here are my biggest annoyances on trails..what are yours? [Archive]

DavidNH

01-23-2005, 16:27

1) Getting to a shelter or mountain top and someone is talking on their cell phone. UGH... Can't you be out of touch for even a few days? Easily cell phones are one of the most awful diabolical inventions ever!

2) Mosquitos are anything that buzzez and flies all around my face

3) DOGS. They don't have the courtesy of people, many bark inscessently at shelters and I personally dont think pets have a place in the back country. People and wildlife Period. Dogs are not wildlife. In fact they seriously reduces a hikers chance of seeing wildlife.

4) People who race through the scenery doing marathon speed hikes. What the hell is the rush? You are just going to be hurried when you get back to life as well. For god sakes learn to take it easy and enjoy where you are. Way too many americans are constantly hurried trying to do twice as much in half the time. It is a major illness in our society and country. Some one who completes the Long Trail in five days or the Appalachian trail in 3 months as an example..may have macho bragging rights but surely is not a necessarily a better person for it and probably did not enjoy the present as much as others as he was always hurrying to get somewhere else example..flyin brian robinson ...triple crown in one year. Did he ever enjoy the company of others (who could keep up?) or the solitude and unspoiled wilderness (he hardly ever stopped as he had to race through it.

If anything here offends..well i am sorry.. but its my two cents!

David

wacocelt

01-23-2005, 16:43

4) People who race through the scenery doing marathon speed hikes. What the hell is the rush? You are just going to be hurried when you get back to life as well. For god sakes learn to take it easy and enjoy where you are. Way too many americans are constantly hurried trying to do twice as much in half the time. It is a major illness in our society and country. Some one who completes the Long Trail in five days or the Appalachian trail in 3 months as an example..may have macho bragging rights but surely is not a necessarily a better person for it and probably did not enjoy the present as much as others as he was always hurrying to get somewhere else example..flyin brian robinson ...triple crown in one year. Did he ever enjoy the company of others (who could keep up?) or the solitude and unspoiled wilderness (he hardly ever stopped as he had to race through it.

I'm annoyed by people being annoyed by things like this. Then I stop and take a deep breath and let it pass. None of it means anything, we all walk different paces and live different lives. You take your steps they'll take thiers, hopefully the steps won't be on each others toes.

In closing I'de like to add, HYOH hippie!

Lone Wolf

01-23-2005, 16:46

Nothing annoys me. I'm all accepting, all loving. Hike your own hike yo. Peace. :sun

Tha Wookie

01-23-2005, 17:06

Nothing annoys me. I'm all accepting, all loving. Hike your own hike yo. Peace. :sun
Yeah, keep on the sunny side of life.:sun

steve hiker

01-23-2005, 17:12

Nothing annoys me. I'm all accepting, all loving. Hike your own hike yo. Peace. :sun
You're coming along real fine. :) Here, breathe deep (passing the bong).

hikerjohnd

01-23-2005, 17:27

The Gnome

01-23-2005, 17:46

Some days are just perfect; the Trail gently undulates, you are miles away from the hassle of cat needing to go to the vet, the truck needing servicing and the bedroom you should have painted last week. There are no bugs and the weather is just slightly cool with sunny skies. You clip off a 25 miler and around the corner appears the Partnership Shelter with its hot shower and a freshly filled magic box of goodies.

The ANNOYING thing about the Trail: Why are those days so, so rare?

Belew

01-23-2005, 18:22

In 15 years of hiking I guess I've been annoyed once. It was bound to happen some day,right? I blew out my knee three days into my section hike last Summer on Blood Mountain. Even then everything was falling together with great rhythm and I learned to go with the flow. I think I'll make it this year.

camich

01-23-2005, 18:24

The only time I was slightly annoyed was at Peck's Corner shelter. It was pouring down rain so everyone was huddled in the shelter. There were 7 Boy Scouts in the shelter which was cool... but one of the scouts had a shrieking loud voice and despite his leaders pleads he just couldn't keep it down. Once it got dark they all went to sleep...and all was quiet.

SGT Rock

01-23-2005, 18:33

I don't like shelters, they annoy me.

