[pct-l] Idyllwild Trail Days

[jeff.singewald at comcast.net]

JJ,

A Trail Days like event for the PCT?  I'll be near the front of the line of complaintants.  Geez, why are we trying to turn the PCT into the AT?  Why is it that we need a party to attend 200 miles into your hike?  I could stay home and attend parties like this.

Elevator



-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Jim Keener <lists at oldmanwalking.net> 

> 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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> 
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