[pct-l] Is WILD good for the PCT?

Sun Jun 9 22:37:17 CDT 2013

It doesn't matter how someone hears about the PCT.

It doesn't matter how long someone has been backpacking. 

What matters is that a hiker loves the trail and respects it enough to properly prepare to hike it. If they do, then they should be welcomed into the PCT community and treated kindly. Period. If they aren't welcome, it is because of blatant snobbery, and that is inexcusable. 

Muse

On Jun 9, 2013, at 4:48 PM, shon mcganty <smcganty at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> I have not heard of "I promise not to suffer," I will have to check that one out.  It sounds better than "Wild." 
> This blog has talked much about the affect "Wild" has done for the PCT, and comments range on both sides of the isle for positive and negative effects.  Some people say the the book hasn't caused an increase in PCT hikers, but I strongly disagree (I do so without any data to back myself up, just using intuition).  There are many books on the PCT, I can think of 5.  They all may increase the number of PCT hikers by a few or a dozen or more, but only "Wild" was takdn by Oprah and made famous, and only "Wild" was made into to a movie. 
> I have an emotional reaction to this which may may or may not represent reality, but I don't like it. For one, I don't like the increasing the number of non-hikers who pick up a book and, say "That sounds like an adventure, I'm going to do that too," and start off from scratch hiking a world-class trail.  I think it needs to be earned, worked up to, from day hikes, to quick over nighters, to national park 5-day loops, to longer on-your-own wilderness hikes, then you do the PCT.  But does it increase the  number of hikers needed help?  Does it increase search and rescue events?  I don't know.  Experienced and inexperienced both get into trouble.   I think it does, but I don't have hard facts.  
> It does, however, increase and spread the use of hiking culture, which includes good things like neat trail names, and includes things that I don't like, like relying on other people's assistance, expecting certain services like water caches and food given along the way.  I don't view PCT thru hikers as the most self relient of people.  That should not be any concern of mine, but I can't help but feel something about it I don't like.  I have my biases I guess. 
> Another thing is the over population of a trail.  My happiest moments hiking combines beatuiful terraine, a viewpoint or a green meadow, and solitude.  I want to feel like it's me alone in the world.  Add a few people and it's still OK.  Add hundreds and I feel like I'm missing out on what I came for.  I was just looking at a Japanese hiking manuel, and there's a picture of a snow chute that is used as a trail to gain a high ridge with a mountain hut, and there is a line of people, a string of 50-60 people headed up into the mountains.  That's not a wilderness experience, and I am fearful that my favorite trails will come to look like that, or like Yosemite valley.  No, I want to get away from it all, away from cities, away from cell phones, away from thrill seekers like zooming mountain bikers, and away from any camp sites that look like Everest base camp. 
> That's all selfish, I know, but it's what I crave.  Set aside selfishness, a thong of people may be harmful to the land.  How many people can camp on a meadow and leave little trace and the meadow recovers vs too many people trample the place to death.  That's hard to determine.
>  
> I pray the PCT stays with us for a long time, which includes a lot of people hiking it, protecting it, but not killing it or the spirit of wilderness.
> Enjoy!
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Sasha Leidman <sashaleidmanpct at gmail.com>
> To: pct-l at backcountry.net 
> Sent: Saturday, June 8, 2013 4:48 PM
> Subject: [pct-l] Is WILD good for the PCT?
> 
> 
> Hi,
> I just received my copy of the PCT communicator in the mail today (thank
> you PCTA) and started reading one of the articles. It was about how "Wild",
> the book by Cheryl Strayed, has drastically increased the number of people
> applying for permits. As a PCT hiker myself, I was excited at first by all
> the new people interested in long distance backpacking. That was until I
> read the line "Are they inexperienced? I can't tell" and I became horrified
> by the possible reality that the book has brought. I hiked the trail from
> Tuolomne Meadows to Manning Park in 2011, the year that redefined what
> "higher than average snow levels" actually meant. I grew up hiking. As a
> toddler we'd go camping every other weekend. I read Ray Jardine like the
> bible and had (and still have) topo maps all over my walls. I didn't see
> the trail for 200 continuous miles and despite all the practice I had with
> map and compass navigation, I still got lost on a number of occasions. I
> realize that the PCT is about adapting to that learning curve. My fear is
> though that when hundreds of people start hiking the trail with minimal
> experience, that learning curve becomes so steep, it becomes dangerous. I'm
> the last person to say that long distance hiking is for "experts" only but
> when I hear that trail angels are becoming overwhelmed, that the number of
> people that don't complete the trail is rapidly increasing, and the number
> of injuries to pct hikers is increasing, i begin to ask why. I don't think
> it's one thing. Books like Barbara Savages "I Promise not to Suffer" fall
> along the same lines. While hiking the trail, I met a lot of people that
> had hiked the AT and told me of the culture that developed from Bill
> Bryson's book "A Walk in the Woods" in which people would decide one day to
> buy a backpack and start hiking. While not as extreme, it seems as though
> "Wild" is producing a similar effect. The story of a woman that decides to
> hike the pct with a ridiculously heavy pack is inspiring and I understand
> why the book became so popular. I'm curious though as to how seasoned
> hikers like many of you have perceived the book and if any of you have
> noticed an effect from these "Wild hikers".
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