View Full Version : 2023- "Don't do this on the trail" list???
TinFoilHat
02-08-2023, 07:08
Common sense list of things we tend to forget or take for granted...
Lone Wolf
02-08-2023, 07:56
Common sense list of things we tend to forget or take for granted...
most wannabe thru-hikers tend to forget to get into some sort of shape before attempting a thru hike.
LittleRock
02-08-2023, 09:38
Don't set up your tent inside a shelter.
Traveler
02-08-2023, 11:12
Learn how to dig a proper cat hole, use it properly, and cover it properly. Getting a bit raw out there with the TP blossoms critters dig up or people just drop.
Odd Man Out
02-08-2023, 13:34
Don't assume everyone (or anyone, for that matter) really wants to hear about how many miles you hiked today or how much your pack weighs.
LazyLightning
02-08-2023, 14:13
Don't go out of your way to try to make yourself a part of somebody else's hike.
I had to lose someone in NJ, not a thru hiker but just didn't get the picture that I wanted to hike alone, was about to just tell him. Next day he saw me packing out super early then started and was like "I'll catch up" or something. I hiked 5-10 minutes then cut off for an unnoticed break, I heard him hike past and I know he was hustling to catch up. I took over an hour break and took my sweet time all day taking pictures/breaks ect. and ended early - knowing he was pushing miles trying to catch me. It was almost a little weird the way he was trying to tag along, especially when I was much slower then him and even slowed down trying to lose him but he just kept waiting for me. I do think that he was just looking to tag along but I had an odd feeling there to and was happy to lose him without telling him flat out.
chknfngrs
02-08-2023, 15:31
pack it in, pack it out. Tired of seeing trash out there
GoldenBear
02-08-2023, 17:09
Also, don't assume anyone wants to hear how great your gear is. If they ask about it, fine -- but otherwise, just use it.
I had one guy ask me if I wanted to hear about his cooking gear, to which I responded (quite truthfully), "I have no interest whatsoever." He then proceeded to tell me about his cooking gear.
One Half
02-08-2023, 18:18
Learn how to dig a proper cat hole, use it properly, and cover it properly. Getting a bit raw out there with the TP blossoms critters dig up or people just drop.
right? I don't know which is worse - starting earlier in the season and people who fail "because the grounds still frozen" or starting later in the season after hundreds have **** in the woods improperly.
Traveler
02-09-2023, 08:38
.... I had to lose someone in NJ, not a thru hiker but just didn't get the picture that I wanted to hike alone, was about to just tell him. Next day he saw me packing out super early then started and was like "I'll catch up" or something. I hiked 5-10 minutes then cut off for an unnoticed break, I heard him hike past and I know he was hustling to catch up. I took over an hour break and took my sweet time all day taking pictures/breaks ect. and ended early - knowing he was pushing miles trying to catch me. It was almost a little weird the way he was trying to tag along, especially when I was much slower then him and even slowed down trying to lose him but he just kept waiting for me. I do think that he was just looking to tag along but I had an odd feeling there to and was happy to lose him without telling him flat out.
I have come to call the process of escaping this type of individual a "Mary Ellen" after the character in Bryson's "Walk in the Woods" tale. Some people just can't take subtle hints and require a more concerted effort to put miles between them and me. I find feigning illness works pretty well, few people want to stick around for a rip roaring norovirus infection.
right? I don't know which is worse - starting earlier in the season and people who fail "because the grounds still frozen" or starting later in the season after hundreds have **** in the woods improperly.
Just realized this might be one of the (many) good reasons to go SOBO. By the time I got down south, where I think this is more of an issue, much of the matter has been cleared to some degree by summer rain.
For all the various problems of modern life, don’t forget to appreciate how fortunate we are to live in a time with good, light weight gear, and to be on a trail that was nurtured and continues to be nurtured by so many folk. Even when you’re cursing the route choice. :rolleyes:
Keep toenails clipped to avoid the painful subungual hematoma and losing the nail.
Kittyslayer
02-22-2023, 14:15
DO Keep toenails clipped...
DON'T clip toenails in shelters.
ScottTrip
02-22-2023, 19:36
I don't want to hear your playlist ..
Last Call
02-22-2023, 22:00
Also, don't assume anyone wants to hear how great your gear is. If they ask about it, fine -- but otherwise, just use it.
I had one guy ask me if I wanted to hear about his cooking gear, to which I responded (quite truthfully), "I have no interest whatsoever." He then proceeded to tell me about his cooking gear.
I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut it was titanium.....all the pros use that stuff.
Patrickjd9
03-09-2023, 15:45
Don't set up your tent inside a shelter.
