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View Full Version : Backpacker vs Backmooch



moxie
03-21-2007, 17:41
We all yogi sometimes during a thru hike. Offer to purchase a piece of chicken from a family having a picnic, knowing they will give you one. Hinting for an apple when you meet a dayhiker who has several apples but this thread is about people that bum their way along the AT. The first mooch I met was in Georgia. He told how he had started a thru hike 3 or 4 time and every time had to quit because of illness or injury. He was friendly, helpful, and knew alot of good trail tricks. He told how all his money had been stolen in a bus station on the way to the trail so we all felt sorry for him and shared food. He kept bumming cigarettes but one day I saw a whole carton in his pack, When we got to town someone would always buy him dinner. I got to Rainbow Springs a few hours ahead of him and mentioned to Jensine, the owner, that he was right behind me. Her first question was, is he broke again this year? Her next question was , Did his money get stolen in a bus station or a train station this year? I quess he did this year after year, hiking while depending on the charity of others. The second mooch I met started out as a serious hiker, or seemed to be one. When he got to Nantahala Outdoor Center I noticed he slept on the floor of another hikers room and the second night slept in the kitchen to avoid paying for a room. While he was there he daclared he was going to become an ultra lite and sold his sleeping bag, stove, tent and pack. He started north with a tarp, a blanket and cold food. It rained the second day out and at the first road crossing and he hitch hiked to Fontana Dam where he slept on anyones floor that would let him for a week or so still claiming to be a thru hiker. After he wore out his welcome there he hitched to Gatlenburg, same story. He did call his wife for money and I heard him telling about all his adventures hiking.
After his Gatlenburg adventure he hitched to Damascus where he found heaven on earth, "The Place". A Hostel run that year on the honor system. A hiker would register and pay a couple of bucks a night for his or her bunk. He never registered or paid and lived there for a month, drinking beer all day downtown and partying with his fellow hikers. His wife, thinking he was hiking sent money but he was also selling gear from the hiker box. All this time he claimed to be a thru hiker. When he met hikers who were going to quit the trail he would ask them to take pity on him and ask for a piece of gear. A friend of mine gave him his winter sleeping bag and before my friend was a mile out of town the mooch sold the bag. That year there were 8 or 10 bums living at The Place either pretending to be thru hikers or just faking it. I never saw any of them before or after Damascus. Further north I did meet a couple of homeless hikers who admitted it and were pretty harmless and I didn't mind helping them.
Everyone out there isn't a serious hiker. Some want the fun of the trail but at the expanse of those who take pity on their "made up" stories. We all help each other out during a thru hike but watch out for the person that wants to make it a one way street with your food, money or charity.

MOWGLI
03-21-2007, 17:49
I gave a guy $5 for a campsite at Rainbow Springs in 2000. He was down on his luck and hiking in blue jeans and carrying some of his gear. As I recall, his name was Frank. Jensine was totally pissed off that I helped the guy out. Thing is, Frank diodn't ask. I just offered. In other words, he wasn't a mooch. He disappeared shortly thereafter.

Someone who is mooching their way up the trail should do the rest of the hikers a favor and GO HOME. Same for folks freeloading at church hostels like The Place. They can usually afford to buy cigarettes and beer, but heaven forbid they drop a donation in the box.

That kind of behavior ticks me off.

Sly
03-21-2007, 18:23
I remember Frank. He was nearly hypothermic at Deep Gap Shelter. Some hikers built him a fire so he could warm up.

MOWGLI
03-21-2007, 18:29
I remember Frank. He was nearly hypothermic at Deep Gap Shelter. Some hikers built him a fire so he could warm up.

Yup. That was him Sly. Nice guy. Kinda quiet. Wanted to keep to himself.

Sly
03-21-2007, 18:31
Yup. That was him Sly. Nice guy. Wanted to keep to himself.

Were you in the shelter that night we had 17 in it? Packed like sardines, but it was fun!!!

MOWGLI
03-21-2007, 18:34
Were you in the shelter that night we had 17 in it? Packed like sardines, but it was fun!!!

No, I got back on the trail at Dicks Creek Gap the next morning. I camped at Bly Gap that night. Holly was the only other hiker at Bly Gap. Remember her? I met Frank at the first shelter north of Dicks Creek Gap. I think.

Sly
03-21-2007, 18:42
No, I got back on the trail at Dicks Creek Gap the next morning. I camped at Bly Gap that night. Holly was the only other hiker at Bly Gap. Remember her? I met Frank at the first shelter north of Dicks Creek Gap. I think.

We probably passed as we were going into town. I think Frank camped on the trail that night before Kelly Knob where there was ice and snow. I can't recall Holly.