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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’m a little late on this thread…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I turned 40 on the PCT in 2002 and I’ll
be 44 when I finish the CDT this year. I did not find a lot of people my age,
and I often think that maybe I should be working on my career, etc. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I want to tag on to what GottaWalk said below.
In my pre-long-distance-backpacking days, I always felt that the fact that I
was gay was invisible. When I hiked the PCT the activist in me wanted to be
visible as a gay man. That’s one of the reasons I took the name
Cupcake. Somewhere along the way (as “</span></font><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>we did our miles
and found the water and camped out”), <font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'>it stopped being important. I was a hiker. On the CDT, I
tried to switch back to John, but most people knew me as Cupcake. <o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>It’s been great to meet the other
LGBT hikers out there and my visibility has facilitated that, but in the end we
are all just hikers. Cool…<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Wouldn’t it be great if a thru-hike
was a prerequisite for world leaders? Image “World Troop” thru-hiking,
including Bush, al-Sistani, Talabani, Ahmadineja, Jong-il, Karzai, Putin,
Blair, Olmert, Abbas, al-Assad and Abdullah. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:navy'>-John</span></font><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'>
/ Cupcake</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
cdt-l-bounces@backcountry.net [mailto:cdt-l-bounces@backcountry.net] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Marcia<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, January 11, 2007
12:55 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> cdt-l@backcountry.net<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [cdt-l] Average CDT
age?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><Snip></span></font><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>One of my happiest
realizations was that I was a hiker. I walked my miles like everybody else and
hung out in town with the other hikers. I didn't feel like a female or older
hiker...I was just one of the hikers to the point that a Hiker isn't a gender,
age, income level, education level or former occupation. I was a Hiker
just like the others and we did our miles and found the water and camped out.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><snip></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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