Lone Wolf

01-23-2005, 18:34

Let's burn the muthas down Rock!

MOWGLI

01-23-2005, 18:35

Chafing annoys me. I guess if I didn't eat so much, my thighs wouldn't rub together. :D

SGT Rock

01-23-2005, 18:36

Sounds like a plan! I think on my thru I'll carry some magnesium trip flairs and set fire to the lot of them. Nomore loud boy scouts, snoring folks, dogs, smokers, or cell phone users to bug me at them anymore! :D

SavageLlama

01-23-2005, 18:43

I hate those southern conservative gun-totin' thru-hikers with long beards... :D

wacocelt

01-23-2005, 18:51

Can we fill the shelter with Hippies first?

rickb

01-23-2005, 19:11

1. Not being able to tell whether that woodpecker was a blackbacked, or three toed-- I need the 3-toed for my life list.

2. Hearing a hoot outside my tent and only having a Tika

3. Cheap, foggy binoculars like mine

Phorestfreak

01-23-2005, 19:23

You know what I dislike? When people use the word "hippy" in a negative way like talking about burning them along with the shelters. I don't even really know what a "hippy" is, but it always seems negative. These days anyone with long hair and dirty feet is called a "hippy". what characteristics makes a person a "hippy"? and why is this bad?

c.coyle

01-23-2005, 19:36

smokymtnsteve

01-23-2005, 19:39

You're coming along real fine. :) Here, breathe deep (passing the bong).

mmm..thanks ;)

The Old Fhart

01-23-2005, 19:39

LW-"Let's burn the muthas down Rock!"That's been done before. I think it was Don Nelon north of Elk Park that was burned just before I got there and then there was the shelter near the road at Keys Gap that had a big hole burned in the middle of the sleeping platform. I don't know if there were any hippies there when it burned, I know I wasn't :D .

Lone Wolf

01-23-2005, 19:39

I don't own one but it wouldn't bother me in the least if someone uses one at a summit, shelter, privy, whatever. It ain't a big deal. Too many whining weenies crying about cell use.

wacocelt

01-23-2005, 19:48

whining weenies = hippies

Don't take me seriously, I'm never serious, even when I'm joking.

Lone Wolf

01-23-2005, 19:50

If a dirty hippy falls from a tree in the forest does anyone hear or care? :D

wacocelt

01-23-2005, 19:54

If someone hears it they laugh, but they still don't care.

ocourse

01-23-2005, 21:40

going downhill on small round rocks. About cell phones - I carry mine for my 2-3 night hikes. When I go, my wife has to take care of everything at home and it is best to check in with her at some point along the way. She is great to encourage me and makes it easy for me to go. Yay for good spouses!

Dances with Mice

01-23-2005, 21:59

Ear splitting screams in the middle of the night bother me.

Couple, or maybe 6, years ago I was at Springer Mtn with some Venturing scouts. That's older Scouts, used to be called 'Explorers'. We'd bicycled to the Springer parking lot from Cooper Gap, stashed our bikes, then hiked up to Springer. We were going to tarp it but the weather turned into an ice storm and the shelter was way less than half full, so the 4 of us climbed into the top floor for the night. After sunset one more hiker stumbled in from Amicalola, an older fellow from Las Vegas. He was too tired to even make supper but we had lots of leftover mac'n'cheese'n'Spam so he cleaned up our leftovers then crawled into his bag on the top floor with us.

OK, so has the scene been set?

All was quiet for an hour or so until he let out an ear-splitting, blood curdling scream! Didn't bother me at all, I'm used to waking up with my arms wrapped around the shelter roof rafters. Every flashlight in the shelter came on like searchlights as everyone wondered who the bear was attacking.

The poor guy had leg cramps. Lucky he was among Scouts, we pulled out water bottles and Tylenol and after a pint or two of water and an overdose of Tylenol PM he laid back down. For an hour or so. Then there was another scream! We gave him more water. He settled back down.

I woke up when yet another blood curdling scream split the air. This was really getting old.

