View Full Version : Beware of "The Backward Trail Yoda"
I was just reading a thread about the worst trail towns. I too couldn't come up with any, but I did come up with this. Just walk away from these people. No off color remarks needed, just walk away. They are the folks that you ask a question about the trail, and they come up with (now say this in your best Yoda voice) "why tell you should I, it would make your journey less fulfilling", "your experience would not be the same if I told you", or some such nonsense. Fortunately I only came across 2 of these folk, but it was enough to come up with my own little catch phrase name for them. A real Yoda quote..."Always pass on what you have learned"
Wise Old Owl
05-18-2013, 14:44
Why not be kind & just answer their question?
Why not be kind & just answer their question?
that would have been nice of them, Wise Old Owl. I mean come on. The 1st time I heard one of these convoluted answers I was just dumbfounded. I really couldn't come up with anything for a reply. I mean, I was thinking..."What a crock of....", but kept quite and just moved on.
WingedMonkey
05-18-2013, 18:26
Are you talking real life or online?
Are you talking real life or online?
On the trail last year. Won't go into any more detail than to say both were there, in different states, to supposedly to help hikers. And both were thru hikers in the past.
I would have laughed if someone said that to me in response to a question I asked. Then, I would have said I feel the force of the AT calling. I must go now. I understand, "do or do not; there is no try." Mentally challenged people share this bond.
Actually, I know of one of these people. They talk like that on occasion as a goof. It's just the AT - all types. It's part of the journey. I save experiences like that for one of those days when I'm having a hard time pulling a 25 miler and it lightens the load for me by having a few memorable laughs so I can hit my mark.
Swordpen
05-18-2013, 23:51
Mentally challenged, or too many drugs.
probably the latter.
Yeah, caffeine, alcohol, Snickers, soft drink, and Vitamin I use is on the rise. Eat 4-5 Snickers and I'd be talking so fast I would sound like Yoda too.
That's got to be one of the most misleading marketing terms - soft drink. Soft drinks are certainly not soft to your body and mind.
Ok, am I the only one that thinks this is kind of funny
Ok so you get upset when someone says.....
"why tell you should I, it would make your journey less fulfilling", "your experience would not be the same if I told you"
But then you say
Won't go into any more detail than to say both were there, in different states, to supposedly to help hikers.
So you pissed someone wouldn't give you details on something, and you're not giving us details something ... HAHAHAHAHHA
Im drunk.. so maybe this will not be funny to me in the morning.. oh well
Sailing_Faith
05-19-2013, 08:11
I find many are this same way about sailing. They want to withhold straightforward answers in response to questions supposedly to let the beginner "learn". I find it completely absurd, and that such people are generally just trying to make their experiences look more grandiose than they are.
The simple truth is that anyone can sail a boat, and we are all learning as we go. I like to freely share the many ways I have mucked it up, hopefully the Karmic implications of sparing someone else the same mistake work out well for me.
Yoda would never withhold such information, but at 3' tall he was already bigger than the people who do.
rocketsocks
05-19-2013, 08:26
I was just reading a thread about the worst trail towns. I too couldn't come up with any, but I did come up with this. Just walk away from these people. No off color remarks needed, just walk away. They are the folks that you ask a question about the trail, and they come up with (now say this in your best Yoda voice) "why tell you should I, it would make your journey less fulfilling", "your experience would not be the same if I told you", or some such nonsense. Fortunately I only came across 2 of these folk, but it was enough to come up with my own little catch phrase name for them. A real Yoda quote..."Always pass on what you have learned"I suppose these characters were born all knowing...Idiots, obviously they have forgotten where they came from...speaks volumes to that "entitled hiker" mentality.....I'd have walked away to, but not until runnnin up one side then down the tother...jag-offs
coarse I'm just feelin pissy this mornin
WingedMonkey
05-19-2013, 08:41
There is also the other end of the spectrum. Hikers that won't stop talking.
I was going north about to start the climb up Bear Mountain, and passed a south bound section hiker.
He stopped to tell me what a wonderful place it was, giving me all the details (his) that I never asked for. On and on and on.
When he got to the great exclamation "And you can see the city from up there". I inquired "What city".
You's have thought I had stabbed him, from his the look on his face.
