I think mags hit on a real issue. Long Distance Hiking is just a minuscule number of people out of 350,000,000. Even the numbers cited as AT, PCT hikers are over estimated because it's also a lot of the same people over and over.<div>
<br></div><div>I wonder why the hell I do it let alone anyone else. <br><div><br></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Jan 6, 2013 at 7:29 PM, Paul Magnanti <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:pmags@yahoo.com" target="_blank">pmags@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">
<span>I've said it before, and I still think it is true:</span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span><br></span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<span>Outdoor recreation of the "REI type" is a college educated, affluent recreation choice.</span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<span><br></span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span>In my own family, my cousins and I are the first generation to be college educated.</span></div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span><br></span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<span>We are of the generation that grew up seeing our parents do construction, work on their feet all day,</span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<span>work odd hours and so on to put food on the table and pay the mortgage.</span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span><br></span></div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span>So, to go into the woods on weekends and WALK ALL DAY for fun?????? Huh?!?!? :)</span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<span><br></span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span>Physical exercise on weekends is a lot less appealing when your whole week consists of getting up at 5am (or earlier) to</span></div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span>work in something that does not involve an office chair. And if you are lucky enough to get overtime pay during
the week and </span></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span>maybe even work </span><span style="background-color:transparent">a Saturday,</span><span style="background-color:transparent">then you really don't want don't want to hump a pack up and down the mountains on your day off. :)</span></div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="background-color:transparent">(And, esp in my Dad's case, he had enough 'camping' when he was in the army to boot!)</span></div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
Weekends are to catch up with chores, rest, see the family (16 grandchildren on Mom's side!) and have a big Sunday dinner.</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
(mmmm.....Grandma Mags' homemade braciole....)</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
When I did the AT, I met people who grew up in the outdoors as part of their life. Invariably THEIR parents were 'professionals'</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
who went hiking, backpacking and so on. They grew up with the outdoors and looked on it as part of their normal life. My family OTOH,</div><div style="background-color:transparent">wondered why at the "advanced" age of 23 I spent the weekends walking in the woods, when I'd meet a a nice girl and start a family. :)</div>
<div style="background-color:transparent"><br></div><div style="background-color:transparent">Many minority groups have a similar story to the above. (I also freely admit that being considered white helps</div><div style="background-color:transparent">
moving up the socioeconomic ladder)</div><div style="background-color:transparent"><br></div><div style="background-color:transparent"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
So while I think there some validity to the whole
"that ethnic group just does not do the outdoors", scratch beneath the racial</div><div style="background-color:transparent">surface and you see socioeconomic background as well.</div><div style="background-color:transparent">
<br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">A few years back the ATC did a survey of AT users, most were college educated or in college. </div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></div><div style="background-color:transparent">I honestly (perhaps naively?) believe as the groups move up the socioeconomic ladder and/or attend college and are exposed to things outside</div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">their background, you'll see a more diverse set of Americans enjoying the outdoors.</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">
<br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12pt">Of course, most people don't do outdoor things at all regardless of ethnic or socioecomic background..but that's another story! :)</span><br>
</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">Anyway..that's my nickels worth of Sunday ramblings.</div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">
<br></div><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:12pt">----------------------------<br>Paul "Mags" Magnanti<br><a href="http://www.pmags.com" target="_blank">http://www.pmags.com</a><br><a href="http://www.twitter.com/pmagsco" target="_blank">http://www.twitter.com/pmagsco</a><br>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pmags" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/pmags</a><br>-------------------------------<br>The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust <br>caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched<br>
--Thoreau</div></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Everything is in Walking Distance
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