View Full Version : What Question were you asked that really made you Think?
bwendel07
02-26-2011, 09:09
I know that when anyone was out on the trail and after the trail when you returned to real life, most people asked questions "What was it like sleeping outside for months" or "What would you do differently" or "What was your favorite part of the trail" and any number of pretty standard questions that most have been asked. But did anyone get asked a question that you really taken back and had to think of an answer? One of those questions that you almost did not know how to answer? And it took a little bit of thinking and reflection to get back to? I was recently asked. What one characteristic from life on the trail would you like you like to see in todays society? And I thought that that was a very intelligent question, It seemed to me that if the person genuinely put though enough in the question to ask it, it was something that I should reflect on. I though that was a good question and thought that others would have been asked things while out on the trail that was a little different, that made you really think and reflect before answering.
Lone Wolf
02-26-2011, 09:38
huh?:-?.......
fredmugs
02-26-2011, 10:08
Every time I come back from a hike and my knees are all banged up and I'm limping around my office somebody asked me why I keep doing it. I thought about it and came up with the answer that now follows my posts.
Pain is by-product of a good time. It applies to both hiking and drinking.
kayak karl
02-26-2011, 10:20
what do you think about all day? don't you get bored?
what do you think about all day? don't you get bored?
I'm so bored I'm fixing to head out to the Unaka Mt. Wilderness in the Cherokee National Forest and hike the last marked trail I've got to hike there.....
The Stamping Ground Ridge trail was once the AT. :)
http://www.hikingbill.com/2008_logs/2008-02-02/limestone_cove_to_horseback_ridge.htm
I was asked, well, more like informed: "You're not finished, are you. You need to get back out there." I thought about that for a while and got back out there. That's why my signature shows 2 hikes, not 1.
garlic08
02-26-2011, 15:47
After a particularly grueling hike when I came home too skinny and limping a bit in the mornings, a friend asked, "Was it worth it?" I didn't have to think long about it, because it definitely was.
But it was far better than the usual set of questions, and I told him so. One of my favorites is "do you carry all your food", to which the best answer I've heard is "yes, until I can find someone to carry it for me."
In my opinion, one of the worst is "What do you get when you're done?"
Almost inevitably the otherwise non-thought provoking question comes up of "how far are you going?"
Depending on the person and how the question is asked, my answer: "Until I get enough".
Graywolf
02-26-2011, 17:18
When I had to op out on my section hike, I was standing on the overlook at Neels Gap. Cool Breeze cam up and we began talking about the trail and my experiance over those short 30 miles and my pack failure. One thing he asked was, "I can tell your not finished yet". I replyed, " No way, I still have 2170 miles to go. I'll be back"..
Whne I cam home and thought more of those three days, my heart ahced so much for leaving. So now my answer is more like, "Im taking a break, but She calls for me".
shelterbuilder
02-26-2011, 17:41
...Whne I cam home and thought more of those three days, my heart ahced so much for leaving. So now my answer is more like, "Im taking a break, but She calls for me".
Ah, so YOU have a mistress, too!:D
Graywolf
02-26-2011, 17:44
Ah, so YOU have a mistress, too!:D
Oh, yes, My Mistress goes by her abbriviation most of teh time, It's AT... Can we guess what her full nmae is?
GeneralLee10
02-26-2011, 23:08
"Would you do it again?"
"Umm yes, I say"
"Was it fun"
"Ummm yes"
"Did you shower?"
"Ummm No"
"So you had to carry how many days of food?"
"Only 4"
"What!, Now way"
"Umm yes way!!"
"How far did you make it?"
"As far as my will would carry me"
Trailweaver
02-27-2011, 02:30
To the question "What do you get when you're done?" - the answer for me is "A lot of self confidence and self esteem."
I often struggle on the trail - aches and pains, an injury, and long uphills are demons. Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing out there. Then I come home, and in two days' time I'm "recovered" and feeling very proud of what I've done. I'm doing something no one else in my family has done (or would even consider doing), and it makes me feel great. . . it translates over into my everyday life in so many ways. Every time I go I get a little more out of it, and as long as I can put one foot in front of another, I'm going to be hiking north. (Well, till I "run out of trail," anyway.)
Wow, I got a tough question tonight. I suggested a thru hike in 2019. My boyfriend asked, "Do you know how old I'll be then?" I thought about it and was floored. He'll be 69. We only have a few years to get all our hiking together in.
Hey Piper, BillyGoat is in his 70's and he hikes on the PCT every year.
Then there was 65+5 in 2009 on the PCT. He hiked the AT when he was 65 and on the PCT at 70!
