One Leg Wonder
..and the beat goes on....
http://onelegwonder.com/page2.html
Clyde
(Bonnie & Clyde)
MEGA '98
"The owner... let me get into his truck and plug in my leg charger."
Now there's something you don't hear on the AT every day!
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Scott's new leg arrived in Hot Springs today (first time I ever had to sign for a body part). He's looking forward to getting back on the Trail and is in great spirits.
Would like to add that I've had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time with Scott and his family. He's a fine man, a great parent, and he deserves to succeed. There have been a lot of foolish, ignorant, and downright hateful things said on the Trail and on the Internet about Scott and what he is doing, especially as regards his finances, backing, degree of state/government support, etc. I'm here to tell you that much of what has been said (and unfortunately, some of it was said here at Whiteblaze) is complete and utter nonsense. He's being attacked be folks (anonymous cowards, incidentally) who have never met or spoken with him, don't have their facts straight, and don't know what they were talking about. The comments regarding his finances and his care of his children are particularly hurtful-----and entirely unnecessary and untrue.
In recent years, I have been guilty of making similar comments about hikers in a similar or comparable position to Scott and his family, and I regret having done so. Repeating what one has heard from others is not the same thing as talking with, or getting to know people personally.
Scott and his family are very fine people. His kids are loved and extremely well cared for, as well as being some of the politest children I've ever encountered. In short, I wish him well and hope he has a wonderful trip. As for those who want to dump on him, especially the ones who do so anonymously, well shame on you. I admire what Scott is trying to do; it takes a lot of guts, and I can't understand why people are being so critical. Perhaps it's simply a case of bitter frustrated people who have abandoned their own dreams and therefore choose to feel better about themselves by criticising others who have the guts to make THEIR dreams a reality. This is what Scott is trying to do, and I wish him well.
Originally Posted by clyde
OR
read about "ONE LEG"'s adventures on www.trailjournals.com
complete with PHOTOS!
www.trailjournals.com
Thanks Jaybird; here's the direct link: http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=2216
The trailjournals site has the same written entries as One Leg's own url, but it has current photos from his thru-hike that are not on his site. So dar, it's the better default website to use for his actual journal (assuming he keeps it as up-to-date as his own site, and so far he has).
why was this thread started when this topic is already on another thread. curious..hhmmm There is noway I'd ever give money to this kind of hike, but if others choose to then who is to say it is wrong of them to give their own money to a hiker that is asking for it. Their money their decision. Will this be the first ever $100,000 thru-hike ?
THE Mairnttt...Boys of Dryland '03 (an unplanned Billville suburb)
http://www.AT2003.com
[email protected]
http://www.myspace.com/hudson_hartson
Maybe it is so we can get away from all the negative stuff directed at this hiker who is just trying to accomplish something that perhaps will help him feel he's as much a hiker as those of us with two good legs. Hopefully, we can practice what Jack discussed in post #3. Sounds like from the way Jack described him he's a quality individual jsut trying to do something significant in his life.
"Just trying to keep life simple."
One Leg
His success will will validate the "heart" of the hiking community.
OK, now I'm starting to gag. He's just a hiker, like the rest of us. People with one leg have climbed Everest and done a thousand other important things. Everyone wishes him well, I hope, but lets not shovel on the BS.
lets not shovel on the BS.[/QUOTE]
I don't mean it as BS.
I don't mean it as BS.[/QUOTE]
Brushy Sage,
Hopefully he meant BS as Brushy Sage and not what we suspect he really meant!
"Just trying to keep life simple."
I'll go along with that, but he is the most publicized hiker this year and the first one to take the AT to national-mass media attention in a while. For that alone, his hike is worth following, especially on this site.
Thread and rethread
Chappy.....so anytime negative comments are made towards a hiker we need to start a new thread ? hahaaa I hope that isn't what you mean. Now that I think about "one-leg"......my knee pain wasn't so bad. I guess he puts the foot,knee, and hip pain in perspective for the rest of us huh ?
THE Mairnttt...Boys of Dryland '03 (an unplanned Billville suburb)
http://www.AT2003.com
[email protected]
http://www.myspace.com/hudson_hartson
Can't speak for the "rest of us", but I can for me. My answer to your question - yes, puts it in perspective for me.
"Just trying to keep life simple."
This is the best reason to ignore his hike. He is just a man, going for a walk. He happens to have one real leg, and one artificial leg. Of course, if he is going to raise the money to do what he wants to do, he has to either work an extra job, or play the public freak to tug at the heartstrings of the public for donations. I'd rather send a check to SMS c/o Blue Jay.
