Be prepared for something very unusual from me: a topical blog post.
Alright, I may be stretching the definition of the word topical a little far. The word topical usually implies that a subject is of great interest in the current climate, that office workers are discussing it fervently over coffee breaks, and that inches of column space are being devoted to it.
In reality, just one article recent has been published on the subject and probably only because it is a slow news day. This is the news that the fabled Appalachian trail may be extended.
The Appalachian trail, or AT to its friends, holds a special place in the hearts of hikers worldwide. It is one of the world's oldest long distance trails, and what a trail it is. At 2,178 miles it stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia up the eastern seaboard of the United States to Mount Katahdin in Maine.
It may no longer be the longest trail in the world or even the United States, but it is the grand daddy of all those that have followed it. Even the Pennine Way - which Joe I will be walking next month in preparation for The Great Walk West: a walk that includes a part of the AT - was directly inspired by the Appalachian Trail.
Those who have completed its full length are known affectionately as thru-hikers and some of their number are truly legendary. Emma "Grandma" Gatewood was the first woman to complete the trail, despite being a grandmother of 23. Her famous wit and inappropriate gear leaves made her an instant AT celebrity. A status which was only heightened when she repeated the feat a futher two times. Britons though will be more familiar with Bill Bryson and his famous failure to complete the AT.
Each year more thru-hikers complete the trail than the America's two other long distance trails, the Pacific Crest Trail and American Discovery Trail, combined. Why then is it so popular? Partly it is the history and the stories of past thru-hikers. Partly it is the legendary companionship between hikers, who tend to bump into each other every day for months on end, and the charity of those who live around the trail: so called trail magic. Partly it is because the AT is so achievable to anyone who has six to eight months to spare.
It is against this background that a growing number of people are calling for the trail to be extended. The Appalachian mountains do not finish at the trail's northern terminus but continue through Quebec into Newfoundland. A group is currently blazing a trail known as The International Appalachian Tail into Newfoundland and hope for it to become part of the AT proper.
For some reason, I find myself hating this idea. I have only stepped momentarily on the AT and will only be walking a few hundred miles of it next year, but I already feel an affinity to the trail. The true stretch from Georgia to Maine has a rich history and prestige that the no extension will ever match.
I am not against new walking trails, far from it, just the pointless association of new trails with the established and well loved AT brand. Especially if it belittles the achievements of those who have already walked the trail and makes the walk less attainable to future hikers.
The Appalachian Trail may not be enough to satisfy the whims of nutters such as Joe and myself, but that does not mean it should be extended to accommodate the moronic few. Give these people deserve a new badge that includes but does not replace the badge of the AT thru-hiker.
As for plans to extend the trail through Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, Scotland, France, Spain, the Atlas mountains and any other peaks can claim some sort of geological affinity to the Appalachians, no comment. I just wonder who will be so bold as to suggest that the Appalachain Mountain's Antarctic cousins be included?
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
An announcement
When I tell people my plans for next year, I invariably get one of two reactions. People either remark that Forest Gump did something similar, or slowly back off, fixing me with confused and hostile gazes, wondering where the nearest straightjacket is and how to get me into it.
So which of Forest Gump's exploits am I so crazily going to replicate? Will I be joining the American army to fight a pointless war abroad? Perhaps I am going to run into a soon-to-be bombed forest to save the life of an ungrateful man. Or maybe I am going Shrimp fishing in a hurricane with a man with no legs?
Not quite. Even I am not quite that crazy.
Instead, I will be walking 5000 miles for charity, crossing 17 American states, leaving the Georgia's Atlantic coast on Valentine's Day 2011, and arriving nine and a half months later at the Pacific coast of Washington State.
Now I know what you are thinking; Forest Gump did not walk across America. True, but he did run across large amount of it. Lots of times. Close enough.
So how did this come about? Well one day, my old Keblite friend, and rather amusing blogger, Joe O'Connor called me, explaining his desire to pen a mammoth adventure book, preferably with someone capable of occasionally taking a professional quality image. I am not sure why he chose me, and am even less sure why I said yes, but for whatever reason I agreed and the planning began.
During that rather lengthy phone call, we hammered out a route, quickly dismissing the organised transamerican hiking trails, preferring instead to play a transcontinental game of join-the-dots. We will connect a series of points that especially interest us, spending time on parts of the Appalachian Trail, the American Discovery trail, and the Pacific Crest trail in between.
We will visit the Great Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg Tennessee, the world's longest cave system, St Louis, Kansas City, Lake Oahe, the South Dakotan Badlands, the Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, the Great Sandy Desert, Crater Lake, and Mount Hood to name but a few.
We be soaked by thunderstorms, endure freezing temperatures, relentless heat, gale force winds, snow, and ice. Our feet will blister, or legs will ache, and our minds may break. Nevertheless, somewhere along the way, we will meet amazing people and see hundreds of ordinary and extraordinary sights.
Neither of us have done anything like this before. It will not be easy, and we will probably never speak to each other again. But, when it is done, we will almost certainly look back at it as one of the defining and most rewarding achievements of our lives.
