[Cdt-l] Yogi's CDT Handbook re: distance between resupply points

[Jim and/or Ginny Owen]

Yogi wrote:
>
>A little clarification:  The mileage on these CDT
>Handbook pages are not *my* mileage.  The pages
>Gottago refers to in her original post clearly show a
>comparison of the town-to-town mileage per (1) the Jim
>Wolf Guidebooks, and (2) the Jonathan Ley red route.
>Permission to calculate and use both Wolf's and Ley's
>mileage was obtained from Jim Wolf and Jonathan Ley
>prior to the Handbook being published.
>

The clarification is nice - but entirely misses the point here.

This isn't about Yogi's book but rather about the implicit attitude that 
it's OK for someone else to do the planning for "your" hike.  I'd suggest 
that everyone read Fiddlehead's recent cdt-l post 
(http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/cdt-l/2007-October/001611.html) 
and pay attention to his statement that "compromises need to made on this 
trail almost daily."

It's implicit in that statement that you'd better be able to replan your 
hike if things go wrong.  His post doesn't just apply to David Horton - it 
applies to everyone who wants to hike the CDT.

An excerpt from a post by Greg Hummel on (pct-l 
http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2007-October/010409.html) -

>From the book, "Pacific Crest Trail Hike Planning Guide", 1976 on the first
page, a letter from Jim Podlesmy,

>"It is my belief that a book anyone writes on planning will never help  
>another do such a trip as a long-distance hike . . . Hiking Maine to 
>Georgia or  Mexico to Canada is a thing of the heart.  The planning, the 
>doing, is  inside a person.  The desire to do the long-distance hike is the 
>only thing  which can get a person through it."

Followed by a post from Brick 
(http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/2007-October/010412.html) -

>"The plan is useless; it's the planning that's important."
->-- General Dwight D Eisenhower.

Finally, I'll quote myself (http://spiriteaglehome.com/cdt planning.html) -

>The purpose of planning is 'familiarization' with the trail (or whatever 
>else it is that you're planning) so when things go wrong (as they 
>inevitably do), you'll have some idea about what resources, options, 
>solutions, etc. are available to you. This is as true on the CDT as it is 
>in building a Space Station.
>
>Planning is a survival tool, even on the trail. And like any other skill, 
>the more you practice, the sharper your planning skills will be – and the 
>better your chance of success will be, not only on the trail, but in 
>anything you do.

If someone else is doing your planning, then "you" are not planning your 
hike - they are.  And "you" are not acquiring the skills, knowledge or 
attitude necessary to "replan" your hike when it becomes necessary.

I'll reiterate - if you're gonna hike the CDT you still need to do your own 
research - your own planning.

Walk softly,
Jim


http://www.spiriteaglehome.com/

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