Saturday 8.29.98

Hey dad -> received your letter and film @ tyro VA. It was quite enjoyable. I've taken many many pictures since NH (after the rain stopped) but I've sent most of the film home with my extra food, whicfh apparently gets forwarded to NH. I've even bought swome film (many rolls actually) on my own. I've pretty much been a picture-taking- maniac, for better or for worse.

Today I get to cllimb "the priest." A difficult 3,200 ft climb ua a 4,200 + foot peak. Somebody told me that Va was flat! Yea, right!! Today I just came off the side of a 3,900 + foot mountain calld three ridges peak and since getting into Va it's been nothing but ups and downs between 500 ft and 4,100 ft. bugt somehow I've still been able to keep up with 20-25 miles a day. I must be in very good shape and as a matter of facti covered the last 100 miles in 4 days including an exhausting 31 miler out of the shanandoa's. I guess this trip is for big miles, next time I'll go more slowly. I'm still enhoying myself quite a bit even more seemingly than many others!!

Your piece called "Andromeda" was interesting. I think I've come to the conclusion that the human mind is not "smart" enough to understand the most basic philosophical and scientific question to be posed, and that it "WHY?" Why of anything cannot really be answered-> from why does life exist? To why is existence the way it is? Why am I me? Even: why is a leaf green?..perhaps science would interperet or explain a leaf's greeness by saying the leaf is green because it contains chlorophil which when reflected by sunlight reflects a certain wavelength of electromagnetic radiation that is interpereted by the eys and human brain as a certain "color" that we call green. This is perhaps the scientifice answer or intrepretation of "why" a leaf is green? But this is not really the answer to "why?" it is mearly the answer to "what?"… what fundamentally happens that causes a leaf to appear green? "WHY" a leaf is green no one knows and that is the same question as: why are we here? And why does life exist? Why does electromagnetic radiation exist? Why does the human eye exist? NO human being I've ever met has been able to answer this question for me nor have my own years and years of introspective thought been able to answeer this either. I truly believe that this unanserable question is one of the cause of general human anxiety andf fear in the world today. (one of the causes of this…il believe these to be a few) I also believe the concept of "	GOD" and religion to be a result of this unanserable question as well…"GOD" cfreating man in the likeness of himself is a combination of the unanserable question and the egocentricism of man.

I personally do not believe in "GOD" as the answer….i think tat is a cop-out. There is NO ANSWER tha we can truelyu understand ande prove either. The best answer I've come across so far is not really an answer but it's this:LIFE EXISTS AS IT DOES and can be thorougly enjoyed and experienced if approached with an entirely open mind. This is partly zen-buddhist and partly taoist philosophy. The answer to "why?" is irrelevant to our lives as we live them. And the question itself and the whole concept of meaning, questions, and answers is a psychological construct created by the human mind perhaps having nothing to do with fundamental existance what so ever. We really do know.

My poet friend MATT has for a long time answered the question of "what is the meaning of life?" by saying "cantalope!" -> (sensless answeer to a senseless question!)

I liken mans' ability to understand existence to a dogs ability to understand mathematics. A dog is not "intelligent" enough to do so, but anyways….

 

I received the article about the PCT (Pacific Coast Trail). Don't knowif I believe it completely as I have witnesssed large exagerations by "fact" writters before. 60 miles in 20 hours?!!! Tge PCT is quite a bit easier than the AT as it's graded for pack animals and much more gradual, but that (60 miles in 20 hrs) would be quite difficult even in the flats. I've done 20 miles in 7 hours and I was quite exhausted even after that! The longest an fastest I've heard of on the AT was 45 miles in 17 hours in the flatest section.

I did not receive anything from you at Port Clinton, Pa…should I put in a forwarding address? Sometimes these little post offices screw up!! Some of the back woods folks haven't left their wooed in quite sojme time ande I think their brains are dying!! From under use!!

Well I didn't quite finish the letter I was writing for you before but I'll send the unfinished pagesw along anyway. I think it became quite scattered as I'm not really in a writing mood lately! Just feel like walking.

Hope all is well…on to tackle this "Priest" thingy… some kind of hil or something!!

Love -> dirt

 

PS -> sorry this is such a bunch of chicken scratch. My handwritting has gone drasticallly down hill anong with my spelling!! I think motor skills are inversly proportional to dail miles walked:

Z = 1/MW -> general theory of motor swkill coordiation!!

Z = motor skill

MW = miles walked