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  1. #1

    Default Where have all the flowers gone,long time.....

    If all the hostels in the land,and all post offices in the land were to close,I think we'd find a lot less hikers coming out of the wood work who'd thru-hike to it's completion.What say you?

  2. #2
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    I for one wasn't planning on making much use of hostels or post offices on my would-be thru hike.

    Also, I think people tend to underestimate the nature of the free market economy. While hiking in the future may be different from today, the needs served by hostels and post offices will still be there and thus the incentive to meet those needs, perhaps in ways we have not yet imagined.

    Just like all those blacksmiths and carriage makers in 1900 who predicted gloom and doom with the rise of the automobile. Somehow we muddled through without them.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Odd Man Out View Post
    I for one wasn't planning on making much use of hostels or post offices on my would-be thru hike.

    Also, I think people tend to underestimate the nature of the free market economy. While hiking in the future may be different from today, the needs served by hostels and post offices will still be there and thus the incentive to meet those needs, perhaps in ways we have not yet imagined.

    Just like all those blacksmiths and carriage makers in 1900 who predicted gloom and doom with the rise of the automobile. Somehow we muddled through without them.
    I think your right,I wonder if technology will play an even bigger roll,as is already evident with the use of the hand held computers if you will.Section hiking my become the norm,if distances and services are spread further apart.It would seem as though there are already cottage Companies that will bag and drop off your food at a given destination.Very interesting.

  4. #4
    Ohhh-Rraahhh!! Derek81pci's Avatar
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    I may stay in a few hostels along the way, mainly the key ones everyone says you MUST stay at (Shaw's etc). Post offices however probably will never see my face. I'm going for the trail, not towns.
    Live your life and I'll live mine, perhaps one day they will intertwine. SEMPER FI! 2013 SOBO

  5. #5
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    After a while hostels aren't that attractive. If you can use their shower and move on that is nice though. Green Mountain House is the only hostel I stayed in north of SNP. I did stay in a few hotels and a couple of times complete strangers were nice enough to let me stay with them. Post offices I used infrequently, mostly to bounce maps and gear up the trail. Avoid them if possible,my biggest mile days were trying to get to the PO.

  6. #6

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    Hostels tend to attract the younger rowdier crowd...not saying everyone that uses them fall into that category, but older hikers tend to steer towards hotels if they plan on staying a nite in town...older people use the services of the hostel and move on if they don't plan on staying in town. The same reasons for not staying in shelters apply to hostels. Its like sleeping on a bunk at summer camp, which really isn't going to appeal to an older crowd.

    If all of the hostels closed tomorrow I think the kind of hiker you saw on the trail would be a bit different...they'd be more self reliant, more introverted and there would be less of a party atmosphere.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bronk View Post
    Hostels tend to attract the younger rowdier crowd...not saying everyone that uses them fall into that category, but older hikers tend to steer towards hotels if they plan on staying a nite in town...older people use the services of the hostel and move on if they don't plan on staying in town. The same reasons for not staying in shelters apply to hostels. Its like sleeping on a bunk at summer camp, which really isn't going to appeal to an older crowd.

    If all of the hostels closed tomorrow I think the kind of hiker you saw on the trail would be a bit different...they'd be more self reliant, more introverted and there would be less of a party atmosphere.
    I believe your right.And as Robert DeNero said...Pure and Simple!

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    i think why a lot of us are drawn to the idea of a thru hike is to give a sense of self sufficiency, and at the same time, a growing knowledge that a successful thru entails some reliance on the help of others. the thousands of trail magic stories make the AT a trail and a journey very different from most other trails.
    its more than a trail, its a community.

  9. #9
    Registered User Ktaadn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocketsocks View Post
    If all the hostels in the land,and all post offices in the land were to close,I think we'd find a lot less hikers coming out of the wood work who'd thru-hike to it's completion.What say you?
    There will still be hotels and grocery stores. The issue comes down to perceived cost and convenience differences.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ktaadn View Post
    There will still be hotels and grocery stores. The issue comes down to perceived cost and convenience differences.
    I agree with that,I think those less dedicated would not want to do it,because of that perceived notion that there's lots of people hanging out and dances in the streets so to speak.When that element of the trail is gone and fewer places to resupply then the trail becomes more difficult or not worth the hassle for many.In addition it would also be interesting to see that if a small town lost it's post office,would the town then slowly drift away with regard to consumer services.I heard a stat that said the AT thorugh the last decade was at an all time high,will it continue?who knows,stay tuned.

  11. #11

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    i think those who are truly committed will deal with the inconveniences just fine. what it would do is weed out a lot more of the guys that probably wouldnt finish anyway, the ones who think its just a 5 month holiday, and find out otherwise, even with all the trail magic..

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by hikerboy57 View Post
    i think those who are truly committed will deal with the inconveniences just fine. what it would do is weed out a lot more of the guys that probably wouldnt finish anyway, the ones who think its just a 5 month holiday, and find out otherwise, even with all the trail magic..
    B I in geo

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