Why the censorship of certain books about the Appalachian Trail?

In response to a comment by someone about a book entitled "Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail" ... no review was given, this person just didn't like hearing about bad things that can happen on the AT and didn't want anyone else to read the book.  [Turns out the book is a NOVEL and not even factual.]

I wrote: I don't think anyone harmed Geraldine Largay. I think she did what many of us "of a certain age" are prone to do --- let a schedule dictate our lives and rush to meet our deadline, throwing caution to the wind ---

However, the book referenced apparently strikes at the core of the "Mystic Order of the Appalachian Trail" from the brief description [depressing, something 'like this' might happen to Geraldine] and IM(not so)HO should be part of the whole of a hiker's preparation for hiking the Trail, even if it is fiction, as the author of the book clearly notes. A person - male or female - makes decisions in life based on as much Information as she or he can gather - denying a person information, even if it's a "What If" novel, could prove detrimental --- whether we're talking about Whitewater Kayaking which has drowning hazards or Rock Climbing which as falling hazards or Mountain Bike riding in places with grizzly bears and panthers or Canoeing in places where there are alligators --- few would want anyone to go on those adventures not knowing the dangers and learning how to prepare for them --- WHY is it so different when it comes to the Appalachian Trail??   WHAT IF scenarios are often used in preparation for real life, so what's so inherently 'wrong' about reading a novel with a What If story that has an unhappy ending?

An Editorial Aside:

Bill Bryson's fictional and questionable satire work, "A Walk in the Woods." gave the readers a mythical and inaccurate version of Thru Hiking the Appalachian Trail and of the Southern Appalachian Trail States and her people.  It's about as accurate as the novel in question, yet it is available at bookstores in the "Hiking" or "Appalachian Trail" sections and Mr Bryson has been a speaker at a number of venues, from stores that sell hiking equipment to AT hiking clubs and events.  [Some may question my dislike for the Southernphobe Mr Bryson ... in the South, we despise people who mock our disabled and elderly mothers and grandmothers as he did of Mrs. Mull's mother.  If ever there was a book not to read or a person not to support with your American dollars, it is Mr Bryson.] 

Few are frightened out of Whitewater Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Mountain Bike Riding or Canoeing after reading stories of drownings, broken necks, maulings or other injuries or deaths In these activities --- so why the fear that one or a dozen stories which include harrowing experiences or deaths on the Appalachian Trail will deter anyone?

When I watch the made for TV movies about fictionalized real life adventures that "nearly went wrong and could have ended in death but didn't" it does not invoke fear of embarking on a similar adventure. When I read accounts of people who overcome the harrowing odds during an adventure (books about K2 come to mind), it doesn't preclude my risking my life on a similar experience. But I do learn something from those Adventure Books -- they are beneficial. And denying me knowledge of them, be they a string of facts, a woven story, or a fictionalized tale, were I to plan such a Trek, such an exciting Once in a Lifetime Adventure, would be tantamount to blind folding me and telling me to cross 8 lanes of Interstate at rush hour.

Other sports do not get the censorship given to the AT - and most hiking in general - WHY the censorship of a novel about the Appalachian Trail just because someone doesn't like the way it ends?

Another Editorial Aside:

When I responded to the remark about "Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail" I was unaware that it was JUST A NOVEL and not a factual account.  It was a 'what if' tale that apparently has some very accurate descriptions of various places along the Appalachian Trail and the reader got caught up in it ... which is fine.  But to try to censor others from reading it?  Let's censor all the books with unhappy endings or endings which don't suit our fancy of the moment.  ~~ A little sarcasm to end this post.

PS ... I never have read "Lady Chatterley's Lover" ... it was censored when I was in High School.  Maybe I should see if I can find it online and read it.  Or maybe even buy a copy when I buy "Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail."

A lost hiker on the Appalachian Trail in Maine

In my previous posts about the dangers of the Appalachian Trail, I have tried to educate the reader to understand that being informed is healthier than blithely thinking that hiking is just "putting one foot in front of the other."  It is NOT that simplistic.  

From the article: If not for white blazes on granite, a hiker could clamber off the trail on the way up. On the way down, a missed step could mean a snapped ankle or something worse, like a tumble off the narrow trail.

Please read the entire article.  And pray for the SAR teams and the volunteer searchers and the Rangers and all the others --- because finding a dead body is not easy on any of them.  And those who think that "well, she died doing what she loved" need to reconsider that thought --- sincerely reconsider that thought. 

Morning Sentinel, August 4, 2013: On the Trail, many trials, for hikers and searchers alike

My conjecture is that it was raining, the rocks were slick, Geraldine was slower than she had planned and was hurrying, she did get to the Carrabassett River, it was high, she slipped on the rocks and her body will be found downstream.  I hope and pray that I'm wrong, but after reading the story, from my experience on the AT, even though it was 'only 41.6 miles,' this is the scenario that comes to mind.

"Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, Please come 'round, there's someone lost who must be found."

July 18, 2004: Unprepared Hikers Burden Baxter Park Staff

This is only one article from 9 years ago (there are many more current articles) and it does not describe the complete incident.  Surviving to tell the story turns a life-threatening event into an exciting adventure.  I wonder how the "adventure" would have been described if, during the 32 hour ordeal, one or more participants had died?  

Turning a near tragedy into an exciting hike is an example of what I now call: "The Mystic Order of the Appalachian Trail" -- whose sole members are those Appalachian Trail hikers who survive life-threatening and risky experiences while hiking the Trail which get translated in their telling into an "heroic and challenging adventure" merely because none of the participants succumbed to any of the many dangerous situations they and the Trail placed them in and who have sworn themselves never to reveal the true dangers and their near-fatal instances while hiking the Trail. 

Someone will want to comment that "you could die in your bed or on the Trail; I choose the Trail." Fine and good, but please be considerate of others and do not place your rescuers in danger. If you have a Trail Death Wish, do not carry a "Spot" or satellite phone and do not use your cell-phone when you place yourself in a life-threatening situation or when you injure yourself because you chose to place yourself in harm's way.  Calling for help to get yourself out of a predicament on the Appalachian Trail which you chose to place yourself in is the height of Trail Hypocrisy! Take responsibility for hiking the Trail and do not expect others to bail you out because of your lack of adequate gear, planning, preparation, or physical health or ability. 

Just because the Trail is "there" and you think you have a "right" to hike it, does not give you permission to take risks and then expect others to rescue you because you choose to "die on the Trail rather than at home." No, you do NOT choose to "die on the Trail!" You choose to have someone, Park Employee, Ranger, Volunteer, Rescue Unit, another hiker, come save you so you can "die at home."  Be honest -- or refuse to call for rescue -- do not be a hypocrite! 

Quote: The park doesn’t require reimbursement by those rescued. Caverly suggested to the trustees that they might consider it in the future to apply to individuals "who say they have a right to go" hiking in hazardous weather conditions. End Quote. 

By Phyllis Austin, Maine Environmental News (www.meepi.org). 10/25/04

On the night of July 18, 2004, rain and fog shrouded Katahdin, and three women – one of them 81 years old – hovered in the dark on the mountain’s high plateau.

Loretta Copeland of Ocala, Florida, was so tired from the 5.2-mile hike up the Hunt trail to the 5,267-foot summit that she couldn’t make it back down. Her 65-year-old companions, Nancy Keegan of West Palmetto, Florida, and Patty Faith from Altoona, Pennsylvania, were not able to leave her. A lone hiker who happened to come across the trio, decided to stay with them for support.

The rangers at Katahdin Stream campground were notified by returning hikers that Loretta Copeland needed help. Searchers proceeded up the trail for two-and-a-half hours. At 11 p.m., they still hadn’t found the women and turned back because the weather made it too risky to continue.

Rangers were enroute again by 7 a.m. When they finally located the women, they placed Copeland on a stretcher. The evacuation off the mountain took six hours. Copeland was transported by ambulance to the Millinocket hospital and kept overnight for observation.

...

The search and rescue efforts were highlighted by park director Buzz Caverly at the October 15 [2004],meeting of the Park Authority because "it was amazing" to have people in that age category on Katahdin. "Older people decided it was time to conquer Katahdin, without realizing you don’t conquer the mountain," he observed.

Dan Martin, one of the authority’s three members and head of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, responded that his agency is "seeing the same thing" with search and rescue of more older people outdoors. "These are people in their 70s, 80s, early 90s," he said. "They give out . . . are ill-prepared." 

...

"People look at Katahdin as a piece of cake [to climb]," Caverly told the park trustees at the fall meeting at Kidney Pond. But the mountain is formidable, and hikers of all ages should take it seriously and follow "good Boy Scout rules," he said.

( I contend that it is "The Mystic Order of the Appalachian Trail" and the books and Trail Journals and web-blogs which are at least partly responsible for this false and dangerous assumption that Katahdin is "fun" and a "challenge" rather than a more accurate description: formidable and life-endangering, even for healthy and prepared hikers. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is not a "walk in the woods" but is a physical and mental undertaking. Everyone who dreams of becoming a "2000-Miler" or Thru Hiker is encouraged to take an honest inventory of his/her skills, abilities, health and age. Hike Your Own Hike and, as Francis Tapon wrote: find out what that phrase means in your life. )

Read more about the difficulty and dangers of hiking Katahdin and the Whites here: http://www.meepi.org/files04/pa102504.htm