Fortunately that was the last. But the next morning he asked if anyone had a car nearby. I told him I did but I'd have to bike out some miles to it then drive back. He said that was ok and so the boys & I walked down, got the bikes, cycled to Cooper, then drove back to the Springer lot where he wasn't waiting for us. So I climbed Springer again to find him still in the shelter. We got his stuff together and walked down to the parking lot, drove home, and dropped him off in Gainesville where he was going to catch a bus back to Las Vegas.

So he came all the way to Georgia, hiked 0.9 miles on the AT, then went back home.

That may have been the last night I spent in a shelter.

About a month or so later I was sectioning Georgia with two of my kids when we met him again, at Cooper Gap of all places. He'd come back to make another attempt at the Trail. I heard that he made it all the way to Katahdin.

Trail name of our screamer: X-Man.

MOWGLI

01-24-2005, 07:53

1) 4) People who race through the scenery doing marathon speed hikes. What the hell is the rush? You are just going to be hurried when you get back to life as well. For god sakes learn to take it easy and enjoy where you are. Way too many americans are constantly hurried trying to do twice as much in half the time. It is a major illness in our society and country. Some one who completes the Long Trail in five days or the Appalachian trail in 3 months as an example..may have macho bragging rights but surely is not a necessarily a better person for it and probably did not enjoy the present as much as others as he was always hurrying to get somewhere else example..flyin brian robinson ...triple crown in one year. Did he ever enjoy the company of others (who could keep up?) or the solitude and unspoiled wilderness (he hardly ever stopped as he had to race through it.

David

Well, you don't "offend" me, but I will point out a couple of things. Once I started doing 20 miles per day regularly, I'd hear this. Some people just don't seem to like it that others hike faster or farther than them. There were plenty of folks that hiked faster than me, and it didn't bother me in the least. In fact, it usually impressed me, seeing as I was leaving it all out on the trail, day in & day out.

Here is an entry from my journal that I uploaded yesterday. (I hope to have this completed in another 2 weeks) Despite the fact that folks would occasionally whine & moan that I wasn't stopping to smell the roses, I saw more in the first 3 miles of this 20 mile day, than most hikers will see in a week. You see, it's not how fast you go. It's what you choose to see, and having the knowledge to know what you're looking at. I'm still working on that second part.

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?id=86941

Little Bear

Tha Wookie

01-24-2005, 09:28

Can we fill the shelter with Hippies first?
Well that's not very nice. Since me and many of my friends here at the organic farm would probably be called "hippies" from you and the other stereotypical people caught in todays media mind-numbing orgy, I find that mildly offensive.

On your thru-hike attempt, you might want to reevalute what you consider to be a hippie and how they should be treated, including how people talk about "them" in public. I don't care that you already retracted your statement in this thread.

By the way, here's a hippie who made it: www.trailjournals.com/nate (http://www.trailjournals.com/nate)

Keep on the sunny side of life!!:sun

Lone Wolf

01-24-2005, 09:46

There are no "hippies". Just rich kids posing with dreads and wearing that smelly oil. What a stupid look.Why do white folks wera dreads anyway? Rastafarians do not like white people.

TJ aka Teej

01-24-2005, 09:53

but its my two cents!
I'd like to hear what you find enjoyable about hiking and the AT.
That's worth waaaaaay more than two cents!

Blue Jay

01-24-2005, 09:57

There are no "hippies". Just rich kids posing with dreads and wearing that smelly oil. What a stupid look.Why do white folks wera dreads anyway? Rastafarians do not like white people.

Rastafarians have no basic opinions in regard to race. They are opposed to Babylon, be it black or white. The systems based in the Catholic Church that ran and continues to run the slave system around the world.

Lone Wolf

01-24-2005, 10:10

"Babylon is the Rastafarian term for the WHITE political power structure that has been holding the black race down for centuries. In the past, Rasta see that blacks were held down physically by shackles of slavery. In the present, Rasta feel that blacks are still held down through poverty, illiteracy, inequality, and trickery by the WHITE man." Quoted from a Rasta website.

neo

01-24-2005, 14:59

i just wanna hike,i rarely get annoyed,i prefer to stealth camp,i can be more comfortable stealth camping in my hammock,so i dont anoy people with my cell phone,plus mice are not a problem when you dont stay in shelters,i love hiking at night not many people out there,i love section hiking in off season,i hate being on a crowed trail,when ya hike and camp alone not much to get annoyed about,or much you can do to annoy people,:sun neo

leeki pole

01-24-2005, 17:46

Hey Rick, is that a Black-backed Three-toed or a Northern three-toed woodpecker? :jump

RockyTrail

01-24-2005, 18:11

[QUOTE=Dances with Mice]
.....All was quiet for an hour or so until he let out an ear-splitting, blood curdling scream! Didn't bother me at all, I'm used to waking up with my arms wrapped around the shelter roof rafters. Every flashlight in the shelter came on like searchlights as everyone wondered who the bear was attacking.

