Hehe. This is punishment?

Now, you need to know what brought me to that hotel lobby. I was there to celebrate my imminent departure on a hike of the Appalachian Trail, which I had figured to take... about six months.

I think of myself as a rational person. So I'm often puzzled by this. My relationship to this trail isn't the least bit rational, and yet... it rules me, and in the summer, its call is irresistible.

On the A.T. I've known roots and rocks as my most constant companions. I've felt them in the soles of my feet, fifteen miles a day for days on end. I've seen trees and hills from here to infinity. I've climbed mountains, balds, and crags, and walked through hollows and gaps where roads run, rivers flow and normal people go about their lives. I've crossed or walked along a thousand streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. I've seen moose, snakes, grouse, hawks, owl, deer and a wild turkey that scared me half out of my wits. In thirty years time, I've walked about two-thirds the length of the trail.

Now you may ask, is this rational behavior? I mean, I sure do. How did this amazing trail come to be, and why? What is wilderness, and why is it important? Why do the woods, and this trail in particular mean so much to me?

UU principles acknowledge the web of life, the interconnectedness of all existence. There are webs through physical space, through life, and through time. The webs though time... we call history.

The earliest humans found their spirits in nature. Those of us who still do so are connected to them by a web of time.

To see how far we've come from these primitive superstitions, I give you United States Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a born-again Christian and - get this - head of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. Inhofe chums with Pat Robertson. He earns a perfect score from the Christian Coalition, and a zero score from the League of Conservation Voters.

So where am I going with all this? To commend you to the web. Not the one at the end of your keyboard, but the one you get to by foot, with a pack on your back.

When I get to that place where there's no road or power line or parking lot or flush toilet within five miles - that's when I know my place in the universe and the web of life.

Summer's here. Let's talk recreation. Now, some folks seem to think that recreation must involve the use of an internal combustion engine in some manner. Or maybe theme parks, water slides, or Graceland. And some folks think different.

Which leads me to the protagonist of my talk, a fellow named Benton MacKaye. Some 85 years ago, Benton described, in an obscure professional journal, a particular vision of recreation that endures to this day.

It was Benton MacKaye's vision, energy, organizing and persuasion that gave birth to the Appalachian Trail. Benton MacKaye was the most important American thinker, organizer and social planner you never heard of. He made his home in Shirley, Massachusetts, just a few miles west of here. As a boy, he hiked the hills of New England, drawing maps and thinking big. How big? Glad you asked. [Show map of AT.] Fourteen states. Georgia... to Maine... 2,175 miles long. [Point out Millinocket ME and Gainesville GA.]

I can't give Benton the tribute he deserves in this talk. Maybe some other time. Besides the A.T., he left at least one other legacy.

In 1934, a portion of the freshly-completed Appalachian Trail was rerouted off the mountaintop to make way for the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Partly in response to this desecration, MacKaye, Aldo Leopold, Bob Marshall and several others founded the Wilderness Society.

As a young man at the turn of the 20th Century, MacKaye witnessed the astonishing growth of cities, roads, and automobiles. His Harvard education and his career were centered on forestry. But Benton had trouble with forests as a cash crop. Over the course of time, he came to feel that cities left people spiritually malnourished and that the dwindling wilderness was the nourishment they craved.

MacKaye's big plan was first published in 1921. He described a trail and facilities, to be built along the ridgeline of the Appalachian Mountains. His plan was not about long-distance hiking, but about these cooperative, non-commercial camps, linked by a continuous trail. Mountaintop kibbutzim from Georgia to Maine, separated from one another by a day's hike. From the article,

"The camp community is a sanctuary and a refuge from the scramble of every-day worldly commercial life. It is in essence a retreat from profit. Cooperation replaces antagonism, trust replaces suspicion, emulation replaces competition.

MacKaye recognized the need to protect these mountains as a cultural and spiritual resource, for all time. This wasn't a plan for the benefit of the spotted owl or the striped salamander. It was a plan for the spiritual nourishment of working stiffs in Boston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond.

