[pct-l] Nemo & the Trail

[dsaufley at sprynet.com]

She-ra,

Good to hear from you, and of course, you're right about Nemo and about the wonders of the trail.  I've been enjoying it vicariously through Nemo's posts, where you have been frequently mentioned. 

For some perspective, there was an unprecedented amount of trash on the trail this year, especially used toilet paper and unburied or poorly buried feces, largely down south.  In some areas, emptied caches were filled garbage left behind by the hikers; the principle of carry-it-in, carry-it-out sadly abandoned by some thru-hikers.  This information came from Scott Williamson, who has been on the PCT more times than I can remember.  He was openly disgusted at what he'd seen.  I got him on a Tell It On The Mountain camera so that the issue could be raised and addressed by the PCTA and the community at large.  Jeff also saw it when he hiked the southern sections.  

Personally, I was plainly shocked to hear from some hikers that they'd "had a fire every night on the trail."  This is beyond comprehension for us, living down here in an area where people have lost homes and lives to wild fires, not to mention the wide swaths of destruction of once beautiful areas that the trail passes through.  

You should enjoy your hike, and the great adventure that you're experiencing. Certainly not all of the Class of '06 is responsible for the actions of a handful.  Those people know who they are, and probably don't care. However, the consciousness of the community that cares for and maintains the trail needs to be raised, and the situation mitigated if at all possible. 

"All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing" (Edmund Burke).  

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: Renee Patrick <reneebeth2000 at yahoo.com>
>Sent: Aug 15, 2006 9:00 AM
>To: pct-l at backcountry.net
>Subject: [pct-l] Nemo & the Trail
>
>As someone thru-hiking the trail this year, and hiking
>with Nemo for the majority of the trail, I believe the
>situation has been rectified, she was horrified to
>find out that she had "walked out" after the fact. 
>She is one of the most upstanding people I have ever
>met and please believe this was just a
>misunderstanding.  
>
>As for the behavior of hikers this year, I can attest
>that the majority of people out this year are not
>leaving trash, in fact we pick it up when we see it,
>pack it out, clean up after others.  Not having hiked
>in previous years, I don't know if this is a trashier
>year, but I don't think it even merits mention.  A gum
>wrapper here and there is bound to happen, this is a
>trail family and we like to watch out and help out
>each other.
>
>I am having a fantastic experience out here this year,
>lets concentrate on what an amazing thing this trail
>is.
>
>She-ra
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
>http://mail.yahoo.com 
>_______________________________________________
>pct-l mailing list
>pct-l at backcountry.net
>unsubscribe or change options:
>http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l