The poor guy had leg cramps. Lucky he was among Scouts, we pulled out water bottles and Tylenol and after a pint or two of water and an overdose of Tylenol PM he laid back down. For an hour or so. Then there was another scream! We gave him more water. He settled back down.....

Interesting story DWM. That confirms the numerous reports from Scouts that solo hikers are usually polite but can be very noisy around shelters... hee hee! :)

tlbj6142

01-24-2005, 18:23

Once I started doing 20 miles per day regularly, I'd hear this.Big mile days don't require fast walking. Do the math.

In a typically summer day you have more than 15 hours of daylight. Doing a slow 2mph (net) will yeild 30 miles. If your walking pace averages just 2.5mph (which is slow on anything but the rockiest footpath) and you take 10 minute per hour (net) breaks. You end up with 12.5 hours of hiking at 2.5 mph or 31 miles in a day with 2.5 hours for breaks and another 9 hours to sleep.

Or slow down a bit more and do 2mph pace with 15 min/hour breaks and you end up with 22.5 miles, 3.75 hours of breaks plus 9 hours to sleep.

Besides shelters, what I don't understand is how folks waste their day staying in camp before sunrise and stop before sunset? There is typically 30+ minutes (called Civil Twilight) before/after sunrise/sunset to do camp duties (don't forget that headlamp). Besides, camping is rather boring. Its the hiking part that rocks.

I think the "big miles==fast==hiking with your eyes closed" thing is one of those HYOH as those as it falls within a certain group's idea of what qualifies as HYOH stigmas. IOW, HYOH to some folks means Hike like everyone else or else you must be some sort of freak. Sad, isn't it.

SGT Rock

01-24-2005, 18:30

I tend to agree with the fact that camp is boring. I would rathr spend the day hiking and taking breaks at cool places. I may take longer breaks since I only get in about 12-15 miles per day usually, but I tend to get up with the sun and get to camp near dark.

Needles

01-24-2005, 18:37

MOWGLI

01-24-2005, 18:37

Besides, camping is rather boring. Its the hiking part that rocks.

I agree with most of what you wrote til you got to the sentance above. Yeah, hiking rocks, but after 3 or 4 months, it's not I was saying "Gee, I can't wait to hike today." Yeah, on the trail you see lots of wonderful things, BUT, your feet and body get sore, and it's nice to hang around camp and socialize with the people you meet along the way. I needed the rest, and there were plenty of days that I actually dreade dhiking - until I got the first mile or two in.

Hanging around camp is also an opportunity to experience a real pretty place (smell the roses). Especially if you tent in an area away from a shelter. (Beauty Spot, ponds in Maine & Vermont, etc..)

Lone Wolf

01-24-2005, 18:41

Camp is my favorite part of hiking. I usually am done hiking by 4:00 PM. I hike 3 mph plus. I always have something really good to cook for dinner too. :)

A-Train

01-24-2005, 18:57

I'm with LW and Little Bear. I'm in the school of "power hiking" so to speak, getting on trail by 8 or so, taking a lengthy lunch break, hiking around 3 mph and arriving at camp between 4-5. I loved shelters and campsites. The evenings were the best part of the day many times. Sure I love to hike, but as LB says, a couple months into your hike its the friendships and conversations that fueled me to continue, not the prospect of "20 more miles!". This way worked for me as I was typically able to put in 18-22 miles by late afternoon and then could sit back and read for a couple hours before dinner, or chatting with other hikers. It isn't all about the hiking after all.