So I say to each of you, in all sincerity and meaning only the best: Go take a hike! Immerse yourself in the web. Lose the iPod but keep the DEET close at hand. Know that nature is neither malicious nor benign, it simply is.

I suffer the loss of wilderness nearly as much as I suffer the loss of human life. Strictly speaking, for most of us, wilderness is history. Gone. You can walk the deepest woods from Georgia to Maine without fear of wolves or mountain lions. First-growth forests - gone. You might see a bear if you're lucky.

Often, in the woods, I feel a sense of urgency. In thirty years of hiking, I've witnessed first-hand the decline of wilderness. MacKaye felt that concern, long before the rest of us woke up to it.

In the mountains, I feel both humility and pride. Humility at my own scale and power, compared to nature's, and pride at my ability to survive in it, however briefly. In the mountains, I feel alive.

If church is where one goes to pay respect to the wonders of creation, the woods and mountains are my church. Myron Avery, the man most responsible for building the Appalachian Trail, described it like so:

"Remote for detachment, narrow for chosen company, winding for leisure, lonely for contemplation, it beckons not merely north and south but upward to the body, mind and soul of man."

It's no coincidence that Benton grew up in New England, where recreational walking has been an honored tradition since Thoreau's time, at least. Bedford and its neighboring towns have a marvelous network of trails through woods and wetlands and along rivers and old rail beds.

For those of you - or your children or kin - who might be inclined toward a bit of soulful outdoor adventure, and particularly if you've never done so - I heartily recommend a taste of the Appalachian Trail - Benton's trail. Besides the wilderness, the views, and the fresh air, you'll also experience the results of another vast web, a web of functional government, civics, activism, and volunteerism involving a cast of tens of thousands.

Don't let my through-hiking stories spook you. The trail sees four million visitors a year. A few hundred of these are so-called through hikers. The rest come for an hour, a day, or a weekend. And that is as it should be.

Honestly and without much exaggeration, I regard this trail as one of the most precious, imaginative, and enduring works of American government and civics. It's ours for the walking, due to the efforts of thousands of volunteers and activists, who share the dream that Benton MacKaye first put into words. It's a reminder that not so long ago, wise men and women in government understood that wilderness was essential to the needs of the human spirit.

TJ aka Teej
12-11-2006, 22:14
Honestly and without much exaggeration, I regard this trail as one of the most precious, imaginative, and enduring works of American government and civics. It's ours for the walking, due to the efforts of thousands of volunteers and activists, who share the dream that Benton MacKaye first put into words. It's a reminder that not so long ago, wise men and women in government understood that wilderness was essential to the needs of the human spirit.


Thanks for the thoughtful post, Terrapin.

Lone Wolf
12-12-2006, 07:37
What's it got to do with walking the AT in 40 or 365 days?

rafe
12-13-2006, 08:01
Teej, thanks. :sun Wolf, if you've really read it and still don't see the connection, there's absolutely nothing more I can say. :( I wish this thread had generated a bit more discussion. Possibly folks are put off about the length of it or the time required to read it. Who knows.

And to be perfectly honest, this response to each of you is my last ditch effort to breathe a bit of life back into the thread, before it gets lost and buried in that old dustbin of history.

Gray Blazer
12-13-2006, 08:56
It has 219 views and I don't see where you asked people to respond. Lone Wolf and TJ responded. What more could you ask? OK, here's some feedback. It's a well written article invalidated by swiping things from hotels. What were the amazing feats?

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 08:59
It's obvious you've got a "thing" for MacKaye like Christians have a "thing" for Christ. If a person has never hiked or heard about the AT, your speech/sermon might hold their interest. The AT is different for everybody.

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 09:14
Actually I think LWof sort of summed up why no one posted much here. It isn't an issue that resonates to most people. I imagine it is because they are doing exactly what you advocate - enjoying their own hike. They don't get wrapped up in how other people hike or why other people hike the way they hike.

So it bothers you that some people don't seem to enjoy the AT the same way you do. Got it. But I figure most people know that debating it here will not change how they plan to hike the trail themselves, nor will it change how people that speed hike will do it either because they already disagree with you and don't feel a need to validate the way they hike to you or anyone else.