Chris, your comment is unworthy of you. Scott is in no way or freak, nor is he playing at being one. The Press is making a big deal of what he is doing, and they are coming to HIM rather than the other way around. You're also ignoring that a main focus of his hike is to raise awareness of what amputees and other "handicapped" people are capable of; therefore, it's obviously in his best interest for his trip to attract publicity. You haven't, so far as I know, met or talked with Scott or his family, so I question the accuracy of your judgment of him. I certainly question your wording and tone. Was Bill Irwin also a freak in your eyes because he was legally blind? Or was Earl a freak because he was out hiking at 79? These guys' trips also generated a lot of press but I can't recall you ever taking them to task for it.
Of course, if you actually want to call Scott a freak or anything else, you're welcome to tell him this to his face at Trail Days, rather than here on the Internet. But I kinda doubt you'll do that.
[QUOTE=Jack Tarlin].................................................. .............. Scott is in no way or freak, nor is he playing at being one. The Press is making a big deal of what he is doing, and they are coming to HIM rather than the other way around............................................ ......................................../QUOTE]
Jack:
THANKS for the positive words about Scott "OneLeg" Rogers & setting the record straight about his hike. I work in the media (Nashville TV station) & can tell you...that TV folks love this type of story...it's a "feel-good", "heart-warming" story that we can cover...that is not just another WHO GOT SHOT TODAY , blahblahblah story...
Our TV station started following Scott's story because he has dedicated his hike to a child (Lane Milliken of Dover,TN) that lives in the Nashville area...who is to become an amputee in June.
Our TV station has a unique coverage angle...the videographer is also a 2,000 miler (Mike "Diddle" Rose, class of 1995)...so he brings to each Scott Rogers story an insight like no one else can.
He plans another "visit" with Scott along the trail this week & again during TRAIL DAYS...if all goes as planned.
just FYI.
Quoting from the dictionary:
Freak. "A thing or occurrence that is markedly unusual or irregular."
I think Oneleg would accept that this is a fairly accurate description of what he is doing. I would assert that Bill Erwin and Earl Schaeffer also fall under this description. To that, we can add Pete Palmer, Scott Greirson, Erik Weihenmayer (blind Everest climber), Reinhold Messner, Brian Robinson, Mark Twight, etc, etc.
According to Oneleg's website, he still needs almost $12,000 to continue past 3/22. In order to raise that money now, he has to get donations (or take out a loan, or postpone, etc). In order to get donations, he has to have publicity. In order for people to pay attention, he has to have something to draw attention, and for him it is his artificial leg. Without it, he would not get the publicity. So, he has to emphasize the fact that he is different, unusual, and irregular from a standard AT hiker. Otherwise, he would not get the publicity to raise awareness or to fund the hike in the first place.
Lastly, you are certainly correct, Jack, that I will not tell Oneleg all of this to his face at Trail Days. I will be hiking somewhere around Pearisburg.
Who is the Lame Guy now?
Chris, your "defense" post is totally ridiculous. It's all well and good for you to go running to Merriam and Webster for word definitions, but you're intelligent and literate enough to know that the word "freak" is not generally used in a kindly or complimentary way. Usually, it's quite the opposite, and that's what you were intending to do. So don't backpedal and pretend otherwise.
And to cite Scott's physical condition as aconvenient opportunity for him to seem "different, unusual, and irregular" is to entirely miss the point. The very fact that Scott is missing a leg inherently makes what he is doing different, unusual and irregular....he doesn't need to flaunt his injury---who he is and what he is doing is clearly apparent the minute you meet him, which oif course, you haven't yet done.
Let's get real here: Scott has an artificial leg, and he's the first above the knee amputee to attempt a thru-hike. I have two friends with missing limbs who I've discussed this with; according to them, what he's doing is significantly different because his leg is gone from mid-thigh down; not to take anything away from the first guy to do this with a leg gone, but it is apparently MUCH more difficult to do what Scott is doing.
So please give your lame excuses a rest. If you don't want to support Scott's hike, or if you want to smugly disapprove of it, that's your right. But don't insult a guy you don't know, and then go trotting off to a dictionary to back yourself up. The only "freakish" thing about Scott's hike is the vicious and unwarranted response it's gotten from a small group of ill-informed and mean-spirited people.
Oh, and I'm glad you'll be out hiking at Trail Days. While you're out there, give thanks that you enjoy good health and think for a minute about what it'd be like to hike the entire Trail with a missing leg. Scott fully intends to stick with the Trail for as long as it takes, and will hike til Christmas if necessary, so if you feel strongly about this matter that you decide to talk to him face-to-face about your qualms and complaints, instead of merely maligning him here, you'll have ample opportunity to do so in the months to come.
But I hope you choose your words a bit more delicately. Last time I checked his arms and hands worked just fine.
Jack, people who have different abilities usually hate to be treated special. This person is demanding to be treated special, that is his right. Chris is being honest, you are being politically correct. It is just a difference of opinion.
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