Colin Fletcher-The Thousand Mile Summer

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Hetchy
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Colin Fletcher-The Thousand Mile Summer

Post by Hetchy »

Upon completing his 6 month trek from Mexico to the Oregon border along the east side of the Sierra:
"But I had known all along that discovering America was only a defensive "reason", only a hook on which to hang something even more worthwhile. I had thought that at the end I would see the real reasons clearly. But it had not happened that way.
I sometimes seemed to be coming closer to a valid answer when I remembered ill-defined thoughts that floated through my mind as I squatted in front of a campfire, gazing into its pulsating caverns- "dreaming the fire," as they say in Swahili. Living the way I was, I existed, very consciously, as an atom among the forces of nature, among the huge forces that shape the earth's crust, that regulate the ebb and flow of seasons, that weave and hold in balance all the delicate and interlocking strands that constitute the web of life- the flowers and the rattlesnakes and the coyotes and the men.
And as I squatted and "dreamed the fire" I would feel a truth that we usually have to stop and tell ourselves intelectually. I would accept, in a new and fuller sense, that we are, in everything we do, an integral part of this planet's complexity.
And such acceptance is something you can lose when you live,always, in a city."

Colin Fletcher- The Thousand Mile Summer
You can make more money, but you can't make more time.
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Sierra Maclure
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Re: Colin Fletcher-The Thousand Mile Summer

Post by Sierra Maclure »

Amen.
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Benwaller
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Re: Colin Fletcher-The Thousand Mile Summer

Post by Benwaller »

I bought this book in 1964, 1st printing, still have it. Changed my life. The proper attitude is gratitude.

So, in the summer of '65, between freshman and sophmore year in high school, I set off up Bubb's Creek to do the walk to Yosemite with two other fools. With a copy of Starr's Guide in hand, wearing a Pendleton wool shirt, combat boots and hauling all the rest of the "equipment" available in those days (mainly what I found in the garage) on my back, heavy and heavier, the expedition commenced. Short trip for my buds, who bailed out across Kearsarge due to a lack of passion and an excess of fear. Had some fear of my own but they exercised theirs first so my opportunity was lost. And as it was my idea to do the walk in the first place I couldn't very well fold up like them. Matter of principle and so forth. Back in the day principle was a big deal to me. Still is. Which can be forgiven if you understand that I have always been a little slower than the other kids in matters of ethics.

Whatever. It was a really great trip for me, once I repaired my pack from the predations of the bear(s) who, at the intersection of the JMT above Vidette tore up my pack in pursuit of the slab of Canadian bacon with which I had "provisioned" myself. And the pound of butter, they got that too. Those were the easy lessons. Though now that I think about it all the lessons earned on that trip were easy lessons. Must have been, because I never forgot 'em.

Yeah, Colin Fletcher ruined me for life. Opened the "doors to perception" in a tangible way.

RIP, Colin. Your book, the book that changed my life, is right here on my desk. Think I'll read a chapter or two tonight.

HYOH,

Ben
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