So yes, we got it, it bothers you. So much you wrote a sermon about it, but otherwise most people apparently are not spending a lot of time worrying about it.

Does it make your viewpoint wrong? For you it isn't wrong, it is how you enjoy the trail. But in that same respect, do you feel anyone that feels different is wrong?

rafe
12-13-2006, 09:31
It's obvious you've got a "thing" for MacKaye like Christians have a "thing" for Christ. If a person has never hiked or heard about the AT, your speech/sermon might hold their interest. The AT is different for everybody.


That's an interesting comment, Wolf. You may be onto something, but not quite in the way I intended.

Have you read the MacKaye biography by Larry Anderson? I've said before that I have two religions, the GD and the AT. (Though the sermon was given before a UU congregation, so that makes three.)

Knowing a bit about your politics (self-described "right winger") I expect you won't like the guy at all. OTOH, the more I knew about him, the more I admired his own life and the trail he conceived of. MacKaye was up there (IMO) with John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Bob Marshall and the other great American conservationists.

I think I have a bit in common with Weary and with (gasp) Wingoot in that I take MacKaye kinda seriously, and so a lot of my attitudes about the AT come from that. But I think hiker feeds can be cool... :)

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 09:34
Greatful Dead a religion?:rolleyes: Killing yourself with drugs is great I guess.

rafe
12-13-2006, 09:45
So yes, we got it, it bothers you. So much you wrote a sermon about it, but otherwise most people apparently are not spending a lot of time worrying about it.


You have the history backwards. The sermon pre-dates the thread by half a year (almost exactly.) The sermon wasn't written for WhiteBlaze, in the least.

And it's not about "doing your own thing." That completely misses and trivializes the point.

I can't speak for anyone else, but my own appreciation and enjoyment of the trail grew immensely as a consequence of learning more about MacKaye and the trail's early history.

I happen to think the AT deserves more respect than to be turned into a 2175 mile long sports arena.

rafe
12-13-2006, 09:46
Greatful Dead a religion?:rolleyes: Killing yourself with drugs is great I guess.


If you need to make that association, then yes, maybe. If one can carry a Glock responsibly, I'd argue that one can do drugs responsibly.

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 09:49
drugs are illegal, guns aren't and i don't really carry a gun. you feel a need to get ***d up on dope while hiking? i bet mackaye didn't.

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 09:52
Greatful Dead a religion?:rolleyes:

No, but when they were "on" back in the day, the band was capable of transporting you to another place. Or at least it seemed that way at the time. ;)

They were - quite frankly - the best live rock & roll band of their time IMO. And I saw pretty much everyone else worth seeing (Led Zeppelin '77, Queen '78, U2, Springsteen, Rolling Stones '78 & '82, Moody Blues '82, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, The Police, Paul Simon on the Rhythm of the Saints Tour, and on & on & on) plus another 100 or so shows - expecting Pink Floyd - but they simply didn't tour enough to rate in my book.

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 09:55
No, but when they were "on" back in the day, the band was capable of transporting you to another place. Or at least it seemed that way at the time

I thought that was what taking acid was for. No way i could listen to them straight. Man they suck.:)

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 10:02
But you missed the fundamental part of the post:


Does it make your viewpoint wrong? For you it isn't wrong, it is how you enjoy the trail. But in that same respect, do you feel anyone that feels different is wrong?


You have the history backwards. The sermon pre-dates the thread by half a year (almost exactly.) The sermon wasn't written for WhiteBlaze, in the least.
Never said you did. I just said it bothered you so much you wrote a sermon about it.


And it's not about "doing your own thing." That completely misses and trivializes the point.
I never said doing your own thing, I said enjoying the trail in your own way. Isn't that what you essentially want? People to enjoy the trail?


I can't speak for anyone else, but my own appreciation and enjoyment of the trail grew immensely as a consequence of learning more about MacKaye and the trail's early history.
And MacKaye was only one man amoung many that created the trail we see today. And that trail isn't even what he envisioned it would be anyway. And there are many different people types out there, some of which may think you are missing the point of the trail by how you hike. Yet they don't write sermons about how much that offends them.

