Now you've offended us Nutmeggers.Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf:1941820
Now you've offended us Nutmeggers.Originally Posted by Sarcasm the elf:1941820
Lazarus
it's just "sterotype" i have dealt with this CRAP my whole life and i have lived most of it here in W.N.C, back in the 40's to 60's their was some blood feuds going on but they also had a reason, the movie Deliverance didn't help matters any, in my oppinion if you show people the proper respect you want have any issues. sure their is hillbilly's but nothing like what the movies or books pertray some of my best friends are the exact folks your talking about, I take offense to this thread. DON"T STEROTYPE ME.
http://www.arc.gov/counties
And if you want to hike a trail that is much more in Appalachia than the Appalachian Trail is, try this:
http://www.greateasterntrail.net/
http://www.gethiking.net/
Proud to be from S.E. OHIO and yes we are weird.GO BUCKS!
Great music comes from Appalachia
Just smile n act crazy
As someone from one of the nearby towns Pollock mentions in the book, I can tell you that the characters are greatly exaggerated but not completely out of the question. It may be a partially accurate depiction of how crazy people were 50 years ago but these days its the meth heads ya' gotta watch out for. If you like that book, you might want to try his other book called Knockemstiff. Its full of good wholesome Appalachian nutcases.
They never found the day hiker that went missing in the Smoky's the week before I got there. During my 2012 thru hike.....While on the trail You will hear or come a crossed people that taking advantage of hikers.There was a note taped to a tree that said "There is a guy in a red ford pick up outside Hellen NC offering rides then taking the hiker to nowhere & demanding $$$,pot,or sex. when the hiker exited his vehicle he would take off with they're pack in the back of his truck." Same area another guy was robbing hikers at knife point. I had a scary experience while night hiking.It involved a bunch of drunk locals at a gap in the middle of nowhere...... You'll learn to avoid any one thats not a thru hiker.
I took a wrong turn and got off the trail for a mile just north of Roan Mtn, TN and had to wander through a rural housing development. People were shouting and there were barking dogs at every house. One shaggy guy followed me down the road in a pickup truck to ask me strange questions and offer a ride which I did not accept. And every day in TN we could hear guns shooting and dogs barking off in the distance. Everywhere! No I don't think it had anything to do with hunting either.
The thing to remember is that there are crazy people everywhere. Sure, people in small town Appalachia can be crazy, but people can be crazy anywhere. Be open-minded, don't be unnecessarily judgmental (because even someone who you think might be a backwoods idiot knows if you are judging them, and a thick redneck accent does not mean a lack of intellect), and always trust your instincts, just like you would walking through any major city.
Also, I'm a 22 yr old girl who has lived/worked in one of the places Pollock mentions, and I promise I'm not dead and have not ever been told (except by my oh-so-clever friends) that I purdy mouth as a precursor to terrible things. Just saying.
Just watch the movie Deliverance (or read he book by Jams Dickey) and that will answer your question.
"I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue
The more you travel, the more you learn how different cultures are.
Keep your mind, eyes and ears open and learn.
And try not to judge.
Just learn.
Hiking has shown me a lot of different folks, all acting the way their culture has taught them.
From the Sherpas, Hmongs, Aboriginals of Australia, to the Bible belters of Appalacia, and of course us Pennsyl-Tuckians where I come from.
Careful! You might fall in love with someone from a total different culture than you grow up.
I'm now happily married to a Thai woman, and living here, in her culture for 14 years.
Still learning...........
Don't let your fears stand in the way of your dreams
I hate these stereotypes of people in the southern Appalachians. It's simply not true, and "Deliverance" does not present a factual picture. Anywhere you go there will be good people and bad people and we don't have any more bad ones than any other part of the country. No one is more likely to do anything bad to you here than they would be anywhere else. We might have a different accent and a different culture, but those things don't turn us into thieves or lunatics or psychopaths. If these stereotypes were true we wouldn't have all these people from up north moving here to live as our neighbors.
"You're a nearsighted, bitter old fool."
The LE from Newton made a few good points about the narcotics epidemic in parts of the southern Appalachians. Add in low education and income levels.
I lived in Western NC for many years, was always surprised by how many people lived off the grid. If you get on hiking trails or biking trails, it's not uncommon to chance upon small communities in the middle of the woods that definitely do not attend school and may not have a running vehicle. Trash heaps that have been in the family for generations. I've seen this on the backside of Howard's Knob, just miles from the campus of Appalachian State University. The same thing exists along the original Tweetsie Railroad line (long ago removed) just down the road in Foscoe, NC in the shadow of Grandfather Mtn.
You don't have to go looking, though. The local grocery chain in Asheville, (Ingles) holds an annual "Food Show" in the convention center. Admission is free, and each person is welcomed to take as many free samples as they can carry. I am not lying when I say flat beds full of indigent young families, each person holding a large trash bag shows up. It's the annual trip into the big city for the major haul, collect as many free food samples as they can. It's hard to believe how many hungry people are in the hills.
Connect it to hiking: how many of the theft reports along certain stretches of the southern trail are for food? Thousands of dollars worth of hiking equipment around at night, but the only thing taken is the food bag? That speaks volumes.
So yeah, poverty is a factor and leads to a lot of desperate situations.
That being said, the Appalachian Mountains feel much more safe and like home to me than anyplace else in the world.