PDA

View Full Version : have things changed?



trucker2015
03-14-2012, 23:31
Back when I got in to doing long hikes people on the trail acted like family.
Say you stop and upgrade a piece of gear you see someone with lesser gear you pass down your old one.
I was at Neels Gap the other day and watched a guy send home a $8 water bottle replaced with a liter one. when his buddy was using a old plastic canteen that had to weight 4 pounds empty.

I really hope this is a rear thing to see.

trucker2015
03-14-2012, 23:35
I did go to my truck and get a ok bottle I had with me and give it to canteen guy.Hope it helps him enjoy his hike.

kayak karl
03-14-2012, 23:37
can't judge all hikers by what one does. i see thing different. why did his buddy keep his mouth shut while he watched his friend send it home?? why didn't they both buy a Lg Gatorade and be done with it :)

Kookork
03-14-2012, 23:47
But you showed the guy by acting the way that had a great message to show him the true way of being a decent hiker by giving the other fellow a good container from your truck. Let's hope they learn the lesson since you were a good pragmatic teacher.

Kookork

chief
03-15-2012, 00:07
I see no reason to subsidize hikers.

Kookork
03-15-2012, 00:31
I see no reason to subsidize hikers.

He did. You don't. It is a free country. Your view is as respected as his just let's keep in mind that the fellow with heavy container did not ask for it.

turtle fast
03-15-2012, 01:32
They probably not that good of buddies....The joke is on the guy who just spent $8 on a water bottle when he could of bought a Gatoraide or Poweraide for $1.50 - $2 and had an acceptable lightweight bottle. What you did was cool and hopefully the friend learned something.

trucker2015
03-15-2012, 01:33
I see no reason to subsidize hikers.


On my first long hike I really didn't know what I was doing.I had a grate pack ok tent, a propane cooker
(6lb) and no sleeping mat. Some gave me a well used Z rest and said pass it on when i didn't need it anymore.So when I got to neels gap I got a new mat and gave the old Z rest to someone with a piece of a blue mat they slept on.
Two days later I was given a nice alcohol stove and on my next hike it will go to someone who can use it.

not Subsidizing Give on the trail and the trail will give back.

P.S. I put a note in the propane stove if you want it take it I didn't with that beast on anyone.

Montana AT05
03-15-2012, 04:12
I love it when people are so generous with other people's property.

Creek Dancer
03-15-2012, 06:24
I'm with you Trucker2015. Pay it forward if you can. On a recent trip I met up with a couple of newbies whose water filter clogged. (They were using one of the bottles with the filter attached.) It was my last day on the trial, and they still had a couple of days to go. So after I treated my water for the day, I gave them my Aqua Mira so they could continue their hike. The backpacking community is a small one and I think most people try to take care of others when they can.

mrcoffeect
03-15-2012, 07:09
I see no reason to subsidize hikers.

I see no reason to be selfish with my used gear
some people get it. some are hopeless .generosity is not a flaw,selfishness is.

Jeff
03-15-2012, 07:27
Sending that water bottle home helps support the US Postal service!!! They need our support or they will start closing PO's up and down the trail. Oh wait, they're doing that now.:)

lemon b
03-15-2012, 07:35
Do unto others as u would want done to yourself.

T-Rx
03-15-2012, 07:40
Do unto others as u would want done to yourself.

I couldn't have said it any better!

The Cleaner
03-15-2012, 08:51
Some hikers I meet going oppisite direction act like they don't have time to share info on trail conditions.....

soulrebel
03-15-2012, 09:10
Well my friend received three packs from some nice peoples on the trail. Two of the packs were brand new and worth $200 and $130 respectively... The third pack was used for a few days then offered for the taking to a room full of hickers. They all declined. The guy that got the two packs from last year, heard about this and picked that pack up as well (valued at $290). Now he has four packs total and can't find anyone to hike with him. I've given away plenty myself-mainly foam pads, spoons, cookpots.

Nutbrown
03-15-2012, 09:32
Maybe canteen guy was using his dad's old canteen for memories. Nothing wrong with using old heavy stuff. Maybe he didn't want anything else when what he had worked fine. Getting something replaced just puts more crap in landfills.

q-tip
03-15-2012, 09:43
In my experience, I you come prepared to be self sufficient and you need something, the Trail Will provide...I found wonderful generosity and compassion along my 1,000 mi. walk...

Rain Man
03-15-2012, 10:42
Maybe canteen guy was using his dad's old canteen for memories.

Similar to what I was wondering. Maybe the one guy had offered the other guy the bottle a time or two on the trail and didn't want to be a know-it-all nag?

I do like the "pass it on" and Golden Rule philosophy, while also letting other hikers hike their own hike.

Rain:sunMan

.

Slo-go'en
03-15-2012, 12:27
I thought hiker boxes was where your suppost to dispose of your unless, unwanted gear.

Sailing_Faith
03-15-2012, 12:32
I did go to my truck and get a ok bottle I had with me and give it to canteen guy.Hope it helps him enjoy his hike.



Rarely is the world changed by war, politics, or great sweeping actions of people acting together. It seems to me that small random acts of kindness are much more powerful.

Through these things we can do are part.... one water bottle at a time. :)

Spokes
03-15-2012, 12:44
...It seems to me that small random acts of kindness are much more powerful...

I agree. And that behavior can be catching too. First thing I started doing when I got to a hut early in the Whites was grab a broom and start cleaning. The Croo's appreciated the help. Wasn't long before some of the other hikers witnessing it took the initiative at the next hut.

Same thing with buying extra soap and shampoo and leaving it in the hostel for the next hiker.

