[pct-l] Time for the Annual "Why I Boycott the ADZ" Message

Tue Feb 26 14:42:43 CST 2008

Well, I respectfully (and affectionately) disagree.  It’s nice to have the
first lightening strike come from you, my friend.

The notion of a narrow starting window is erroneous, and another argument
that attempts to justify disregarding LNT principles.  It’s amazing to me
how thru-hikers think they’re exempt from these principles.  It’s what leads
to quotas being imposed on trails, which is what I believe the ADZ is
expediting (amongst other crowd-related problems). The Kick-Off is scheduled
a year in advance (to book the large venue), and has nothing to do with the
best time to start the trail or enter the Sierras.  

Regardless of the “Ray Day” magic day to enter the Sierras mantra that some
will expound, the fact is that hikers start as early as March and as late as
June and still finish the PCT.  April and May are prime. The two-week window
that some expound is ridiculous and not borne out in facts. While admittedly
it’s not as broad a window as the AT has, it’s still enough time for people
to disburse themselves.

Most of the hikers attending the Kick-Off deliberately set their start date
to attend the event – usually within a week or so of the date.  If there
weren’t an event to attend, they would use other criteria to start, and the
overall number of hikers would disburse over a broader range of possible
dates.  I’d also wager that there would be fewer hikers starting the trail
if they didn’t have the hand-holding opportunity and one-stop shopping and
information gathering available to them.  Reality would winnow out the
ill-prepared.  I think the ill-prepared should not be encouraged and
supported (except to go home and do their homework).

The problem isn’t (yet) how many hikers are on the trail in a season though
that day may come  – it’s how many hikers are starting at or near the same
time.  That’s what’s raised red flags for officials, caused problems of
varying sorts out on the trail, and what will expedite permit regulation.
We either regulate ourselves by spreading ourselves out, or we’ll get
regulated in a way that we won’t like. 

Only time will tell if I’m a bellwether or have bats in my belfry.  

With great respect,

L-Rod (aka Lightening Rod)

   _____  

From: Jim Keener [mailto:lists at oldmanwalking.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 12:06 PM
To: Donna Saufley
Cc: pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Time for the Annual "Why I Boycott the ADZ" Message

Dear Donna,

I do not buy this premise. It infers that the herd is caused by ADZ. While
ADZ probably exacerbates the problem, the kickoff is based on expected hiker
start time, rather than hiker start time being based on the kickoff. There
are, of course, exceptions.

AT hikers start hiking in almost every month of the calendar and there is a
considerably higher percentage of SOBOs on the AT, than the PCT. So having a
starting event in Georgia makes no sense on the AT. The start window for the
PCT, however, is fairly narrow. And an overwhelming number of hikers are
NOBO. A start event makes sense for a number of reasons, primarily in ease
of access for all hikers.

I am going to start hiking earlier than the kickoff in order to miss the
crowds early on in my hike. Not for LNT reasons (hangs head), but that's
what I prefer. Others will begin some time after the kickoff. I have been
re-reading Suge's 2003 journal, and he started in May, but attended the
kickoff earlier. Point: scheduling an event at Lake Morena does not dictate
hike start time. It influences it, most likely, but people will start based
on their own styles and wishes.

I started to write that it is unlikely that the kickoff will change. But I
don't know if that's true. I hope it does not change too much. Even if the
kickoff were to go away, there would be a herd. The nature of conditions in
the west create it, not the kickoff.

With great respect and affection,

Jim Keener ( J J )

HYPERLINK "http://oldmanwalking.net"http://oldmanwalking.net

On Feb 26, 2008, at 11:44 AM, Donna Saufley wrote:

First and foremost, having a starting event that attracts hikers to start on
or around a specific date is against Leave No Trace principles which state,
“Schedule your trip to avoid times of high use.”  “Visit in small groups
when possible.”  “Consider splitting larger groups into smaller groups.”
HYPERLINK
"http://www.lnt.org/programs/principles.php"http://www.lnt.org/programs/prin
ciples.php  

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