View Full Version : If youre under 30 and a hiker, how can you NOT know about this site?
Earl Grey
03-30-2007, 07:41
I meet potential thru-hikers from time to time around here and most have never heard of this site? :-? If youre under 30 you practically grew up with the internet, I know I did and as a consequence I ALWAYS look up anything im remotely interested in on the internet. Why do people not use such a great resource to gain more knowledge about what theyre going to do? On this site you can ask questions and hundreds of very experienced people can reply to it which is some of the best information you can get.
I know if I would have never found this site I probaly would have bought everything from REI listening to one persons opinion and spending way more that need be. For example Montbell bags arent a well known brand but the bags they make are awesome and I would have never known that just by going to some random store or maybe looking around some on the internet.
Not only can you learn more from the internet as a whole but things are usually cheaper to boot. I still shop at my local indepedent outfitter when I get a chance but sometimes since Im a poor college student Ill buy something off the internet since it is cheaper.
Of course you dont have to be under 30 to know how to use the internet, Im just talking about my generation in general I suppose.
Rebel, with a Cause!
03-30-2007, 08:16
In hiking the Smokies close to my home, I constantly talk to people not knowledgeable about hiking sites. This includes thruhikers. It appears that hikers are alot like people buying a new car. You see I sell new cars at a dealership and see this all the time.
People like to think they know everything they need to alot several subjects. Alot of people were brought up by their dads hiking ( old school ) or the Boy Scouts and figure that they have done it all and need no help. This thought is justified when you watch people leave Springer. In 2002, as I was leaving Springer, I saw 2 young guys walking up to the summit at Springer. Huge packs and carrying 10 days of food. They said they planned to do 15 miles per day up to Fontana, then resupply. Their only source of info they had before the trail was the outfitter and Brysons book, A Walk in the Woods. And these 2 guys were in their mid 20's and college graduates. It was a blast hiking with them for the next few days.
In selling cars, people also dont use the internet. They come on the lot, guessing at the price they should pay. They dont know tradein values, they dont do any research at all. Thats because THEY THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL anyway. And this is on a purchase of over $20,000 and no research. Everyone thinks they know all about how to buy a car. Yes even those of you reading this, think that. Why do people that buy a car once every 5 or 6 years think they know more than a salesman that does the same thing 5 times a day? Cars or Hiking , it appears to be the same. We use what we think, then go with it. Thank Goodness the trail is a better teacher than we are:)
Good Subject, thanks for listening
Cya on the Trail
Free information is worth every penny. :)
Pick any topic and then consider the range of opinions offered on that topic, just on this one forum.
There's good info and not-so-good, and it's still up to each hiker to decide for themselves which is which.
How can people not know? Easy. If you favor dogpile for your search engine and type in "appalachian trail", whiteblaze doesn't pop as one of the first 20 sites. If you use google, whiteblaze doesn't pop on the first page of search results, but it does show up on the second.
So, if a hiker uses the standard search engines and gets the ATC, trailplace (please, let's not get into that tired old debate), and local maintaining clubs, they may stop searching and think they've found the best available internet resources.
Just a thought.
when i first googled the AT I found trailplace, the ATC and trailjournals. Found whiteblaze by word of mouth, you might say a little birdie told me. Well, not so little, eh Jaybird?
Desert Lobster
03-30-2007, 11:23
Well, you're not very diligent about finding hiking websites if you don't come across this one.
Tha Wookie
03-30-2007, 11:30
You were using the wrong terms. Try "AYCE", "hiker trash", or "global warming."
I smell drawn butter......
You were using the wrong terms. Try "AYCE", "hiker trash", or "global warming."
Ohhh, had I only known.......
Alligator
03-30-2007, 11:44
You were using the wrong terms. Try "AYCE", "hiker trash", or "global warming."
AYCE Appalachian Trail hits Sgt. Rocks Site as #1 on Google:D .
Alligator
03-30-2007, 11:46
I wonder if Attroll has been keeping track of WB's standings on Google over the years? How about it Attroll?
Just as Rebel said. Once you spend some time on the AT you discover there are a lot of folks out there that don't have the right information as to what is required to start a thru-hike. It only takes a little looking to find a site like Whiteblaze.
Folks can also write to the ATC and get good information from them.:)
Thanks for the last sentence save, blackmath. Yep, us old geezers know how to surf too!
Now, if everyone ordered their Whiteblaze stickers for their car, and Tshirts to wear, more people would know about Whiteblaze!