And yea there is a lot of jealousy, anymosity and negative sentiments from the majority of hikers towards those who were covering 25+ miles a day and not being very social. Frankly I didn't care too much either way, but can certainly respect the physical accomplishment of hiking the AT in 2, 3 or 4 months. I probably wouldn't do it that way, but who am I to say that's the wrong way of hiking.

I have, in recent trips tried to adopt the PCT style of walking, getting on the trail earlier, walking all day and camping after preparing dinner. It's certainly more effective for putting in miles, and you maximize the day, but it's certainly not as social/fun for me.

A-Train

01-24-2005, 19:02

To tblj42:

It seems kind of hypocritical for you to announce people are "wasting their day" sitting in camp and not hiking for 12+ hours of day and then, in the next paragraph talk about how awful it is that people don't practice HYOH and only do so if it falls within their idea of HYOH. Seems you just did that.

Anyway, I somehow remember having this conversation awhile back and am not real interesting in re-hashing it. Just thought I'd point it out.

Panama Red

01-24-2005, 19:03

what annoys me most is when im done with my hike and i hop in a car because for a split second as i start to move i think "hey why dont people use these vehicles more often". then i end up pissed at myself for thinking that.

steve hiker

01-24-2005, 20:18

The most annoying thing for me is when my section hike ends.

And running into hippies who are all out of pot. :D

saimyoji

01-24-2005, 20:22

Most annoying thing for me is when I really want to get out and hike, something comes up and won't let me, whatever it is.

Footslogger

01-24-2005, 22:07

Had to think about this one a bit. But in the end the thing that irked me the most on my thru-hike in 2003 was the repeated climb to the non-existent "VISTA". I realize that it may be part of the whole AT experience but to bust your butt and reach the top of some of those mountains, only to realize that there is NO VISTA ...well, enough said.

'Slogger
AT 2003

The Old Fhart

01-24-2005, 22:24

Footslogger-"But in the end the thing that irked me the most on my thru-hike in 2003 was the repeated climb to the non-existent "VISTA". ......"Hey, I think I found a good summit for you! Here is a photo of the summit sign for Little Boardman (http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2497/size/big/sort/1/cat/500)!

Footslogger

01-24-2005, 22:27

Hey, I think I found a good summit for you! Here is a photo of the summit sign for Little Boardman (http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/2497/size/big/sort/1/cat/500)!=========================
Thanks Dude ...I needed that !!

'Slogger
AT 2003

Mountain Dew

01-25-2005, 01:57

When people walk into a shelter or hostel and think it's perfectly fine to share their political views with everybody. They act so offended when you "share" yours right back and usually want to end the conversation right away.

Flash Hand

01-25-2005, 06:47

1) Black Dogs (bear look a like :mad: )

2) Visible Toliet Papers everywhere

3) Hikers think they don't need shower when there is one available and ask for a hug.

4) Bugs trying to get in my eyes.

Flash Hand :jump

hwbout

01-25-2005, 08:26

I hate when you get to shelter and there's broken glass and used toilet paper everywhere.

Lone Wolf

01-25-2005, 08:29

Great reason to avoid staying at or around shelters.

c.coyle

01-25-2005, 08:36

litter

people walking around a muddy spot, therefore making the footpath wider

horses and bikes on trails where they are forbidden

SGT Rock

01-25-2005, 08:37

Burn 'em, that would solve everyone's hatred of things at shelters ;)

rickb

01-25-2005, 09:15

4. False summits
5. Tents in Shelters

tlbj6142

01-25-2005, 12:37

Anyway, I somehow remember having this conversation awhile back and am not real interesting in re-hashing it. Just thought I'd point it out.I wondered if anyone would catch that. I didn't feel like editing the message to put the correct spin on the comments. I was also going to comment on the power hiker types (9-4, few breaks, 3+ mph types) as well, but it seems as though rock and lw did a great job on the topic.

I'm a strong believer in the HYOH thing (not the AT version of HYOH which I stated above). But this thread's topic is about items that annoy us. And that is something that annoys me (spending too much time in camp). Obviously, if I'm hiking solo its not an issue. Its when I'm hiking with others that it becomes a bother.

