Outside Reading 1

A hiker of the Appalachian trial included in his journal on October 20^th, 2014, “The simplicity of Trail life is reassuring and allows quiet contemplation about people and organizations.” To him, trail life is simple. He views it as a time for reflection and little stress. While his view of trail life may be considered ordinary, others may not agree.  Later in his journal he writes, “And it becomes clear that ordinary people can do extraordinary things, given the motivation and opportunity. It is amazing how overweight hikers carrying massive, towering packs quickly become highly efficient hiking machines, in part through necessity.” This journal is an excellent example of the ordinary vs. extraordinary concept. His example from the excerpt demonstrates how the situational environment a person is in can motivate them to create extraordinary outcomes!

This journal entry also covers other topics concerning the trail such as logistics as far as planning for a long distance hike, communication among hikers and unplugging from technology to have a better experience and even telling hikers to have humility. Posts like this show the communitas of the trail hikers and how they support each other in different ways. John Scott (author of the blog) was helping other hikers who may be new to the activity or misguided in another way.

Scott, John. Hiking and Leadership (2014): n. pag. Whiteblaze.net. 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.