Small acts of kindness...... Yes!

chief
03-15-2012, 13:22
I see no reason to be selfish with my used gear
some people get it. some are hopeless .generosity is not a flaw,selfishness is.Not about being selfish, but about allocating resources to those really in need. Hikers don't qualify!

Blissful
03-15-2012, 14:25
Back when I got in to doing long hikes people on the trail acted like family.
Say you stop and upgrade a piece of gear you see someone with lesser gear you pass down your old one.
I was at Neels Gap the other day and watched a guy send home a $8 water bottle replaced with a liter one. when his buddy was using a old plastic canteen that had to weight 4 pounds empty.

I really hope this is a rear thing to see.

Some people just don't think of it, really. I'm sure he and his buddy talked gear before their hike - be surprised if they didn't. The canteen guy maybe liked what he was carrying too... It was a canteen from great grandfather. You never know.

I have seen hikers and townpeople go over and beyond the call of duty to help others in times of need in the course of 4,000+ miles...

trucker2015
03-15-2012, 14:56
Maybe canteen guy was using his dad's old canteen for memories. Nothing wrong with using old heavy stuff. Maybe he didn't want anything else when what he had worked fine. Getting something replaced just puts more crap in landfills.

That's what I thought to but talking to him.He has just got into hiking didn't know how big of a pain the canteen would be and didn't have the money to buy a new water bottle at the outfitter.

Soon Man
03-16-2012, 17:27
I've got about a dozen water bottles and would gladly give half away. Don't live close to the trail though. :p

dragoro
03-16-2012, 17:59
I see no reason to subsidize hikers.

I see no reason to be friends with people like you.

mirabela
03-16-2012, 21:16
Neels Gap is only three or four days along ... maybe some people take a little longer to catch on.

chief
03-17-2012, 01:09
I see no reason to be friends with people like you.I'm totally crushed!

trucker2015
03-17-2012, 01:44
I told canteen guy about this site I really hope he logs on. I can't remember his real name.
but I would say he now has a trail name. (Canteen Guy)

Trail Bug
03-17-2012, 05:46
I agree with q-tip. I was staying at Shaw's and needed some wool socks. They were all out, but a fellow hiker was finishing up and had 2 pair of new socks that his wife had sent him. Just gave them to me. I offered to pay him but he would not take any money. I repaid his kindness by helping out a few other hikers over the years who were short on gear or cash. I have found most people on the trail to be friendly and willing to share.

Jim Lemire
03-17-2012, 06:55
maybe this. maybe that. just goes to show, don't judge.

Papa D
03-17-2012, 08:34
Neels Gap is only three or four days along ... maybe some people take a little longer to catch on.

Or two days along:eek:

Papa D
03-17-2012, 08:39
I have so much fun seeing people figure things out - - I love showing them things (and giving stuff away) - - just the other day, I showed an aspiring thru-hiker how to hold trekking pole leashes - - they are designed to be used in a particular orientation that new hikers often don't pick up on - - or showing someone how to make a nalgene lantern with a headlamp or how to do a "pct style" food hang - - this is just so much fun for me - - I think that goodwill on the trail still exists - - my guess is that the guy sending home the $8 water bottle (wow that's pricy for something you can get for free in any recycling container) just didn't think about it and his friend probably just didn't think to ask.

Montana AT05
03-17-2012, 13:32
This thread reminds me of the people who say "Hike Your Own Hike, dude" followed by detailed instructions on how that hike is to be hiked.

It's one thing to appreciate the kindness of others and to be kind yourself, it's another thing to expect kindness from others and to hold your own kindness over them.

True generosity is done in anonymity. Be careful, lest we dislocate our own shoulders while patting our own backs.

Miner
03-17-2012, 13:51
True friends don 't give others an $8 heavy water bottle, they buy them a lightweight 32oz Gattoraid bottle with the drink included.

hikerboy57
03-17-2012, 15:32
as i am a map freak, and usually have more than one map for the area im hiking, almost every year ive given my spare map away to a thru hiker who had asked me about sites, blue blazes etc.My experience on the trail has always been positive and ive found most hikers willing to help out anyone in need.its like karma, a feeling that if you do good things itll come back to you, although I like to do good things simply because it makes me feel good.
pay it forward.

rocketsocks
03-17-2012, 18:24
as i am a map freak, and usually have more than one map for the area im hiking, almost every year ive given my spare map away to a thru hiker who had asked me about sites, blue blazes etc.My experience on the trail has always been positive and ive found most hikers willing to help out anyone in need.its like karma, a feeling that if you do good things itll come back to you, although I like to do good things simply because it makes me feel good.
pay it forward.Give to get,not a bad thing at all."Always do for others ,and let others do for you"~Bob Dylan:sun

trucker2015
03-17-2012, 21:38
Thanks for renewing my faith in trail magic.
The fellowship of hikers is one of the things I have enjoyed about hiking.

Migrating Bird
03-17-2012, 21:44
I like to pay it forward every chance I get. I get such a kick out of changing a flat for someone and when they try to pay, I turn and walk away and say "you're welcome". A couple of years ago, I met a young thru hiker coming down Jug End, Nuthatch. She was worried about meeting up with folks in Monterey, MA. I lent her my phone to call as they were driving some distance. We then spoke of the trail ahead and behind, she was concerned that she did not have a warm hat. I explained that the keys to my car are on top of the right front tire at Jug End Rd. In the trunk you will find a bin with a brand new Marmot hat and a bunch of food (left over from my section hike) I told her to take the hat and any food she needed. I still have the note she left me, worth much more than the hat. If she had taken the car, oh well, thats what I pay insurance for.