View Full Version : Traditions
I've seen references to mooning the cog train in NH and hiking naked on June 21st, but what other traditions have you heard of or observed? (ie: Maryland in a day, 1/2 gallon of ice cream at Pine Grove Furnace, carrying a pebble from end to end)
Lone Wolf
02-12-2004, 14:48
Pirate takes a dump at the Mason-Dixon line and hikes no further north.
Moon Monster
02-12-2004, 16:23
I've heard two variants of running naked accross bridges over highways. One is to do it at the Mass Turnpike; the other is to do it at every bridge over an Interstate (e.g., I-70 where truck drivers often honk at any hikers-clothed or not-on the bridge).
Once upon a time, I heard about a church or monestary or the like in or around PA that had a beer tap in a lone room, where the beer was free (maybe for donation). I've read it in a couple of journals from the early 1990s, but I've never heard of it since. Does anyone have info?
jojo0425
02-12-2004, 17:36
I heard that if you're hiking the A.T. during the summer solstice, it is a tradition to hike naked...anyone else hear that? or better yet, done it?
Hammock Hanger
02-12-2004, 17:56
No, I have never hiked naked or totally... (you'll never know).
I was witness to a few brave young men in 2001. HH
I heard that if you're hiking the A.T. during the summer solstice, it is a tradition to hike naked...anyone else hear that? or better yet, done it?
I was on the AT in two consecutive years during the summer solstice. It seems like everyone talked about nude hiking day, but when June 21 arrived, everyone had an excuse not to.
Sleepy the Arab
02-13-2004, 23:29
I was on the AT in two consecutive years during the summer solstice. It seems like everyone talked about nude hiking day, but when June 21 arrived, everyone had an excuse not to.
I just didn't think it was a good idea to hike nekkid past Big Meadows, Skyland and Panorama.
That and I didn't feel like tripping all day. :D
In 2001, a hockey puck started the trail and was put in a back pack when the owner wasn't looking. It would go up the trail until he/she could find an unsuspecting hiker to do the same to. The idea was to see if it could go all the way to Katahdin. You would be breaking the rules if you took it out of your pack and left it somewhere. I heard two endings to this story. One was that a hiker who unsuspectingly carried it some hard miles, found it and threw it as far as he could in a fit of rage. It was near the end in NH or Maine. The other ending I heard was that it did indeed make it all the way.
In 2002, someone had the same idea begun on one of the balds with a 2 lb potato. It went like that for quite some distance while some of us wondered how long it would last without spoiling. Anyway this ended when the pack it got put in belonged to a section hiker that got off the trail shortly after getting the potato.
Sleepy the Arab
03-30-2004, 18:56
In 2001, a hockey puck started the trail and was put in a back pack when the owner wasn't looking. It would go up the trail until he/she could find an unsuspecting hiker to do the same to. The idea was to see if it could go all the way to Katahdin. You would be breaking the rules if you took it out of your pack and left it somewhere. I heard two endings to this story. One was that a hiker who unsuspectingly carried it some hard miles, found it and threw it as far as he could in a fit of rage. It was near the end in NH or Maine. The other ending I heard was that it did indeed make it all the way.
No, it was thrown in fit of rage. This occurred in the miles right after the AT diverged from the Long Trail, before the NH border. The thru-hiker who got "pucked" (as it was called) and subsequently ended the game, was a bit of a...well, I won't speak too badly of him. But he didn't even have a trail name. What's up with that??
Streamweaver
03-30-2004, 19:08
Ive read about thru-hikers that pick up a small stone in GA and carry it in their pack to be deposited in MN or kept as a momento of the trip.I guess sobos would do this also. Streamweaver
I heard it was traditional for a thru-hiker to take a rock from Springer and leave it on Katahdin.
I carried my small rock all the way to the summit of Katahdin, but couldn't part with it. We had bonded. It now rests in my bookcase next to a small piece of Katahdin.
I must say, I didn't see even a small pile of Georgia rocks anywhere on Katahdin. It made me feel a lot less guilty for not leaving the little fellow behind. I guess I should've carried at least two rocks from Springer, one for me and one for tradition.
The moral of this story is, "Pack lots of rocks."
krewzer
I've heard two variants of running naked accross bridges over highways. One is to do it at the Mass Turnpike; the other is to do it at every bridge over an Interstate (e.g., I-70 where truck drivers often honk at any hikers-clothed or not-on the bridge).
The Mass Pike tradition does exist, though sometimes I've heard that only Massholes are required to do it. I maintain the register on top of Becket Mtn. just north of the pike, and 2-4 people per year claim to have streaked the Pike. Maybe that's such a small number that it doesn't count as a tradition.
Rain Man
03-30-2004, 21:48
Ive read about thru-hikers that pick up a small stone in GA and carry it in their pack to be deposited in MN or kept as a momento of the trip.I guess sobos would do this also. Streamweaver
All the way to Minnesota, eh?
:banana
I used to work with a Dartmouth graduate who, every time he hiked Mt Washington, would carry back a small stone. When he hiked Moosilauke, he'd carry the stone up and leave it there. He figured that if all Dartmought grads did this, eventually Moosilauke would be higher than Wahsington.
This was cute, but doesn't say a whole lot for the thought processes of Dartmouth grads and their grasp of geology.