I also understand MOGLI16's comments (camp is needed). I just haven't had to deal with it as my trips are rather short. So, sore feet and body are part of the experience (and a bit fun). Which is easy to say when you know you'll be home in 5 days. In fact, if I'm not sore I might as well go on a hike in the local metro park.:D

Skyline

01-25-2005, 13:51

1) People on the Trail (or anywhere else, really) who seem to have a need to make racist, sexist, or homophobic wisecracks all the time. It's easy to overlook once in a blue moon, but there are just a few who seem to need to do it regularly so as to establish over and over their personal "superiority."

2) Hikers who think it's perfectly OK to smoke pot or do other illegal drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink booze at a shelter, picnic table, viewpoint, etc. without asking if anyone minds. Or to refrain from doing these things if the answer is that they do mind.

3) Hikers who trash the trail, shelters, campsites, hostels, towns, or other hikers and then excuse their behavior by insisting they're just hiking their own hike.

SeaJay

01-25-2005, 13:58

I think I have to pipe up here for the fast hikers and say that maybe some people who hike fast do so because that's their prefered method of hiking. Sometimes I like to see how far I can push myself in a single day, few days etc. It's my way of making the hike interesting and testing my personal limits. And by doing so I don't feel that I'm enjoying it any less or missing anything. Fast hiking is what, 4 miles an hour??? That's still a slow crawl in any car - ample opportunity to see the sites.

Pecan

01-25-2005, 14:11

2) Hikers who think it's perfectly OK to smoke pot or do other illegal drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink booze at a shelter, picnic table, viewpoint, etc. without asking if anyone minds. Or to refrain from doing these things if the answer is that they do mind.
What about hikers who open a ziplock of fresh roasted pecans or a piece of sweet pecan pie within nosereach of other hungry hikers, causing their tonges to drip and stomacks to growwwl. Unconsiderate :bse

Skyline

01-25-2005, 15:56

What about hikers who open a ziplock of fresh roasted pecans or a piece of sweet pecan pie within nosereach of other hungry hikers, causing their tonges to drip and stomacks to growwwl. Unconsiderate :bse

Hmmm...never seen fresh roasted pecans, or sweet pecan pie on the Trail—but rather than bothering me, I'd try my damndest to yogi some if there was enough to go around. Would you, uh, share?

I hope you're not equating a snack or legal sweet dessert with illegal substances or addictive but legal habits which tend to disgust some folks.

MOWGLI

01-25-2005, 16:28

I hope you're not equating a snack or legal sweet dessert with illegal substances or addictive but legal habits which tend to disgust some folks.

Sugar & caffeine. Little Bear's drugs of choice. My wife thinks its disgusting. :D

lobster

01-25-2005, 16:39

I would only open something delicious in my tent so someone doesn't try to yogi some. If I carry it, it's mine to eat!!!!

c.coyle

01-25-2005, 17:44

Hikers who think it's perfectly OK to smoke pot or do other illegal drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink booze at a shelter, picnic table, viewpoint, etc. without asking if anyone minds. Or to refrain from doing these things if the answer is that they do mind.

Cigarette smoke can be annoying and possibly unhealthy in close quarters. Illegal drugs are illegal. But alcohol? Is drinking alcohol responsibly around others considered poor trail etiquette?

Lone Wolf

01-25-2005, 17:57

No. Not at all.

saimyoji

01-25-2005, 17:58

HELL NO. Just be responsible, and share, please.:banana

steve hiker

01-25-2005, 20:18

HELL NO. Just be responsible, and share, please.:bananaEspecially the sinsemilla.

Don't bogart that joint, my friend ... :banana

Skyline

01-25-2005, 20:30

Cigarette smoke can be annoying and possibly unhealthy in close quarters. Illegal drugs are illegal. But alcohol? Is drinking alcohol responsibly around others considered poor trail etiquette?

You won't get unanimous agreement or disagreement on this one. But there are a fair number of people who abstain from alcohol hiking the AT. Some are in recovery and don't need to be tempted by the presence of booze, others have their own reasons. Out of consideration for them, I'd ask first. And IMHO anyone who gets out of control while drinking, or can't say no to just one more, should be cool and go find a tentsite away from others.