<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">Any CDT'ers been greeted by the resident ibex herd while traversing South Peak lately?<br><br>The cross-country travel there is of the 'unplanned adventure' variety, no two ways about it. Northbounders starting fresh from Columbus have untapped reservoirs of enthusiasm, while southbounders, finishing up, are in the best shape of their lives. Which group has more fun, I wonder?<br><br>>>Now if only there weren't so many long thorns piercing right through shoes and soles and into the feet ...<<<br><br>I'm reminded of the overused, but utterly perfect Edward Abbey quote:<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;" class="st"><em>"When traces of blood begin to mark your trail</em> you'll see something... maybe."</span><br><br>There has to be some reason why only thru-hikers and illegal immigrants wander these lands for any distance. Where challenge lacks a
perceived reward, or where the former is too great and the latter too small, the masses hike elsewhere. That's a big part of the desert's appeal, I think. The challenge/reward ratio here is a barrier to be overcome, but the promised land awaits for those that do.<br><br>- blisterfree<br><br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><div class="plainMail">------------------------------<br><br>Message: 2<br>Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:38:08 -0800<br>From: Brian Lewis <<a ymailto="mailto:brianle8@gmail.com" href="/mc/compose?to=brianle8@gmail.com">brianle8@gmail.com</a>><br>Subject: Re: [Cdt-l] Columbus route<br>To: <a ymailto="mailto:hetchhetchyman@aol.com" href="/mc/compose?to=hetchhetchyman@aol.com">hetchhetchyman@aol.com</a><br>Cc: <a ymailto="mailto:cdt-l@backcountry.net" href="/mc/compose?to=cdt-l@backcountry.net">cdt-l@backcountry.net</a><br>Message-ID:<br>
<CAGa5_YFJ8ML2kK9Q0m_si_s0r=37Fcg5KAgNU_=bT0A+<a ymailto="mailto:tKPRFQ@mail.gmail.com" href="/mc/compose?to=tKPRFQ@mail.gmail.com">tKPRFQ@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<br><br>Having literally just finished doing all those things that Iceaxe<br>references, I agree. At times en route up to and scrambling back down from<br>South Peak I had some doubts as to the wisdom of taking that route (I'll<br>vouch for Ley's comments/warning on that), but it was pretty special being<br>up on South Peak.<br><br>Lucky Joe and I also did some night hiking the last two evenings on trail,<br>given the full moon, and that was also a very cool way to take advantage of<br>the dirt road walking stretches.<br><br>Now if only there weren't so many long thorns piercing right through shoes<br>and soles and into the feet ...<br><br> Gadget<br><br></div></blockquote></td></tr></table>