[pct-l] Marmot

[Carl Siechert]

Don't feel bad. I didn't know about "the class of 1977" until 2001 either!
I mean, I knew a bunch of people with whom we had crossed paths -- and, in
some cases, spent considerable time together -- on a long hike in 1977 but
I never really thought of the *class* as an entity, and never thought I'd
see those folks again. That all changed in 2001 when I saw a message from
Strider on PCT-L. We reconnected and then started chasing down others until
we had us a movement.

Regarding your sage advice to youth: Absolutely! With one quarter left
before graduation, we knew if we didn't hike in '77 we'd soon have jobs,
homes, spouses, kids, responsibilities -- and no chance of a thru hike. Our
parents were mortified, thinking we were dropping out just shy of
graduating, but we convinced them that we had to do this now, and that we'd
finish that last quarter after we returned, which we did. I'm glad you were
able to do it on the installment plan.

On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 2:25 PM David Hough reading PCT-L <pctl at oakapple.net>
wrote:

>
> But rather than joining the class of 1977, which I didn't even know about
> until 2001, when I got out of graduate school I abandoned all those dreams
> and went to work to pay off my education, then continued to pay off my
> house,
> then continued to pay off my chilren.     I finally got to hike the whole
> PCT in bits and pieces over 2001-2013 - inspired by a dinner table
> conversation
> at May Lake High Sierra Camp on September 9, 2000.
>
> "The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or,
> perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the
> middle-aged
> man concludes to build a woodshed with them."
>
> None of this is meant as advice to youth.
> But if you come to a fork in the road, take it.
>
>