I have said it before and do not say it lightly: The rules are there to protect the hiker.
When working on Matt's book, I got to see one of these 'grey areas' from a unique perspective.
His hike sits as one of the cleanest examples on how to do one of these right, but he's still quite human. So are all the folks who do these.
The bulk of the book was finished, but this particular 'incident' became a bit of a sticking point to wrap up. I think few people have judged Matt harder than he judged himself.
On the one hand, this was like watching a perfectly clean mouthed person who accidentally let slip a curse word... mildly amusing to see an otherwise perfect person have a very human (and very minor) flaw. I almost laughed aloud when Matt finally disclosed his 'sin' on paper as it was one hardly worth the discussion. It's the classic line in a movie where the preacher accidentally says "damn it" and his humanity is revealed.
On the other hand it was a bit heartbreaking to see such a tiny chink cause so much pain. Most of us are not perfect. Such meaningless grey areas of morality are part of our normal day. I suspect even now that last post was a bit difficult to type fer good ol Matt Kirk. A fella more willing to stick up for another hiker than many realize.
Folks who do this stuff are highly disciplined and focused. There are hours and hours of personal sacrifices, training, and dedication over the years we don't get to see that precede the final big show. Some very rigid layers of moral codes that one must hold themselves to in order to even set foot on the starting line with a realistic shot. I still firmly believe that crappy people don't have a shot, the trail keeps them out one way or another... a form of trail magic if you like.
There are some questions with Joe's hike. Some blank spots in his Instagram, some holes in the 'in progress' data.
No matter your thoughts; the truth is it is a disservice to Knotts to simply accept Stringbean's hike without the same standard of review. If we are to have rules at all, then we must have them for all.
As it sits trail magic remains a valid practice on a self-supported hike. Even if guidelines or rules evolve they are not retroactive, and there is no current prohibition on trail magic that is truly random.
The only problem with banning it in the future: is then anyone who would care to could step forward and claim to have given you support, or even seen you pass by one of the ever growing numbers of feeds at road crossings. And then we would have to wonder if one truly wandered past all such temptation, we'd have to grill trail angels, 'Yes you saw him walk through, and he said hi, but did you see him eat anything?'
Trail magic remains a slippery slope, perhaps the last one to discuss. Perhaps it's time for this one to be added as well.
I do hope this offseason we can get everyone together and put a standard together that will allow us all to move on.
On the one hand this is mildly amusing, when the salt tab was brought up in particular.
Joe will turn in documentation, his GPS, photos, and other evidence. It will hopefully plug any holes in his trip.
His hike can go from a claim, to a verified FKT. A truly amazing one at that. Most will move on, some won't, but that's life.
On the other hand it's horribly heartbreaking as well.
When the dust settles and all is said and done... Joe will have to sit around and try to draw some hard lines around the grey areas.
These are not perfect people, but for a brief bit all the years of work do coalesce into about as close as humans get to perfection for the brief bit these moments last. He will remember, years later... not the 1000's of positive comments, but the one or two negative ones. The slight flaws that mar perfection.
And they will bother him. His name will sit on Peter's site, those few of us who enjoy these will reminisce in wonder at the time. The trolls who made nasty comments will find another bridge to hide under and forget the unkind, uniformed and thoughtless comments they made. But eventually the human being behind the FKT has to sit around and relive and live with the hike.
The rules are there to protect the hiker.