I heard that if you're hiking the A.T. during the summer solstice, it is a tradition to hike naked...anyone else hear that? or better yet, done it?
it's a tradition, in some circles,...that on the SUMMER SOLSTICE...
the clothes come off.....maybe for a few hours...maybe ALL day...
i guess thats the hiker's choice....but, it HAS been mentioned in a few
FORUMS here before. ;)
Yea...i guess Streamweaver meant MAINE (ME) NOT Minnesota (MN)!
you know there ARE a few pebbles on Springer Mtn...but nothin'
like the mounds of pebbles & rocks on Katahdin.
TankHiker
03-31-2004, 11:02
I picked up a pebble on Springer for the tradition of carrying it to Katahdin. But in Fontana Dam I partook in a bigger tradition: doing anything to jettison some pack weight! So I mailed the pebble home, and had it mailed back to me in Monson. :D
-Tank
Blue Jay
03-31-2004, 11:18
I picked up a pebble on Springer for the tradition of carrying it to Katahdin. But in Fontana Dam I partook in a bigger tradition: doing anything to jettison some pack weight! So I mailed the pebble home, and had it mailed back to me in Monson. :D
-Tank
Now that is cheating, I am appalled (not really). Actually I think it is a very funny twist.
I picked up a pebble on Springer for the tradition of carrying it to Katahdin. But in Fontana Dam I partook in a bigger tradition: doing anything to jettison some pack weight! So I mailed the pebble home, and had it mailed back to me in Monson. :D
-Tank
Now that is cheating, I am appalled (not really). Actually I think it is a very funny twist.
I think that mailing it home IS cheating. In order to maintain the thruhike principles, the pebble must be kept in a bounce box.
Tom
Blue Jay
03-31-2004, 12:19
I think that mailing it home IS cheating. In order to maintain the thruhike principles, the pebble must be kept in a bounce box.
Tom
You are correct, however if the person at home never opened the box he sent home it can still be classified as a bounce box. Tank's thru hike would still be safe. However, if the person who sent the rock back to him even looked at the rock. Tank would have to start all over at Springer if he wanted a pure hike.
No, it was thrown in fit of rage. This occurred in the miles right after the AT diverged from the Long Trail, before the NH border. The thru-hiker who got "pucked" (as it was called) and subsequently ended the game, was a bit of a...well, I won't speak too badly of him. But he didn't even have a trail name. What's up with that??
Sleepy the Arab,
Did you meet Gnome, the little red bearded guy doing the ECT in 2001? He is my son and is the one who told me about getting pucked as you say. I believed his story of the hiker who threw the puck, but latter on my hike another hiker said that it didn't happen that way. Perhaps someone found the puck and finished the task of getting it to the trail's end. I got a big kick out of the stories surrounding folks getting pucked.
Brushy Sage
03-31-2004, 16:07
I stopped by Pine Knob shelter in Maryland one day to offer rides into Frederick, and there was a man there with about a fifth of rum. He said he was just getting back on the trail and that it is AT tradition to drink rum after taking a break of several days. Anybody ever hear that one???
Lone Wolf
03-31-2004, 16:09
He's full of s**t. He was just a drunk. :cool:
Brushy Sage
03-31-2004, 16:13
He's full of s**t. He was just a drunk. :cool:
I'm sure you're right. That shelter used to attract a lot of interesting (strange) characters, because it is so near a major road.
Hammock Hanger
03-31-2004, 16:20
Oh yeah, I've heard of that tradition from every drunk that needs an excuse. HH
Sleepy the Arab
03-31-2004, 22:32
Sleepy the Arab,
Did you meet Gnome, the little red bearded guy doing the ECT in 2001? He is my son and is the one who told me about getting pucked as you say. I believed his story of the hiker who threw the puck, but latter on my hike another hiker said that it didn't happen that way. Perhaps someone found the puck and finished the task of getting it to the trail's end. I got a big kick out of the stories surrounding folks getting pucked.
I can answer that with a definite "maybe" (let this be a lesson to future thru-hikers: keep a journal). I do recall meeting an ECT hiker in Delaware Water Gep, and it seems right to me that his name was Gnome, but I can't recall for sure. Further complicating the issue is that in '99 there was also a hiker with a gnome-ish trail name. Anyway, my account of the Hurling of the Puck came from Underdog, and it was my understanding (from my fuzzy memory, a dubious source at best) that no one else was around when the puck was flung. The hiker who flung it told other he did so at the end of the day, ergo, my belief that the puck lies hidden in the wilds of Vermont, still pining for Katahdin.
But I may be wrong. Underdog has a journal posted (still) on Trailjournals. I may go a-hunting for the story. Well, if time allows. It's getting close to zero-hour.
flyfisher
03-31-2004, 23:37
So the traditions I glean from the foregoing are:
- mooning the cogtrain on Mt. Washington
- carrying a pebble from Springer to Katadin
- going naked at various times
Other traditions I can think of:
- writing in journals all over
- Special places to eat: Erwin Burrito comes to mind.
- moons over Albert (From Tate's book)
- Pizza at the Partnership Shelter
- Attending Trail Days in Damascus
- Picture on top of Katadin
- Yogi-ing at New Found Gap
- Stopping in ATC HQ in Harper's Ferry
- Adopting a trail name
Brushy Sage
04-01-2004, 12:08
I don't believe this has been spelled out: there is a standing tradition on the AT of helping and supporting each other. If a hiker is low on food or water, others will pitch in if they have anything to share. My second night on the AT a woman loaned me an extra tarp to put over my sleeping bag, because the temp had dropped so drastically. If an emergency develops, hikers will do all they can to summon help or to get a hiker off the trail for treatment. While there is a strong tradition of hiking one's own hike, that doesn't override the tradition of community.