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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dear Hiking Community ~</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Many, many apologies to those who have taken offense at my
earlier recommendations</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>regarding the components of a good trail journal. I
believe that the recommendations are</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>completely valid, though that are only one person's
opinion. To each his own, as they say.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>However, the "whining" comment should not have made the
list.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Whining. There is surprisingly little true whining
in the many journals I've read to date. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Conveying ones hurts, struggles, difficulties and sorrows
strike me as components of many</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>of the best journals out there. 'go-Big', for
example, had a journey fraught with physical</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>difficulties: bee stings, blisters, feet problems,
allergies, and a shin injury that nearly ended his</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>trek. This guy struggled! Yet most would not
consider his writings as whining. I found them</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>gritty, brutally transparent and moving. His
preachiness is another matter, of course... but</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>his is a very good journal. All of t</FONT><FONT
face=Arial>he journals that are posted online, with rare
exceptions, are</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>true gifts to the hiking </FONT><FONT
face=Arial>community.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Last item: #11 item of a good trail journal, in my
narrow minded, ignorant and blissfully selfish</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>opinion is this: tell the reader how many hours you
hiked each day. Again, this is just my </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>humble opinion.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Happy hiking!</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>