Right now I am living a brilliant life, spending my days in the countryside taking countless photographs, but to be perfectly honest, I simply cannot wait to get going.
One last very important point. There is a serious reason behind this. It is not just Joe and I waltzing across a continent avoiding the real world by walking across as much of it as possible. We both aim to raise seriously respectable wedges of cash, be it dollars or pounds, for our respective charities.
I have put a great deal of thought into the charity I will represent. My main passion is wildlife, but I recognise that a heartfelt wildlife only approach to conservation is simply not feasible in the modern world. Successful conservation initiatives almost always involve the local community and cutting edge ecological science.
Until recently, I have been at loss to find a charity that exclusively backs exactly this kind of modern conservation. That is until the BBC Wildlife Fund popped up with their Wild Night In.
The BBC Wildlife Fund funds exactly the kind of conservation I am passionate about. They seek out projects worldwide that draw upon cutting edge science and enterprising passionate individuals to protect flagship species, help the local community, and conserve the environment as a hole. They truly make a difference.
I have just donated a small amount via the fund's Justgiving page, and would urge you to do the same, whether spurred on by our walk or not.
Oh, and we have a name for our adventure. "The Great Walk West: Being British Across America." I shall keep you posted.
So which of Forest Gump's exploits am I so crazily going to replicate? Will I be joining the American army to fight a pointless war abroad? Perhaps I am going to run into a soon-to-be bombed forest to save the life of an ungrateful man. Or maybe I am going Shrimp fishing in a hurricane with a man with no legs?
Not quite. Even I am not quite that crazy.
Instead, I will be walking 5000 miles for charity, crossing 17 American states, leaving the Georgia's Atlantic coast on Valentine's Day 2011, and arriving nine and a half months later at the Pacific coast of Washington State.
Now I know what you are thinking; Forest Gump did not walk across America. True, but he did run across large amount of it. Lots of times. Close enough.
So how did this come about? Well one day, my old Keblite friend, and rather amusing blogger, Joe O'Connor called me, explaining his desire to pen a mammoth adventure book, preferably with someone capable of occasionally taking a professional quality image. I am not sure why he chose me, and am even less sure why I said yes, but for whatever reason I agreed and the planning began.
During that rather lengthy phone call, we hammered out a route, quickly dismissing the organised transamerican hiking trails, preferring instead to play a transcontinental game of join-the-dots. We will connect a series of points that especially interest us, spending time on parts of the Appalachian Trail, the American Discovery trail, and the Pacific Crest trail in between.
We will visit the Great Smokey Mountains, Gatlinburg Tennessee, the world's longest cave system, St Louis, Kansas City, Lake Oahe, the South Dakotan Badlands, the Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, the Great Sandy Desert, Crater Lake, and Mount Hood to name but a few.
We be soaked by thunderstorms, endure freezing temperatures, relentless heat, gale force winds, snow, and ice. Our feet will blister, or legs will ache, and our minds may break. Nevertheless, somewhere along the way, we will meet amazing people and see hundreds of ordinary and extraordinary sights.
Neither of us have done anything like this before. It will not be easy, and we will probably never speak to each other again. But, when it is done, we will almost certainly look back at it as one of the defining and most rewarding achievements of our lives.
Right now I am living a brilliant life, spending my days in the countryside taking countless photographs, but to be perfectly honest, I simply cannot wait to get going.
One last very important point. There is a serious reason behind this. It is not just Joe and I waltzing across a continent avoiding the real world by walking across as much of it as possible. We both aim to raise seriously respectable wedges of cash, be it dollars or pounds, for our respective charities.
I have put a great deal of thought into the charity I will represent. My main passion is wildlife, but I recognise that a heartfelt wildlife only approach to conservation is simply not feasible in the modern world. Successful conservation initiatives almost always involve the local community and cutting edge ecological science.
Until recently, I have been at loss to find a charity that exclusively backs exactly this kind of modern conservation. That is until the BBC Wildlife Fund popped up with their Wild Night In.
The BBC Wildlife Fund funds exactly the kind of conservation I am passionate about. They seek out projects worldwide that draw upon cutting edge science and enterprising passionate individuals to protect flagship species, help the local community, and conserve the environment as a hole. They truly make a difference.
I have just donated a small amount via the fund's Justgiving page, and would urge you to do the same, whether spurred on by our walk or not.
Oh, and we have a name for our adventure. "The Great Walk West: Being British Across America." I shall keep you posted.
New Captioning Website!
Stop! Newsflash! The Exposing The Wild Captioning System website is up and running, complete with fancy slideshows like the one below!
The Captioning System has also had a revamp, and the new final draft is more comprehensive and unambiguous than ever. If anyone has any comments on the system, it would be great to hear them.
If any photographers out there would like to use the system, please do. The more the merrier! If you could just link to the website, that would be great.
My website (www.moonlightimaging.com) has also been updated and takes into account the new changes.
Unfortunately, I will be unable to update my older blog posts, I am simply too busy and have spent too many hours in front of the computer in the last few days finalising the website, as my bloodshot eyes can testify.
Anyway, that is it! The system is out there! Lets see how far we can take it.
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