See, MacKaye made a plan. Step 8 of making a plan is supervise and refine. That means that no matter how good your plan is, plans don't always meet with reality. MacKaye was happy with the AT even when it was not even close to what he was going after when it was completed. Why is that? Because at least it was something. IF someone gets on the trail for a day hike, a week, a month, a year, at least they are out there doing something.

And besides, original intent is not always as easy as you think, nor is it a good thing. IF original intent was used for the Constitution women couldn't vote, blacks would be slaves, and only land owners could vote. Things like the Constitution grow and change with time. The trail can too. After all, it is only hiking.



I happen to think the AT deserves more respect than to be turned into a 2175 mile long sports arena.
And I think other people's perception of the trail deserve some respect as well.

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:05
drugs are illegal, guns aren't and i don't really carry a gun. you feel a need to get ***d up on dope while hiking? i bet mackaye didn't.

Why does this concern you? In any case, it's a personal matter. MacKaye used the word recreation repeatedly in his writings. To the best of my knowledge, he never used the word competition, and I'm 100% certain that he would have opposed competition on the trail.

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 10:09
Why does this concern you? In any case, it's a personal matter. MacKaye used the word recreation repeatedly in his writings. To the best of my knowledge, he never used the word competition, and I'm 100% certain that he would have opposed competition on the trail.

Concern me? It doesn't. You wanna fill your brain with poison, go ahead.:) Speed hiking is recreation. Lay off dope you might move faster.:D

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:15
It's a well written article invalidated by swiping things from hotels. What were the amazing feats?

The swiping wasn't done by me, but I am guilty of receiving stolen property. :) Namely, the small framed poster in that JPG image. You kinda had to be there to appreciate the joke. (Have you looked at the JPG?) I believe I'm covered by the statute of limitations...

The amazing feats refer to speed hikes, etc. -- another long thread where my comments were apparently not appreciated :D.

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 10:15
I thought that was what taking acid was for. No way i could listen to them straight. Man they suck.:)

Yeah, you're right. Charlie Daniels and Ted Nugent are the best. :D I actually saw Charlie Daniels 6 times in the late 70s and early 80s. I really dug him until he decided to get up on the soapbox. Amazing that Laura Ingraham doesn't tell old Charlie to "shut up & sing." :confused:

Saw Neil Young 6-7 times too. Awesome. Dylan's band the past 6-7 years has been one of the best, but he's got no stage presense.

One band that was AMAZING live was the Outlaws circa '79-'80. Green Grass and High Tides Forever! WOW!!! I saw them 5 or 6 times.

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 10:17
Thread drift!!:D

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:21
You wanna fill your brain with poison, go ahead.:) ... Lay off dope you might move faster.:D


I move fast enough. If speed was my goal, I wouldn't be walking the AT.

Let's not make this a thread about drugs, OK?

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 10:21
Thread drift!!:D
Better than a flame war any day.


I really dug him until he decided to get up on the soapbox. Amazing that Laura Ingraham doesn't tell old Charlie to "shut up & sing." :confused:

Saw Neil Young 6-7 times too. Awesome. Dylan's band the past 6-7 years has been one of the best, but he's got no stage presense.
Neil Young - now there is someone that likes to get on a soap box :D


Yeah, you're right. Charlie Daniels and Ted Nugent are the best. :D I actually saw Charlie Daniels 6 times in the late 70s and early 80s.
This is why I still like old Hank Jr. He just has fun, although he did sell out to FOOTBALL LOL.

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 10:22
Thread drift!!:D

Too many Dead shows. :sun

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 10:24
[QUOTE=


Neil Young - now there is someone that likes to get on a soap box :D
[/QUOTE]

Yeah and he's friggin Canadian spouting off about American issues.

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:24
Thread drift!!:D


No *****. I remember a loud argument about rock & roll bands at the NOC hostel. Wizard was all bent outta shape. He was into Led Zep, me and Cosmic Charlie were going on and on about the Dead...

Cosmic is a cop in Phoenix now, BTW.

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:25
Yeah and he's friggin Canadian spouting off about American issues.

