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<DIV><SPAN class=718042306-04112007><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm finally catching
up on the posts from the last couple of weeks. It's a shame that O.d. left
the list, and it's a shame the action between him and the list got to be too
negative. For those of you who have met O.d. and (hopefully) seen one of
his slide shows you will remember him as a very colorful person yet very
opinionated. In the early days of ALDHA-West in the mid-90's when Jardine
ran it Jardine banned O.d. from attending the gatherings simply because O.d. did
not agree with Jardine's philosophies of long distance hiking. O.d.
stayed in touch with ALDHA-West by re-joining under the name name ":Dutch
Chocolate"! After Jardine abandoned ALDHA-West O.d. eventually knew it was
safe to come back to the gathering and he gave an amazingly entertaining slide
show one year. His photos would include things like bugs he watched
while hiking the AT, and perhaps he spent much more time observing things
like bugs and less time trying to make his miles for that day.
He would also show up with a printed manifesto called something like the
"Slackpacking Journals" which I have kept in my personal library of long
distance hiking materials. One thing is for sure, O.d. was, and still is,
very passionate about what he does when he goes on a hike. Nobody
personifies the expression, "hike your own hike" more than O.d. Coyote.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=718042306-04112007><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=718042306-04112007><FONT face=Arial size=2>My point?
Appreciate the positive things someone like O.d. brings to the community and try
to understand that his opinions are based on a passionate sense of his beliefs
and approach to long distance hiking and not some attempt to prove that his way
is superior than anyone else's. I have met one other person in the
distance hiking community who was equally as opinionated (not someone who posts
to this list) as O.d., but that other person was really dangerous, verbally
abusive and had issues that I would rather not get into. To me O.d.
is a refreshing voice who could be misunderstood, but means no harm. After
reading his posts I could see why someone would construe his words as flames,
but in this case I would let O.d. be O.d., and just appreciate the guy for who
he is. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<P><I><FONT face=Arial size=2>Roger Carpenter</FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Vancouver, Washington</FONT></I> <BR><I><FONT face=Arial
size=2>www.elkpass.com</FONT></I> </P>
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