...in any weather short of a full-blown blizzard or hurricane with nobody else there, in which case you should have gotten off the trail at the last town crossing.
peakbagger
03-09-2023, 17:50
If you insist on using a "stealth site", practice Leave No Trace. No fire rings no rock rearrangement, no wood piles. Ideally walk in the woods until you are out of site of the trail.
trekkinghigher
03-16-2023, 07:36
Assume every hiker wants to be sniffed by your dog just because they're friendly (for the record I don't usually mind) - some hikers are afraid of dogs
Assume every hiker wants to be sniffed by your dog just because they're friendly (for the record I don't usually mind) - some hikers are afraid of dogs
I don't mind getting sniffed, but I do mind having my pack or leg getting peed on.
LoneStranger
03-17-2023, 11:33
Assume every hiker wants to be sniffed by your dog just because they're friendly (for the record I don't usually mind) - some hikers are afraid of dogs
Don't assume that everyone who doesn't appreciate interacting with uncontrolled dogs is afraid. Some folks are just tired of dealing with other folks' inability to keep their problems to themselves. If I wanted a dog I'd bring one. If I wanted to borrow someone else's I'd ask. Not afraid of dogs, love them in fact, but the phrase no bad dogs comes to mind often on trail. They can't help who owns them.
LazyLightning
03-17-2023, 11:38
I don't mind dogs either but a good one is not to neglect your dog on trail if you are hiking with one, think of their needs as much as yours.
Sarcasm the elf
03-17-2023, 21:31
I don't mind dogs either but a good one is not to neglect your dog on trail if you are hiking with one, think of their needs as much as yours.
My personal advice is "If you choose to bring your dog on a hike, it becomes your dog's hike." That one line has served me well for 14 years of hiking and five hiking dogs (not all at once ;))
gpburdelljr
03-17-2023, 21:43
If you hike with a dog, don’t get a fake service dog certificate so you can get around the rules of where dogs aren’t allowed.
For all the various problems of modern life, don’t forget to appreciate how fortunate we are to live in a time with good, light weight gear, and to be on a trail that was nurtured and continues to be nurtured by so many folk. Even when you’re cursing the route choice. :rolleyes:
Thank you for posting these thoughts. Yes to each, especially when enduring someone gripping about the trail rather than their own poor choice of hiking footwear.
Birthright
03-20-2023, 19:03
Don't smoke your weed in your tent if you are camped near other hikers. It is so annoying when you are trying to sleep and someone else's smoke comes in your tent. Be respectful to non-smokers.
Hey, lighten up, at least they are going in their tent( and risking a fire), to appease other people..
Or maybe they’re just running low and thinking twice about sharing their bag!
Either way, their weed probably smells better than you!
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TwoSpirits
03-21-2023, 15:57
Don't assume everyone (or anyone, for that matter) really wants to hear about how many miles you hiked today or how much your pack weighs.Conversely, don't *ask* everyone how many miles they've hiked or how much their pack weighs -- or why they chose those shoes, or why do they use poles, or if they've ever considered a hammock....
I honestly don't think I can ever recall anyone giving me an unsolicited story about their mileage or pack weight, but I also can't remember a single trip when I haven't been asked. And asked, and asked, and asked....
GoldenBear
03-21-2023, 19:04
Go to this link about my time at Thistle Hill Shelter in 2013, and then go down to my "Big mistake!"
https://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/entry.php/8002-Do-you-need-rain-where-you-live-Part-1
LazyLightning
03-21-2023, 20:13
I am guilty of toking in my tent but I wouldn't in a shelter or if I was close enough to hear people breathe, or with kids around... but really I can't imagine a little ganja smoke from even a small distance being more inconvenient then a camp fire, which are pretty common and excepted. The "big mistake" story is the kind of stuff that makes all stoners look bad or makes it look like the soul fault of the weed itself to some people. A lot of people smoke it, even idiots and ignorant a-holes. most are pretty respectful in everything I've seen.
Don't Instagram your entire thru-hike.
Do not smoke ganja in your tent without offering some to your neighbor:)
Don’t share your ganga with the bears, they already have the munchies.
Don’t share your ganga with the bears, they already have the munchies.
And huge lungs they tend to bogart:(
Don’t share your ganga with the bears, they already have the munchies.
LOL kinda like you wouldn't want to share your Ganga with Jeffery Dahmer:(
Please don't brag about being a thru hiker to everybody, and then quit at Hot Springs. I saw that happen about a hundred times...
Please don't brag about being a thru hiker to everybody, and then quit at Hot Springs. I saw that happen about a hundred times...
Funny, on my thru I always felt weird saying I was a thru hiker, I would usually say I was thru hiking. Seems to me you aren’t a thru hiker until you’ve finished.
Tennessee Viking
12-29-2023, 09:36
Don't bump uglies in or in earshot of shelters.