[pct-l] Arguing with Idiots

[carol bruno]

My thoughts exactly!!  Should be quite a show...I'm in.  can'tquit

--- On Sun, 11/8/09, hiker97 at aol.com <hiker97 at aol.com> wrote:

From: hiker97 at aol.com <hiker97 at aol.com>
Subject: Re: Arguing with Idiots
To: reinholdmetzger at cox.net, pct-l at backcountry.net, losthiker at sisqtel.net, montedodge at msn.com, reddirt2 at earthlink.net, duckface99 at gmail.com, tooloouk79852 at yahoo.com, lostonthecrest at hotmail.com
Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 3:56 PM


I say we should plan for 2012 to be it.  The end.  One of these predictions has to right.  They have been going on for the last 10,000 years.  So, I figure that the odds are getting good that one should soon be right.  This is too cool.  I plan to be on top of Mt. Whitney when the end comes.  Some big monster comet will probably hit Las Vegas and my house.  I will see it on the horizon.  I will see the shock wave headed my way.  But I will have the satisfaction that all the low landers and pilgrims will get it first before us mountain men.


 


If it hits out in the Pacific Ocean, then the tsunami might not get me.  But I will be able to jump off the east face into a refreshing in-land sea for a swim.  Nice.


 


Respectfully submitted and your obedient servant,


 


Switchback the Trail Pirate








-----Original Message-----

From: Reinhold Metzger <reinholdmetzger at cox.net>

To: pct-l at backcountry.net; Deems <losthiker at sisqtel.net>; MONTE DODGE <montedodge at msn.com>; Hiker97 <hiker97 at aol.com>; Stephen <reddirt2 at earthlink.net>; scott williamson <duckface99 at gmail.com>; ''Adam Bradley'' <tooloouk79852 at yahoo.com>; joseph kisner <lostonthecrest at hotmail.com>

Sent: Sun, Nov 8, 2009 11:31 am

Subject: Arguing with Idiots






Switchback, 

I can't believe what I am hearing in this recent "ARGUMENT" about 

dangers on the trail in the "End of the World" thread. 

 

Bricks response is right on the button. 

 

To ignore or to refuse to acknowledge that dangers do exist on the trail is like sticking your head into the ground and pretend they do not exist. 

I have been hiking the Sierra for going on 35 years now and always accept the fact that I will be exposed to danger. 

That does not mean I will let that scare me or control my hike, it only means I am aware of potential danger and plan accordingly. 

You can not eliminate the danger, but you can plan to be prepared 

for it. 

 

It is exactly that kind of naive thinking that encourages inexperienced hikers, who should not be on the PCT to begin with, to attempt a thru-hike 

and then call 911 when they get scared or run into trouble, because they were let to believe that there is no danger in the wilderness and "while 

hiking the trail we are safer than we are in our own homes". 

 

I have been reading the book "Arguing with Idiots" and this has made me realize that conversing on the list is a lot like "Arguing with Idiots". 

 

Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of cool, intelligent folks on the 

list...but, unfortunately, there are also a few "IDIOTS" on the list and at this stage of my life I do not want to argue with "IDIOTS" any more. 

 

So, to my "FRIENDS" I say, once more, "ADIOS" and to the "IDIOTS" I say 

"wise up" Amigos, before it is to late. 

 

JMT Reinhold -------------------------- 

Diane wrote: 

Your post is awesome, Louie. You have it exactly right. The trip is an escape from fear. It's a journey into Middle Earth. It's a wonderful, safe, magical experience. You captured it correctly. 

 

The thing is, the people on the trail know this, but most people on this list do not. Every dire warning on this list is total hype. You'll hear this complaint many times when you're out on the trail. 

 

Since we're entering the lull time, expect this list to hype into warp speed with dire warnings about everything. Don't worry. These aren't the lunatics you'll be hiking with. Those lunatics are smelly, hairy and happy. 

 

Diane 

 

On Nov 4, 2009, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net <http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l> Louie wrote: 

>/ You'll have to forgive me for posting back to back once again, but I'm 

/>/ trying to figure out just what kind of band of lunatics is going to be 

/>/ on the trail come 2010. 

/>/ 

/>/ All of this crazy talk about coyotes, and black bears, and rapists and 

/>/ the end of the world make me wonder if even one sane person wants to 

/>/ walk to Canada? Do any of you fear mongers realize how benign it 

/>/ actually is in the Sierras? How often the sun shines? How kind the 

/>/ weather is for essentially, the ENTIRE walk? We're safer on the trail 

/>/ then any one of us is in our own homes. I hope the joke is on me />/ and I 

/>/ just didn't get it. 

/>/ 

/>/ Because I plan on enjoying myself. I am going to have fun. I am />/ going 

/>/ to partake in all the fish and bird the mountains grant to me. And />/ what 

/>/ I won't be doing is entertaining all of the silly worries about Lions 

/>/ and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! I'll be sleeping like a baby every />/ night. 

/>/ Because, apparently I know something all the paranoid people don't />/ know. 

/>/ 

/>/ This trip is supposed to be an escape from fear, it is supposed to />/ be a 

/>/ peaceful walk, a contemplative time. A Mission. When the wilderness 

/>/ becomes nothing more then an extension of the fears we carry around />/ with 

/>/ us in the "world", then God help us all. 

/>/ 

/>/ Plan on having fun. Your failures won't be because you got />/ attacked by 

/>/ a bear, or a rapist- you'll fail because you quit on yourself. And />/ that 

/>/ is the hard truth. 

/