No, that would be Neil Young.:)

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 10:25
Neil Young - now there is someone that likes to get on a soap box :D


Not really in the 80s, but with Living With War, yes. Which IMO is a GREAT album regardless of your political beliefs.

Sarge, Steve Miller is headlining one night at the Riverbend Festival (http://www.riverbendfestival.com/) in Chattanooga this summer. You ought to give some thought to coming down with the family. It'll be a rollicking good time.

Lone Wolf
12-13-2006, 10:26
No, that would be Neil Young.:)

That's who I was referring to.

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 10:29
Yeah and he's friggin Canadian spouting off about American issues.

Well, he has lived in California for 30 years, is married to an American and his three kids are citizens. He has also paid more taxes to the US than most all of us combined. Ready his biography - Shakey (http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2002/06/05/mcdonough/index.html). One of the best books I've read in the last 10 years.

Now... I gotta get some work done.

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:31
That's who I was referring to.


Brain phart. I mistakenly read "Neil Diamond." Didn't get much sleep last night. WhiteBlaze is eating my brain.

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 10:31
Not really in the 80s, but with Living With War, yes. Which IMO is a GREAT album regardless of your political beliefs.

I gotta take issue there. As you know I am already not very happy with the whold damn war anyway and some of y'all know that apparently because I got a copy from a nice liberal friend of mine and listen to it. Now I was really hoping for something along the lines of "Southern Man" or "Ohio" but I was really let down.



Sarge, Steve Miller is headlining one night at the Riverbend Festival (http://www.riverbendfestival.com/) in Chattanooga this summer. You ought to give some thought to coming down with the family. It'll be a rollicking good time.

That sounds cool. Thanks for the tip - 59 and a wake up and I'll start making some more solid plans.

Gray Blazer
12-13-2006, 10:34
The swiping wasn't done by me, but I am guilty of receiving stolen property. :) I believe I'm covered by the statute of limitations...
.Well, that makes it OK then. Are we validated, yet. I sure am.:D

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:37
Well, that makes it OK then. Are we validated, yet. I sure am.:D


We all have our little skeletons in the closet. ;)

rafe
12-13-2006, 10:46
I just said it bothered you so much you wrote a sermon about it.


That's fundamentally wrong, Sarge. There's nothing downbeat about the sermon. It was intented to shower praise on the trail and the man who "invented" it... and the folks that keep it going. I really did my best (within the context of a 15-minute sermon) to invoke the spirit of MacKaye, as I felt it.

max patch
12-13-2006, 11:44
Decent Clapton concert from the 80s added this week to wolfgangsvault.

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 11:57
That's fundamentally wrong, Sarge. There's nothing downbeat about the sermon. It was intented to shower praise on the trail and the man who "invented" it... and the folks that keep it going. I really did my best (within the context of a 15-minute sermon) to invoke the spirit of MacKaye, as I felt it.

Well good then, so by that I take it you really don't mind people hiking fast as long as they feel like they are communing with nature then :D

Then we do agree.

Almost There
12-13-2006, 12:05
The trail isn't a magical place...it is what it is...a footpath through the woods, albeit, it's a long trail, but all the same still a trail. What I've read of MacKaye, he did a great service but seemed sortof messed up and moody. Far more impressed with Avery. Terp, you have your opinion and your own way to enjoy the trail, so do we all, let's just agree it's a great experience and leave it at that.

rafe
12-13-2006, 12:23
Well good then, so by that I take it you really don't mind people hiking fast as long as they feel like they are communing with nature then :D

Then we do agree.


If there were as much discussion, on WhiteBlaze, in the newspapers, or elsewhere... about wilderness ethics as there was about "amazing feats" on the trail, I'd agree.

If AT neophytes knew a little more about Benton and a little less about Flyin' Brian (or the number of days it'll take to get to K,) I'd agree.

It's not that I begrudge Ward or Brian their accomplisments. It's the way these individuals shift the focus and experience of the trail in a certain direction.

Maybe I am more religious than I admit. Consider the notion of the sabbath. I think that's where Benton was coming from. A time (and place) the leave the rat race behind. A time to slow down and smell the roses.