There are a lot of sites out there - information overload - and most people don't have time to spend 24/7 online.
I searched the internet quite a bit before my 2003 thru, but did not learn about WB until Youngblood took my picture at Slaughter Gap and asked if he could upload it here.
BTW, a Google search for "Appalachian forum" lists WB first.
TJ aka Teej
03-30-2007, 16:49
Back in 1996 a web search for 'Appalachian Trail' returned Kathy Bilton's AT page:
http://www.fred.net/kathy/at.html
Her's was the very first AT webpage, years before ATC had a site up.
And via Kathy's page we learned of Ryan Brook's at-l, the first AT email list:
http://www.backcountry.net/
The '99 ALDHA Gathering that had a forum on the Internet, where many of us met up with people we had come to know via the information superhighway. We ate ice cream and had EBA pizzas.
I have no doubt that the Internet has played a key role over the last decade in inspiring many to get up and go out hiking on the AT. That's been a positive thing, in my opinion.
humunuku
03-30-2007, 17:19
In hiking the Smokies close to my home, I constantly talk to people not knowledgeable about hiking sites. This includes thruhikers. It appears that hikers are alot like people buying a new car. You see I sell new cars at a dealership and see this all the time.
People like to think they know everything they need to alot several subjects. Alot of people were brought up by their dads hiking ( old school ) or the Boy Scouts and figure that they have done it all and need no help. This thought is justified when you watch people leave Springer. In 2002, as I was leaving Springer, I saw 2 young guys walking up to the summit at Springer. Huge packs and carrying 10 days of food. They said they planned to do 15 miles per day up to Fontana, then resupply. Their only source of info they had before the trail was the outfitter and Brysons book, A Walk in the Woods. And these 2 guys were in their mid 20's and college graduates. It was a blast hiking with them for the next few days.
In selling cars, people also dont use the internet. They come on the lot, guessing at the price they should pay. They dont know tradein values, they dont do any research at all. Thats because THEY THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL anyway. And this is on a purchase of over $20,000 and no research. Everyone thinks they know all about how to buy a car. Yes even those of you reading this, think that. Why do people that buy a car once every 5 or 6 years think they know more than a salesman that does the same thing 5 times a day? Cars or Hiking , it appears to be the same. We use what we think, then go with it. Thank Goodness the trail is a better teacher than we are:)
Good Subject, thanks for listening
Cya on the Trail
Hey, I think I bought a Honda Element from you a few years back, did you use to work for airport honda?
buckowens
03-30-2007, 17:32
That's what is so cool about the t-shirts... I went to a VA appointment in a WB t-shirt and a worker at the hospital had been a section hiker. We had a great talk and he told me of his experiences.
I agree with Terrapin-two in that it is up to each user to determine what info to use. The volume of information and interaction is great. You just have to realize that some is personal opinion, but much is personal experience which is worth its weight in gold.
Rebel, with a Cause!
03-30-2007, 17:39
Yes I did and I do remember you. Hows things been? BTW gang, this guy came well prepared when buying his Element, told me what he could buy the vehicle for, asked me if I could meet or MATCH the other price on the one I had that was his favorite color. We did business then and there.
Of course he being a past thruhiker helped alittle :)
I have a journal on Trailjournals, so visit my questbook there and thanks for saying hi. I leave out on April 5th for my 3rd hike on the AT.
Cya on the Trail
freefall
04-02-2007, 23:11
On the Wikipedia entry for Appalachian Trail, WB is listed under external links, hiking guides.
RockStar
04-03-2007, 00:01
I was told about the WB by a friend who was gonna hike the AT and did in 99 or 2000 "caretaker". I started reading and joined quickly, realizing it was an invaluable asset to ANY future plans to hike. There are SO many DIFFERENt opinions on everything that I easily found what flavor I prefered in gear and hiker trash! :p If it wasnt for all of YOU and this SITE I wouldn't have EVER stepped foot on Springer and would have never gone back after dropping out due to injury! You guys give so much advice about hiking but, your moral support despite differences in political or other views, is PRICELESS!!! Wb is like family! WBers ARE family. I'll be proud to admit Im Whiteblaze hiker trash until the day I die! ;)
Twofiddy
04-03-2007, 09:38
Not only can you learn more from the internet as a whole but things are usually cheaper to boot.
Except for the fact that my wireless laptop cost $1500 and my internet connection cost $30/mo and my router and modem cost $100 and all the other crap that I search and research online leads me to buy other things...
and I waste time with the internet instead of making money every day.