[pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days

[Brett]

I'm no Myron Avery, Jim. But I have been known to sit in trees.

Actually, my inner Avery is currently fighting through brush along the 
Grand Enchantment Trail. We each have our causes.

Cheers,

- blisterfree


Jim Keener wrote:
> 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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