[pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days

[Bill Batchelor]

Eh Friken Men 

Sometimes the only herd I want to avoid is in my email box.  And I should
not jump in late here as it may appear I am somehow for or against the idea
of an Idyllwild day.  It's all good.  I am just Amening the idea that if you
do, many people with piss for blood with spit on you.   So, Eh-Friken-Men to
Jim's comments.   How people can slash other people - good people - in a
vacuum . . .  God bring me down off this soap box and deliver me back to my
Zen center.  If I don't like AZD and others do . . .  I don't go.  If I want
to go meet fellow hikers. . . I go!  Does it need to be that if it's not for
me it must be Eeeeeeevil?

Eh Friken Men Jim.

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of Jim Keener
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2008 6:40 PM
To: Brett
Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days

I have an idea. You start it. Find the volunteers, cooks, web designers,
builders. It sounds like a good idea. And if you're serious, do it. And look
what will happen. People will complain.  
Guaranteed. You can work hard, give of yourself, do it with integrity and
the best intentions, and people will impugn your character, motives, and
results. It will be hard work. The rewards will be there, though. Just don't
complain. Don't complain if too many people show up. Don't blame someone
else if you have too many people at one time.  
You choose to host the event, accept the consequences. And if you want
something to change, change it yourself, rather than complain.

Create change, not discord. Build. Don't complain. Not any more. Please.

Jim Keener ( J J )
http://oldmanwalking.net

On Feb 28, 2008, at 6:21 PM, Brett wrote:

> As a potential compromise solution to the ADZ issue, in future years 
> how about reorganizing this as an event more like Trail Days on the 
> Appalachian Trail. Rather than having an "Annual Day Zero" event near 
> the southern border, move it farther north so it has less influence 
> over thru-hikers' planned starting dates.
>
> I propose the community of Idyllwild as a possible location for the 
> event, or thereabouts. To be held the first or second week of May.
> Among
> the potential advantages:
>
> - At ~178 miles from the border, an Idyllwild Trail Days in May would 
> attract fewer not-yet-started thru-hikers. The upshot would be that 
> thru-hikers planning to attend would start out at the border more on a 
> schedule and at a pace of their choosing, thus minimizing the initial 
> herd. For hikers ahead or behind schedule for the event, shuttles 
> could be arranged from and to I-10, Pines-to-Palms, and potentially 
> elsewhere.
>
> - A May event would cater to the less experienced thru-hiker who may 
> want to start earlier than later, giving them plenty of time to hike 
> in to the event. Faster-paced hikers, who may be less inclined to 
> attend, would start later and could easily miss all the to-do and 
> subsequent herd, or could still hit the event, either just before 
> starting their thru-hikes or by shuttle, hitchhiking, etc.
>
> - Any post-event herd would be smaller than that leaving the current 
> ADZ, due to natural "thinning" in the initial 178 miles of walking 
> prior to the event, and also because some hikers would be shuttling 
> back to whatever location they left the trail in order to attend.
>
> - Whatever the size of the post-event herd, a crowd of sorts would be 
> more of an advantage going over Fuller Ridge just north of Idyllwild, 
> especially for the newbies who tend to herd.
>
> - Idyllwild offers the advantage of being close to the PCT, but not 
> directly on it. So again, those who lift their noses at such events 
> could walk right on by, even while it were ongoing, and suffer no such 
> sensory intrusions.
>
> - An Idyllwild event would be fundamentally different than simply 
> disbanding the ADZ in favor of morphing it into Trail Fest or 
> ALDHA-West. By continuing to host the event during thru-hiker season, 
> and toward the beginning of it (unlike, say, on Ray Day in KM), much 
> of the "Kick-Off" spirit would be retained. Also, certain aspects of 
> the event could potentially become more meaningful to thru-hikers, 
> since 2 weeks of walking offers it own fine direction on what gear is 
> and is not going to work, and the vendors in turn would have a more 
> educated and discriminating consumer. And Meadow Ed would, I hope, 
> continue to extol his wisdom on water and snow, and do so before a 
> crowd who actually, by that point, has a clue about the wisdom he's 
> extolling. Perhaps ice axe self-arrest training could also be offered 
> in the vicinity, as well as a post-event guided walk along Fuller 
> Ridge.
>
> Appalachian Trail Days is an event much larger than the ADZPCTKO. Yet 
> ironically, Trail Days seems to have very little impact on the 
> surrounding trail corridor. The reason, it seems to me, is 
> straightforward. It's all about the timing and location of the event, 
> relative to the start of thru-hiking season at Springer Mountain. Move 
> the ADZ away from the border, and it ceases to serve as a starting 
> gate for the marathon heading north. Instead, it becomes more of a 
> watering station, something to look forward to or else to pass quickly 
> by, depending on the whim of the individual.
>
> - blisterfree
>
>
>
>
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