On the CDT I met Doc, Handlebar, and Thristyboots and I would tell you their age but they would hunt me down and put lead bricks in my pack.. but they were real close to the age you are worried about.
Then again.. You two should get out and hike as soon as possible too!
Mrs Baggins
02-28-2011, 06:04
Took a friend on a 10 mile day hike - not much for me but a real challenge for her. At the end of it she looked at me and asked "And you think this is fun?" That did take me aback for a second. Then I told her "Fun? No, I just really enjoy it. It's not jumping up and down, whooping fun. I never thought of it that way. I just love doing it."
Wow, I got a tough question tonight. I suggested a thru hike in 2019. My boyfriend asked, "Do you know how old I'll be then?" I thought about it and was floored. He'll be 69. We only have a few years to get all our hiking together in.
70 is the new 50. :)
Doc Mike
02-28-2011, 10:47
My mother in law did a 21 mile uphill day hike with me at age 69 and when we finished she said "that sure was fun when can we do it again".
Yes, yes, 70 is the new 50 and all of that, but it's not like we can plan any trips for 2025 or keep putting things off anymore. We've got to plan them now, and the really sad thing is either I give up some of my high earning years to go with him or I stay home and be jealous. This year I am going to stay home and be jealous. Next year I'm going with him. But what about the next and the next and the next?
From a youngster: "Do you cry?"
hikerboy57
02-28-2011, 18:26
70 is the new 50. :)
You need to see lewis Black talk about 70 is the new 50. He says 70 is 70 and 50 is 50,thats why theyre 2 different #s.
Although now that I'll be turning 54, I beleive 50 is the new 40.When I turned 50, someone asked me how it felt t get old. I said I dont care about getting old, as long as I dont grow up!!
fiddlehead
02-28-2011, 21:01
From a youngster: "Do you cry?"
That reminds me of a time we were camping at a shelter in NH somewhere with a group of "hoods in the woods" and the kids were bragging that they did 8 miles that day.
My friend said that we do more than double that every day.
The kid said: "Yeah, but you like it!"
mweinstone
02-28-2011, 22:27
lwolf+1.......................huh?
Q - Are you thruhiking?
A - No, I'll be through hiking tomorrow (I'm a section hiker). :D
Monkeyboy
03-02-2011, 21:20
"Are you going to eat that?"
Bare Bear
03-03-2011, 17:08
My personal favorite: "Can you get there (Maine) from here (NC)?
"You mean you are hiking the AT, and you don't know anything about self-defense?" I realized the person asking that question had a really good point. I signed up for a 5-hour basic course before hiking again. I feel much better prepared.
Bare Bear
03-17-2011, 15:18
Have you seen my Rootweiler? Kinda big and mean?
Raul Perez
03-17-2011, 16:36
"You mean you are hiking the AT, and you don't know anything about self-defense?" I realized the person asking that question had a really good point. I signed up for a 5-hour basic course before hiking again. I feel much better prepared.
Having trained in martial arts for over 14 years (12 of which involved full contact fighting).
5 hours is not enough time to get used to the adrenal dump you will experience if you are ever in a real situation. Let alone remember anything you learned. If you dont use it and train it on a consistent basis your reaction time, timing, technique, execution, and intent wont be there when you need it.
Sorry to be the jerk that breaks it down like that.
[QUOTE=Raul Perez;1130187] 5 hours is not enough time to get used to the adrenal dump you will experience if you are ever in a real situation. Let alone remember anything you learned. If you dont use it and train it on a consistent basis your reaction time, timing, technique, execution, and intent wont be there when you need it.QUOTE]
I don't doubt you, however I was responding to the post, which was -- "What question really made you think?" The concern expressed for my personal safety not only made me think, it made me act as well.
Raul Perez
03-18-2011, 10:01
[QUOTE=Raul Perez;1130187] 5 hours is not enough time to get used to the adrenal dump you will experience if you are ever in a real situation. Let alone remember anything you learned. If you dont use it and train it on a consistent basis your reaction time, timing, technique, execution, and intent wont be there when you need it.QUOTE]
I don't doubt you, however I was responding to the post, which was -- "What question really made you think?" The concern expressed for my personal safety not only made me think, it made me act as well.
I understand but your post stated you were better prepared. I hope my post caused you to think a little more when it comes to unarmed self defense and a 5 hour course.
Personally I don't think you have much to worry on the AT.
brian039
03-18-2011, 17:08
Did you go by yourself? I never can figure out how to answer this question. It's both yes and no.