[at-l] But!

Fri Jan 22 11:16:11 CST 2010

You don't know how many folk I've steered to your papers -- on this and other 
question/issues.

Chainsaw

FWIIW -- this is one of the reasons I have never claimed to be anything other 
than a long distant hiker -- to avoid defining / dealing with others 
definitions.  As always HYOH.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim and_or Ginny Owen" <spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com>
To: "Russ Dade" <trailr at aol.com>; "at-l" <at-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 11:01 AM
Subject: Re: [at-l] But!

Yeah - that's what I said :)

http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/

Subject: Re: [at-l] But!
To: spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com; at-l at backcountry.net
From: trailr at aol.com
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:59:40 +0000

LOL. I just gave MY view. There are many opinions out there. I stand by mine.

It's a free country, y'all feel free to call em as you see em. That's what 
makes the world go round.

Hotdog

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: Jim and_or Ginny Owen <spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 10:24:38 -0500
To: Russ Dade<trailr at aol.com>; at-l<at-l at backcountry.net>
Subject: RE: [at-l] But!

Dog -
I don't fight with it at all.  Or about it.  And YOU are welcome to define it 
as you see fit.
BUT ... my reasoning is as follows (in ascending order of importance) -

Note that da Gubmint (USFS, NPS) define "through-hiking" as walking "through" 
a National
Park or other Gubmint entity.  And a "through-hiker" as the warm body that's 
"through-hiking".
Present tense.

"My" definition was established in the Thruhiking Papers about 14 years ago as 
follows -

IMO a thruhiker is someone who walks from Maine to Georgia (or Canada to 
Mexico) or
vice versa on one of the three major hiking trails in the US (i.e. - performs 
a "thruhike).
Pack or not, blue-blazes or not, supported or not, running, walking, crawling, 
in one
direction or both, North-to-south or vice versa, whatever - no restrictions 
EXCEPT -- 
yellow-blazing (i.e. - hitchhiking or riding around large sections of the 
Trail) particularly
with no intent to go back and hike those sections. "Yellow-blazing" means that 
person
isn't walking and cannot, therefore, logically claim to be a "thruhiker".

For me, a thruhiker is someone who makes their best effort to "connect the 
steps" between
the two ends of the trail.

No implication of past tense.

Finally, common usage is that a thruhiker is someone who is presently hiking.

BUT - if your definition works for you, that's cool.

BUT - I have too many years of ingrained habit with respect to the word usage. 
So I'll just have to
agree to disagree about it.

Personally, I think the important part was the final statement in that passage 
of the Thruhiking
Papers -

Whatever definition you use for "long trail" or "thruhike" or "thruhiker", 
it's a very simple concept -
at least until the sea-lawyers and "hair-splitters" start tearing it apart. 
Don't let them confuse you.
Decide what YOU want, plan for it - and then go hike your own hike.

Just sayin', my friend...

Walk softly,
Jim

http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/

Subject: Re: [at-l] But!
To: spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com; at-l at backcountry.net
From: trailr at aol.com
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:19:12 +0000

Jim,
I fight with the word usage once in a while. People along the trail ask if you 
are thruhikers, and the answer they are looking for is yes. To others, 
everyone attemping a Thruhike is a thruhiker. But, if you are a Thruhiker in 
Georgia and you quit in Tennessee, are you still a thruhiker? No..... But that 
doesn't lessen your accomplishment. Anyone that gets out there is a winner to 
me.

Hotdog
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

From: Jim and_or Ginny Owen <spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:47:08 -0500
To: Russ Dade<trailr at aol.com>; at-l<at-l at backcountry.net>
Subject: [at-l] But!

HotDog wrote:
>You're a "Thruhiker" when you finish... Until that point you are 
>"Thruhiking". Never
>considered myself a thruhiker until I was on Katahdin touching the sign.

I have a different take on it -
If one is "thruhiking", then one must be a "thruhiker". Otherwise one would 
not be thruhiking.
When one finishes, then one is technically an "ex-thruhiker".
Unless, like me, one's mind never leaves the Trail. In which case, one is 
always a thruhiker.

But keep in mind that, as one of my co-workers (for 25 years) once said - I'm 
different.  :)

Of course, YMMV.

All these complicated discussions are gonna give me a headache.

Walk softly,
Jim

http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/

= =

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