Outside Reading I- Salad Days

As I was looking through the trailjournal website, I came across a long distance hiker named Salad Days. I looked through his blog, and his most recent post was from July 5, 2014, when he hiked Rae Lakes Loop in Kings Canyon National Park, California. This detailed blog was very interesting because Salad Days included pictures to go along with his journey. He also met many hikers along the way, who he exchanged hiking experiences with. Communitas is a very important part of long distance hiking; another hiker will help you if you are in trouble, and visa versa. However, since Salad Days was on a short, 3 day hike, there was little time for communitas to occur. At one point, he met up with a group of people that he had met on his first day of hiking. One member of the group was particularly judgmental and unfriendly. He announced that there was no way that Salad Days had finished the 42 mile hike in only 2 days, and that he must have used a shortcut. Salad Days showed the group pictures of a major section of the trail, declaring that he absolutely hiked the entire trail without a shortcut. The bluntness of this group member is odd, especially since he knows nothing about Salad Days or his past hiking experience. It is important to hike with an open mind because you never know who you will meet, or what their past is like.