[pct-l] Billy Goat's lost poles

[Timothy Nye]

Point taken Diane.  Distractions, including dogs that want to rip your leg
off and beat you to death with it, would suffice to take ones mind
temporarily off their poles.  Still, you realized the lack within a
relatively short distance.

 Mea culpa: when I got off the trail last year I was in sufficient pain that
when I leaned my poles against the truck that stopped to pick me up, in
order to move items from the floor of the back, I forget the poles and
didn't realize it until 10 minutes later. They were left in the dust of the
road.

At that point, however, I had already gotten off the trail before the truck
stopped and I was in distress.  I'd spent the a week and two ER visits
attempting to recover before giving it a last shot.

It was the finders keepers mentality that bothered me which I feel is
antithetical to what I've experienced on the trail and that which I hope to
extend to those whom I encounter on the trail in the future.  In fairness, I
think the finders keepers aspect is really a reflection of our current
society at large.  The great thing about the trail, and trail life, it seems
to me is that it is trans-formative and will, if given a chance, awaken
within us all a change that makes such an attitude unlikely, if not
improbable.



On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 7:22 PM, Diane at Santa Barbara Hikes dot com <
diane at santabarbarahikes.com> wrote:

>
> On Apr 10, 2010, at 6:30 PM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:
>
> > There is no way a
> > hiker is going to forget or voluntarily abandon hiking poles.
>
> I left my poles in somebody's campsite in Oregon. I stopped there to
> get water and there was a 70+ year old couple out backpacking camped
> at a small site next to the spring. Very inspiring to see them out
> enjoying nature. I stopped to talk with them while their vicious dog
> strained at his leash ready to kill me. They warned me not to go near
> it. I got my water, said good-bye and went off up the trail. About a
> 15 minutes later I realized I felt a little too free. Oops! Where are
> my poles? I had to go all the way back and deal with that dog again
> to get them.
>
> I hope the people who found Billy Goat's poles read this topic so
> they know he was behind them. Not sure he'd go to Idyllwild. Maybe
> he'll be (re)united with some poles at the kickoff.
>
>
> Books I've written:
> ~ Piper's Flight
> ~ Adventure and Magic
> ~ Santa Barbara Hikes
> http://stores.lulu.com/dianesoini
>
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