:p
rocketsocks
05-19-2013, 08:50
There is also the other end of the spectrum. Hikers that won't stop talking.
I was going north about to start the climb up Bear Mountain, and passed a south bound section hiker.
He stopped to tell me what a wonderful place it was, giving me all the details (his) that I never asked for. On and on and on.
When he got to the great exclamation "And you can see the city from up there". I inquired "What city".
You's have thought I had stabbed him, from his the look on his face.
:pthat's classic...won't hear me say this often...your beautiful
:p
They are called Gnostics, they see themselves as the keepers of secret knowledge that you can only be trusted with once you have proved yourself worthy.
They are found everywhere, at work, in school, in every hobby, and in most religions. It is not a modern problem reserved for the AT.
I my view its their way of making themselves feel special.
There is also the chance they don't know the answers and want to make you think they do rather than show their ignorance.
IrishBASTARD
05-19-2013, 10:43
Say share what knowledge you have, its better to know little then nothing, and plead arrogance, that can get others maimed or injured, be it emotionally mentally or the worst physically, oh yeah that section of trail, no that was easy, as I asked a former thru last year, the super fund site, all be it unless he was insane was not easy. Would share any information with current attempting thru-hikers, if I did not know the information, had called ATC HQ to ask about illness, spread the information to other hikers, but also called friends who were medical staff, in concerns of how to help injured hikers, if you don't know to atleast call for help, you shouldn't even consider yourself a friend of the trail, because in all honestly the World already condemns us, why should we condone ignorance and arrogance for our fellow hiker
There is also the other end of the spectrum. Hikers that won't stop talking.
I was going north about to start the climb up Bear Mountain, and passed a south bound section hiker.
He stopped to tell me what a wonderful place it was, giving me all the details (his) that I never asked for. On and on and on.
When he got to the great exclamation "And you can see the city from up there". I inquired "What city".
You's have thought I had stabbed him, from his the look on his face.
:p
I've been guilty of this. I've learned to hold my tongue more often though.
While I also very much MOSTLY have this attitude, "always pass on what you have learned" I DO NOT feel I have to ALWAYS UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES WITH ALL PEOPLE pass on what I've learned just as I DO NOT ALWAYS expect others to share everything they have learned with me. And, while there are Gnostics and those who play games thinking they hold some kind of special knowledge that they think others may not be deemed worthy for there are also those who ask ridiculous simple questions repeatedly with seemingly obvious answers because they lack the desire and don't want to expend the effort to pull out their AT Thru-hiker's Companion, maps, trail materials, do the research, walk up to the trail kiosk, read the trail signage, etc and get the answers for themselves largely because they are lazy. A great many people act like they expect you to be their personal secretary, research assistant, librarian, trail advisor, etc being always available to answer all their inquiries. That may be an unfair expectation too. What I'm saying DOES NOT necessarily apply to the OP or any other poster on this thread.
keepinitsimple
05-21-2013, 11:22
In short, people who have problems communicating with others because of a perceived class conflict are dealing with many other problems than the one in question. Come on, that is kindergarten behavior. Share what you know if it can help someone, grow up.
Another Kevin
05-21-2013, 13:44
Sometimes I have problems communicating with others just because I'm (mis)wired that way. My words mixed up I get.
Or sometimes I really feel that I need more context.
"How hard is the hill up ahead?" is a hard question to answer, if you're wired like me. To some, the fact that it is a hill at all is strenuous enough; to others, 'pretty easy', may mean, "the rock is sound, holds are plentiful, and routefinding is straightforward, but exposures are dramatic and less confident members of the party may appreciate the use of a rope." I try to come up with answers like, "it's kind of steep, but I didn't have to use my hands anywhere," or "it's awfully muddy, be ready for wet feet", or "it's scrambly, but at least the rock is clean and grippy." I try to say something descriptive without trying to quantify "how hard."
And then sometimes I run off on a tangent. (The way my ex-GF ran off with a tan gent on the beach one day? Oops, I'm doing it again.)
And I suspect that sometimes, when I get my words mixed up, give an oblique answer, and blue-blaze off into irrelevancies, like Yoda I sound. But it's not really intentional.
I'm I-Tallion. I speak in sign language. However, I do forget the sign for, "leave me alone, I'm busy right now" or "f*&^ yeah that hill is steep."