There are thousands of opportunities for competition off the trail. Indeed, competition is deeply ingrained the American psyche. I believe the trail was meant as a place to get away from all that.

rafe
12-13-2006, 12:29
The trail isn't a magical place... it is what it is...

Magic isn't the best word for it... but it will always be a very special place place for me. It is, and will be, what you bring to it.

Gray Blazer
12-13-2006, 12:30
There are thousands of opportunities for competition off the trail. Indeed, competition is deeply ingrained the American psyche. I believe the trail was meant as a place to get away from all that.I used to believe that. Whistler and other WBers straightened me out.:)

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 12:31
The trail isn't a magical place...

And some say Disney World is magical. :D If the Appalachian Trail isn't magical - then no place on earth is.

Spend a day picking & eating blueberries with some great friends, then all night being serenaded by loons, and wake up to a moose in camp. Then come back here and tell us the trail isn't magical. :sun

Almost There
12-13-2006, 12:39
Don't you diss my Disney World, went there on my honeymoon and the magic "did" most definitely happen!:D

Serene, peaceful, wonderful all of these are great adjectives for the trail, but nothing is magical. Magic suggests some other factor at work that will affect your experience. You get what you want, the trail doesn't change you, what you find out about yourself while alone out there changes you. It is in that regard very much an internal experience. People traveling down to Springer wide-eyed always think the trail is going to magically change them. It's like the joke about the guy who prays to God that he wants to win the lottery. God responds, alright. A year goes by and he prays to god, "Why haven't I won, God?" God responds, "You have to buy an F'in ticket!".

You start the trail with certain expectations, but you have to begin the change yourself, the trail is simply a medium to help you on your way.

I'm never more at peace and relaxed then on the trail, but I've found what I wanted and so I've stopped looking for anything else.

SGT Rock
12-13-2006, 12:42
If there were as much discussion, on WhiteBlaze, in the newspapers, or elsewhere... about wilderness ethics as there was about "amazing feats" on the trail, I'd agree.

If AT neophytes knew a little more about Benton and a little less about Flyin' Brian (or the number of days it'll take to get to K,) I'd agree.

It's not that I begrudge Ward or Brian their accomplisments. It's the way these individuals shift the focus and experience of the trail in a certain direction.

Maybe I am more religious than I admit. Consider the notion of the sabbath. I think that's where Benton was coming from. A time (and place) the leave the rat race behind. A time to slow down and smell the roses.

There are thousands of opportunities for competition off the trail. Indeed, competition is deeply ingrained the American psyche. I believe the trail was meant as a place to get away from all that.

But this is only your personal perception of them.

You have decided they are not getting anything out of it that you have deemed worth. That is your perception, they may have a different take, but you have assumed since they are not like you that they are not as connected - how exactly did you figure that? Did Benton MacKaye's spirtit tell you?

And you have decided there are thousands of people like this. Where did yuo get that? We only see this sort of thing actually done once ever 2 or 3 years. That is also your perception.

This is the same sort of problem with racism, sexism, and many other things like that. You have decided how people actually think and act and belive based on your own perception. Anyway, that sort of offends me. Sorry to say that.

Only you can manage your perceptions.

Almost There
12-13-2006, 13:08
My perception is that the Blue Blazes are actually the White Blazes:D ...and the White Blazes are actually the Blue Blazes:D ....so in actuality I am a purist!!!:jump

rafe
12-13-2006, 13:13
My perception is that the Blue Blazes are actually the White Blazes:D ...and the White Blazes are actually the Blue Blazes:D ....so in actuality I am a purist!!!:jump


Or to quote Firesign Theater, "How can you be in two places at once... when you're not anywhere at all..."

weary
12-13-2006, 13:17
Teej, thanks. :sun Wolf, if you've really read it and still don't see the connection, there's absolutely nothing more I can say. :( I wish this thread had generated a bit more discussion. Possibly folks are put off about the length of it or the time required to read it. Who knows.

