[pct-l] Missing Hiker

[katherine becksvoort]

So, this is my first post on this listserve...have been enjoying all the rants, raves, information and encouragement by reading a smidgen each day from everyone. 
 
To say something like:
And I had thought seriously about hiking the AT.
 
made me feel very sad. CNN had suggested that it was a thru hiker, etc...but how often does our media like to embellish the truth? This poor woman was not thru hiking...and I'm sorry to hear that the AT is getting such a bad rap, again, for violence.  Violence in proximity to a trail is very different from violence due to being a thru hiker. 
 
I am also a female who thru hiked 99% of the time alone on the AT....it  was an incredible experience. The first question people ask me as a female when I either told them I had hiked, or that I am planning a PCT thru this year, is "Aren't you afriad of hiking alone? What does your family, boyfriend, brother, etc. think of that? If I was your (fill in the male blank here), I wouldn't let you do it."
 
That just makes me want to prove them wrong. And I have once already, by hiking the AT alone. It was the best experience of my life. 
 
It also makes me feel sorry that they are so afraid of something so beautiful.  Unfortunate things happen everywhere...driving a car, eating at a restaurant, sitting in class....it shouldn't make us stop doing what we dream of doing.
 
MoonPie
 
 
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