Has Wingfoot lightened up any?
or is still his way or the highway on his site?
Maybe he is lightening up. I posted a positive statement about Bill Bryson's book on Trailplace, and was surprised at his mild response.
I haven't been there in ages.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
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NO SNIVELING
Neither have I. I don't want to encourage the foolishness that he engages in on his site by frequenting it.
why should he? trailplace deals with serious, controversial, and cutting edge issues where the very fate of the AT itself is often hanging in the balance.
don't get me wrong, i love trailplace, and really do respect and appreciate WF as much as can having never actually met him. but isn't this a little dramatic? the language itself reflects the notion that trailplace somehow is a chosen instrument in representing the A.T. a "chosen peoples" complex tends to breed fundementalism. the problem with fundamentalist/purists of any sort is that in order for them to be so intense/zealous for their ideals, they have to be intolerant of other opinions. i think a lot of people are drawn to this mentality because it is black and white and represents a sense of security for them. when so much of life and what it means is ambiguous, i think that it is a common mistake of a truth seeker to get mixed up in this mentality. it has the appearance of solid ground or an anchor for them. unfortunately, the result is that they usually don't ever find the peace that they thought it would bring them. yet they refuse to admit this. to do so would entail admitting that they don't have all the anwsers in life and thus they would have to forfet the security that is found in a fundamentalist/purist worldview.Originally Posted by the goat
why should he? trailplace deals with serious, controversial, and cutting edge issues where the very fate of the AT itself is often hanging in the balance.
Nathan, go to trailplace and post something that goes against Wingfoot's opinions, especially anything political. You'll learn all about intolerance.
I heard he has lightened up. He fasted for 3 days and lost 6 pounds.
overdramatic? are you kidding me? WF was ordained by God himself as the high protector and all knowing centerpiece of the AT.
He doesn;t allow us to do any damn chitchatting in exclusive forums, so I am stuck over here pretending to be a girl so i can see what they are chitchatting about!!!!!!!
.....Someday, like many others who joined WB in the early years, I may dry up and dissapear....
Whiteblaze is sooooooo much better than Trailplace. Even trailforums is better than Trailplace. There's absolutely no reason to go there! Just say no! I like getting responses from a variety of people instead of just 1.
<A HREF="http://www.jackielbolen.blogspot.com/"TARGET="Jackie's BLOG">http://www.jackielbolen.blogspot.com/</A>
I join Jackiebolen in feeling this forum is the better source for information. It just isn't possible to get a good cross-section of ideas when the owner of a site deletes posts that support ideas other than his own.
I am a complete novice when it comes to actual AT hiking -- I've sort of been an "armchair enthusiast" for a couple years now and recently moved from NYC to VA and am working up to hopefully my first thru-hike (or at least, thru hike attempt!). Anyhow, my point is that for the past couple of years, I've read everything I can get my hands on about the AT and long-distance hiking in general, and I read both the forums here and on Wingfoot's site regularly, and I have to concur with much of what has been said in this thread about Trailplace.
Don't get me wrong, I think there is great information to be found on that site, but man, that place can be a total buzzkill. I find WF to often be smug and condescending in his posts.
One thing Dan is is consistant. This is exactly what we thought of him when we met him on our thru in '89."Don't get me wrong, I think there is great information to be found on that site, but man, that place can be a total buzzkill. I find WF to often be smug and condescending in his posts."
RLC_FLA
GA->ME '89
"Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and it annoys the pig!"<!-- / message -->
One of the things that rubs me the wrong way about WF is his negative attitude towards "trail angels" and "trail magic." Several times, well-meaning AT aficionados posted questions about where to leave coolers of sodas and other treats for thru-hikers, and his reponse is always essentially that such "trail magic" detracts from the thru-hiking experience.
Certainly, I am sure there are some folks out there that will agree with him on this point, and while I don't advocate people leaving a fully-stocked mini-bar at every shelter in the name of "trail magic" (although I am certain they wouldn't go unappreciated!), I would have to disagree that trail magic detracts from the thru-hiker's experience. In fact, from what I've read, it seems to be quite the opposite. My reasons for wanting to thru-hike are because I have a desire to reconnect with nature, mankind, and myself. I've become so jaded and distrustful over the past few years, that each time I read so much as a thru-hiker's account of trail magic, my eyes well up with tears knowing that indeed, there are people -- and communities -- out there who want to do good, just for the sake of doing good.
Maybe my opinion on this will differ once I've actually completed a thru-hike, but I can't imagine so.
Trail magic may be a short term positive and a long term negative.
I would assume that the inner reward for a successful hike is somehow related to the self-sufficiency and struggle of the hiker while traveling the distance!
And if Trail Magic is something a thru-hiker merely happens upon, rather than relies upon, does it detract from one's sense of self-sufficiency?
Likewise, does relying on friends or family members to mail your resupply boxes to you along the trail -- rather than carrying what you need from start to finish, or resupplying in trail towns as you go along -- detract from one's sense of self-sufficiency?
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You'll struggle plenty ...even with an occasional cold soda or candy bar. The random acts of kindness shown by many are an integral part of the experience.
Trust me, when you come across a cooler alongside the trail your hike will be no more or less successful if you reach in and grab a cold one. Nice thing too is that if you choose not to partake you can walk on by and your hike will not be considered more or less successful.
'Slogger
The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.
wow, that I'd just have to see for myself, a thru-hiker who could actually pass up some trail magic.
In New York this year basically every water source was dry, and if it weren't for the kindness of trail angels putting out water, a lot of hikers would have been dangerously dehydrated.
Lobster,
Man I am always amazed by your statements. Do you even get out and hike. Trail magic takes away from nothing. If you have been struggling for a week in July in 90 degree heat, and water is low everywhere, you are struggling with dehydration and come upon some water in a cooler, it helps to pick you up, and it doesn't take away from the experience because you have already been dealing with mental fortitude all week long. Over 2100 miles you will deal with plenty of adversity, if people decide to leave you little things along the way i doubt that it is the reason that you decide to keep going! Quit being a turd!
Walking Dead Bear
Formerly the Hiker Known as Almost There
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