And to be perfectly honest, this response to each of you is my last ditch effort to breathe a bit of life back into the thread, before it gets lost and buried in that old dustbin of history.
I thought it was a great piece. In fact I'm going to borrow some of the thoughts for my next local land trust newsletter. Unlike many land trusts, who tend to lock up their lands for fear nature might be disturbed, we encourage the public to walk our trails and explore the wild places we have preserved for both wildlife and people.

Weary

rafe
12-13-2006, 13:27
I thought it was a great piece. In fact I'm going to borrow some of the thoughts for my next local land trust newsletter. Unlike many land trusts, who tend to lock up their lands for fear nature might be disturbed, we encourage the public to walk our trails and explore the wild places we have preserved for both wildlife and people.

Weary


Weary, glad to see you on the thread. When I was preparing the sermon, I considered some of your own words, and others that you had cited on AT-L.

Gray Blazer
12-13-2006, 13:34
Or to quote Firesign Theater, "How can you be in two places at once... when you're not anywhere at all..."
Nick Danger!! (Regnad Kcin!!)

rafe
12-13-2006, 13:37
Nick Danger!! (Regnad Kcin!!)

Try using "regnadkcin" as a username at google or yahoo... amazing how many folks got there first...

floyd242
12-13-2006, 13:50
PREACH!


Cortez The Killer by Neil Young
--------
He came dancing across the water
With his galleons and guns
Looking for the new world
In that palace in the sun.

On the shore lay Montezuma
With his coca leaves and pearls
In his halls he often wondered
With the secrets of the worlds.

And his subjects gathered 'round him
Like the leaves around a tree
In their clothes of many colors
For the angry gods to see.

And the women all were beautiful
And the men stood straight and strong
They offered life in sacrifice
So that others could go on.

Hate was just a legend
And war was never known
The people worked together
And they lifted many stones.

They carried them to the flatlands
And they died along the way
But they built up with their bare hands
What we still can't do today.

And I know she's living there
And she loves me to this day
I still can't remember when
Or how I lost my way.

He came dancing across the water
Cortez, Cortez

Mags
12-13-2006, 13:57
I can't speak for anyone else, but my own appreciation and enjoyment of the trail grew immensely as a consequence of learning more about MacKaye and the trail's early history.


You know, MacKaye thought the act of walking a trail end to end was sport in itself. If the AT truly followed MacKaye's vision, there would be rural work camps!

MacKaye is to be applauded for having the vision of a pedesrian footpath that winded along the ride of the Appalachians. Incredible! In a time when the country was going from farming to industry, from rural to urban..MacKaye saw the need for something else. Not only the AT..but the other great trails came from this vision. (

Having said all that, think the trail.AS WE KNOW IT TODAY has as much to do with Avery and other trailbuilder types.

It took the combination of idealism (MacKaye) and the pragmatic (Avery, et al) to make the AT.

In 2006, it is best to not look at the vision of just one man. It is best to look at the visions of all who contributed to the trail as it is today.

The trail is an evolving concept. I acknowledge, and am grateful for, the vision MacKaye had. I also have no desire to be in the 1921 version of the AT.

Rainbow
12-13-2006, 13:59
As a fellow UU and avid AT hiker, I greatly appreciated the sermon. Thanks! Rainbow

MOWGLI
12-13-2006, 14:05
Don't you diss my Disney World, went there on my honeymoon and the magic "did" most definitely happen!:D
You're a fan of the mouse? Geez, that explains a lot. ;) Read this (http://www.carlhiaasen.com/books/team.html).


Magic suggests some other factor at work that will affect your experience. You get what you want, the trail doesn't change you, what you find out about yourself while alone out there changes you. It is in that regard very much an internal experience. People traveling down to Springer wide-eyed always think the trail is going to magically change them.

This subject is far too subjective to discuss on a board like this. Maybe next time we get together we can discuss our differing perspectives. I might add that as you near completion of the trail - your perspective could very well change.

rafe
12-13-2006, 14:44
Just curious if anyone's taken a look at the "Six months is a long time to walk" poster... As a wannable thru-hiker (at the time,) I found it irresistable. If anyone wants a proper copy, let me know. I'll do a proper scan of it and post it as a JPG or PDF.

Nean
12-13-2006, 15:17
Life is magic.;)