I keep hearing stories of bad hiker behavior

[sbhikes]

I know that there are always stories but it seems worse than before because I'm hearing stories of various people and businesses deciding that that's it, no more hikers. There's even a guy named aquabutt or something who claims to poo in water sources and that's why he has that name. What is going on out there?

[Abatis1948]

Aquabutt had better not try that crap in my presence. Behavior like that will pull the southern redneck right out of me. In Florida he would be arrested and would end up in a Forensic Mental Hospital. Try saying Chattahoochee.

[Moosling]

Nasty, people in general are just losing respect for pretty much anything.

[TREKMAN001]

They say "no man is an island" But the attitude would beg to differ... I have a hard time understanding some people, but am of an older generation now. I started camping at the age of four and was taught, at a very young age to respect the woods and all that was in it. Personally, I cannot fathom why some idiot would want to pollute a water source. Guess its like tagging a building with graffiti... never much understood that either.

[Coffee]

I'm opposed to vigilante justice but that's precisely what "Aqua Dump" as he's known on Facebook will probably receive if he's caught in the act.

[sbhikes]

Do you think Aqua Dump is actually doing that?

I did a section hike from Sierra City to Bucks Summit a few weeks ago and I was really sick for a couple weeks afterward. I didn't have any gastro-intestinal problems, just a weird general malaise and exhaustion. I didn't filter or treat any water except for Feather River water. Most of it came out of springs. But still, I was a little freaked out when I heard about this guy. Do you think he's really doing that or just being a general facebook ******* for the attention?

I heard some hikers in Chester made a bad name for hikers stealing showers and wrecking the RV park rec room pool table. My mom is a trail angel and I think she's about to give it up or at least quit early this year.

[Coffee]

Who knows... There are crazy people everywhere and this wouldn't be the most outrageous antisocial act I've heard of.

[MuddyWaters]

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."

[Jake2c]

In todays world. Not surprised.

[Just Bill]

https://www.facebook.com/granitegearhq?fref=nf

[Donde]

Yeah I was on the PCT for a couple months this year and it was bad. Thefts, theft of services, really out of control drinking and drugging ( imean puking all over a trail angels, and using stuff a good bit harder than pot), breaking rules, ignoring permiting processes. It sucks when I am in a restaurant or bar or motel in town and other hikers show up, and my first instinct is to yell I'm not with them.

[Coffee]

Strangely enough I never observed nasty disrespectful behavior this spring on the PCT but I didn't hang around in towns or angel places much and stayed on trail... Yes there is pot and drinking everywhere but that doesn't always result in problems (I am not a user of either drug but an observer).

[nsherry61]

I think there is a pretty standard percentage of jerks throughout time. When the trail has 100 people hiking it and 1% are jerks we tend to focus on the actions of the one jerk spoiling it for everyone. When the trail population increases to 2000 people and 1% are jerks, we now have 20X the number of jerks spoiling it for everyone else. A compounding issue, of coure, is with 2000 people there is more stress in the community, more people to witness the jerks in action and more need for care to protect a resource that is damaged by being appreciated.

[Donde]

I think there is a pretty standard percentage of jerks throughout time. When the trail has 100 people hiking it and 1% are jerks we tend to focus on the actions of the one jerk spoiling it for everyone. When the trail population increases to 2000 people and 1% are jerks, we now have 20X the number of jerks spoiling it for everyone else. A compounding issue, of coure, is with 2000 people there is more stress in the community, more people to witness the jerks in action and more need for care to protect a resource that is damaged by being appreciated.

I wish I agreed, but my experience across three long distance hikes, several smaller sections, and a bit of angeling has been it is getting worse. the D bag quotient is on the rise. Something has started to attract the wrong crowd more and more

[Coffee]

I wish I agreed, but my experience across three long distance hikes, several smaller sections, and a bit of angeling has been it is getting worse. the D bag quotient is on the rise. Something has started to attract the wrong crowd more and more

Some people are attracted to the party atmosphere and "free stuff" but I don't think it is anywhere near a majority.

[Traveler]

Strangely enough I never observed nasty disrespectful behavior this spring on the PCT but I didn't hang around in towns or angel places much and stayed on trail... Yes there is pot and drinking everywhere but that doesn't always result in problems (I am not a user of either drug but an observer).

The last sentence is a good observation, I think this is a larger social problem that we may see with more clarity on the trail. Go to a Major League baseball stadium and watch what booze and poor manners result in, a lot of similar nonsense to the point a lot of people are no longer taking children to ball games due to the drunks in the stands. The list of this stuff is long in our society, where events and alcohol mixes with immaturity and results in poor decisions.

On the trail, juvenile behaviors can be seen fairly quickly for a number of reasons. The relative quiet of the forest amplifies most any nosies people make is part of that. Given the physical demands any serious kind of hiking requires, a lot of people avoid drinking, drugs, and loutish behavior due to its impact on the body and spirit, which also makes those imbibing more obvious. I believe it does more damage that we may realize, the behavior on the trail typically does not stay on the trail but travels into towns and ramps up a bit. With all that good people avoiding these trails so they do not have to put up with it and the trail suffers twice, once with the juvenile behavior, the second time with its legacy.

[Coffee]

Drugs can definitely be a major issue but it is worth noting that not all users cause problems. There were plenty of respectful people who smoked quietly on trail. Doing so is illegal in CA (except for medicinal purposes) and I don't support breaking the law. At the same time, it's very much a live and let live culture on the trail, with the focus being on not intruding on the quality of the experience for others. So I'm not uncomfortable being around respectful smokers or drinkers. Other people might be but they can also move on, not seeking to impose their values on others.

[Traveler]

Drugs can definitely be a major issue but it is worth noting that not all users cause problems. There were plenty of respectful people who smoked quietly on trail. Doing so is illegal in CA (except for medicinal purposes) and I don't support breaking the law. At the same time, it's very much a live and let live culture on the trail, with the focus being on not intruding on the quality of the experience for others. So I'm not uncomfortable being around respectful smokers or drinkers. Other people might be but they can also move on, not seeking to impose their values on others.

Therein lays the key, disruption of others. That is not a moral value one is imposing on others as much as its the education, call it "training" of those who apparently do not know better. When pot or booze are enjoyed out of sight and/or without any disruption of others it really isn't a problem. When those things couple with juvenile behavior, disruptions are not only inevitable, but in my view, are the goal of acting out. Thats typically when I will have something to say to educate those ignorant of the effects their poor behavior is having on others. Some do not know that and felt it "cool" to do, others don't care.

It takes a village.

[sbhikes]

The theft of services is the worst thing. I guess the low snow year didn't weed the jerks out this year. My mother talks about a sort of cluelessness, too, about people calling her at all hours. People don't seem to have a sense of propriety about what's a good time of day to call someone.

The years I hiked there were a few groups that smoked and partied. I just hiked on through. I'm not into that. Introspection is important for me personally.

[bamboo bob]

yes it has gotten worse. The reason is that there is so much support on and off the trail that people who would never have been able to do the trails now find in "easier" That's good for me I know but also the bad guys too. Shuttles. Angels you name it, all have that down side. I like all the support but just hike away from the packs and you can avoid the jerks. The town folks and angels have it worse than other hikers.