It was one of those little delta wing stunt kites. It was pretty cool watching a kite fly lower than where we were standing. But yes the wind was whipping.Originally Posted by aficion
a free standing tent, open the door, 50' of paracord, makes a fine kite. not sure if it was dumb or not, but people do take pictures
His crew should have had a couple of lockers in base camp. I'd question the thoughts of an advisor who let the kid bring that stuff on the trail.
New way to dry out the tent.
Saw someone doing a AT section hike that had one of these strapped to the top of his pack for baking food while he was on the trail. He also had 3 different bottles of liquor(all at least quart size), 3 different bags of marijuana, bloody steaks(strapped to the outside of his pack), a long handled double sided axe, two wks worth of heavy food(including a can of Crisco, doz eggs, 3 lbs bacon), etc. He was was a mobile short distance Wally World. Strangest thing though - he didn't want to admit that his 80+ lb pack(by his estimates, I think he could have been off by 20 lbs or more) had little to do with his complaints about his aching back, hips, knees, and shoulders.
Saw another on the AT, a gung-ho get er done military type who had joined the Army when he was 17 and knew only one way of doing things - the ARMY WAY(who apparently was more accustomed to being told what to do rather than independently thinking/researching for himself), who was undecided whether to do a long section hike or thru-hike, who genuinely thought AT thru-hikers carried ALL their food AT ONCE for their ENTIRE thru-hike. He had no concept of resupplying. He had a 110 lb pack(by his estimates, I thought he was severely under estimating though) with about 70+ lbs of food(by his estimates). He was willing to hear us out but who's brain was wired to do as told by one group - the ARMY. When other hikers told him he had many opportunities to resupply along the way, no matter how far he ultimately decided to hike, it was clear to several of us he was having difficulty assimilating this new way of thinking. It did take him time to adjust to the more independent thinking. I think he eventually dropped off the trail due to an injury that may have been caused by him attempting to keep pace with faster paced lighter wt kit hikers. Might have been mentally crushing for him in some ways and mentally enlightening as well.
Again, I don't consider any of these people dumb. It's more of being uniformed and to that extent we are ALL uninformed in one way or another. We are ALL ignorant, EVERYONE OF US, in some sense! We are ALL evolving as people and hikers. And, for those who are further along that evolutionary path, IN SOME WAY, to be pointing fingers at others, they should remember that those who they are pointing fingers at at, are in some ways more evolved themselves!
"You tell me that its evolution, well you know...............Don't you know, its gonna be .. all right."
Hiking with this would be worth the extra weight for the hilarity it would bring!
I maintain the section for the GATC that includes Hawk Mt shelter. It has a moldering privy. Periodically I go up and "level the pile" so that it decomposes. I have a trap door that I open to do this. It's not a pleasant volunteer job, but I'm paying it forward so I will have good karma on my thru-hike (SOBO 2014?).
People stuff all kinds of things in the privy that they don't want to carry. I guess it's the equivalent of flushing it, except it's not.
So on one of my trips, I opened the trap door and discovered two full size foam pillows stuffed inside. The pillowcases had absorbed quite a bit of liquid waste!
So I have to wonder, not only at the mindset of someone bringing two full size pillows (with pillowcases), but the gall to stuff them inside the moldering privy. Did they think they would just disappear?
You sir, are my hero. Thanks for all of your efforts and good luck with your hike. May all of your privies be level.
Think ?? I think not !
Yes Sir!! forrest, thanks for all your work!! Good luck with your hike next year. When u roll into Daleville VA, you have a friend who will help you out anyway I can.. just let me know!
Thank you for the work you do.
Im surprised they didnt just leave them in the shelter, along with the lanterns, clothing, folding chairs, soft-side coolers, books, etc under the "logic" that someone else could use them and would want them.
They may have. Once stuff is left on the trail it takes on a life of its own. The folks that hiked them out may not have been the folks that "flushed" them.
Who knows the story behind the story. What people do continuously amazes me, both on the trail and off.
I have a million stories of what I've seen while hiking. I was in Shenandoah NP on the AT(so much funny unusual stuff happens on the AT!) along an escarpment on a very windy rainy day when we saw this hiker/camper wandering around an illegal camping area looking behind trees and in shrubbery for something. There was lots of his gear strewn about the site, but no tent or shelter. I thought it kinda strange especially as it was raining. I went over to the edge of the escarpment to look for raptors soaring on thermals. Then I spotted his shelter, a bright orange free standing(FREE TO BLOW AWAY?) tent, way down below the edge of the steep escarpment suspended 25 ft above the ground in a grove of trees. LOL.
And, along these lines. I stopped for a bathroom break on a steep section of the JMT where the narrow trail was carved into a steep mountainside. Took my pack off, leaned it up against a small tree, and trekked uphill into the woods to take care of business. Came back and my pack was gone. Started wondering if a bear had snatched it. Looked around some and located it...some 200 ft below me snagged high up in some trees. That was a bitch getting that pack back. LOL
So your were one your stories!
Sounds like hooking your chest strap around a small tree might be a good idea
This one is mine but not really. Went to privy at night in a hurry, it was very cold, I had a mini maglite, dog gone that thing fell into the hole light side up vertical shining up so bright. Just before daylight I wake up to some one yelling "hey you oK!!" someone thought someone had fallen into the privy.
You gotta be pullin my leg.
Now that's, funny!
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