Reminds me of a story...
When we hiked Nepal's Annapurna Circuit many years ago we hired a porter (a local farmer) to carry our packs across the highest part of the 5500 m Thorung La pass. He was barefoot, which we thought was unacceptable to go over the steep snow and ice. So in Manang, final village that had a small shop, we bought him a pair of socks and sneakers that we thought would be better than nothing. He was very happy when we gave him the shoes, but to our surprise he carefully strapped them to the back of his load and completed the pass barefoot (carrying three people's loads) without any problems.
Since then I've stopped giving people advice about their hiking footwear.
i ran my first 50 mile trail race years ago. i had $40 running shoes, a cotton bandana, hiking socks, polypro shirt, no watch or fancy hydration thingy. i got some funny looks from the "real" athletes. i beat most of them finishing 25th out of 180 runners
Okay..folks. Irk, not urk. Stop being dicks, it was a typo. As a English major, even I have them. This isn't Facebook. At least I didn't speak with full on caps, and "u's" instead of you.
As far as feeling superior, I wasn't about to walk up to someone wearing hiking boots and tell them, "My tennis shoes can hike the same as your boots!" -_- I just had a realization that maybe my shoes didn't matter too much since the feet inside them were tough as nails. I wouldn't thru-hike in tennis shoes, but I could do day hikes, no problem, as long as the rocks weren't bad.
And don't you guys ever call my dog a little foo foo dog. She is a small dog, and yes, she was scared, but she has been raised around trails. The log bridge was old, rotted, and scared her. A lot of dogs could of gotten scared over the bridge, I was having problems because she was backing up on the leash every time I pulled, and walked towards her. She thought i was trying to force her to walk when I was just trying to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. A big yellow fishing rod didn't help out her moment of "oh ****." She's less than a year, and is still being introduced to the world around her.
Once again. She isn't a foo foo dog. She is a "rat dog" that conquers mountains save for that one log bridge.
As far as helpful vs Scrutinizing, I did say I wasn't completely upset. His words just rubbed me the wrong way. I was not a dick about it, and ignored his words on the way up. We were extra careful on the two rock sections without a single fall. It was just the way he looked down at our shoes, paused his breath, and his tone of voice that made me a little irritated.
Fisherman/Hiker. He had on a osprey and carried a small tackle box. I believe he was camping out near the water to fish so that would call him a bit of both worlds. ^_^
I found a good trick is to just wear headphones, even if they are turned off. Then you can pretend you didn't hear the person and just keep walking.
In general I feel like it is bad form to comment on another hiker's gear choices unless they have asked for an opinion or there is some imminent risk of catastrophe due to the gear choice (which would be very rare). So I don't comment on the gear other people carry. At the same time, if someone makes a comment directed to me, I just have the option of disregarding it. If it is someone going in the opposite direction who you won't see again, that's even less of a reason to care about an unsolicited opinion.
In general most hikers do not seem to comment on gear. The most common comment is something like "nice pack" if you're both wearing the same pack, or "how are the Cascadias treating you"? if they recognize the shoes, etc. Kind of a veiled comment might be "your pack is so small" which depending on the tone could be a criticism or a compliment.
But who really cares?
I've shared this story before...
Last year I was onthe my Colorado Trail hike just north (trail wise) from where the CT and the CDT split for the last time. The CT heads south and west towards Durango, the CDT heads south towards Wolf Creek Pass.
Anyway, I am hiking up the trail. I see a genteman with thick, heavy leather boots. A HUGE pack (Dana Designs, maybe?). Had the Nalgenes and every other item it seems from the outfitter.
Here I am: Nike sneakers a bit torn, my lightweight all mesh pack. Banged up ski poles. Dirty polyester dress shirt. Almost three weeks beard growth.
I said "Hello'.
He said "Interesting gear you have". (While eyeing me up and down with a *** look on his face)
Me: "Yep. Works for me"
He said: "Well, always more to learn as you backpack more. When you backpack more, perhaps you will have different gear"
Me: "You are right. Always more to learn"
He: "Enjoy your hike. Be careful".
Me: "You too! It is a great day!"
The guy probably thought I was a total moron (Well...he may be right, but not in the context of backpacking.). Probably thought I'd died somewhere in the San Juan mountains!
One thing the gentleman hinted at that is absolutely correct: There is ALWAYS more to learn... just probably not in the way he meant.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
I try to avoid controversy for the most part, but can't help but relate another experience.
This was about 30 years ago. I was in the Whites, on the AT, headed north, I think near Franconia somewhere (we had started at 112 for a week long hike). I had my girlfriend with me. We took a break and some guy came along southbound. Sat down and pretty much immediately started lecturing me about my boots. I don't mean subtle comments, I mean, "You should not be wearing heavy boots like that." And it wasn't because of some preferred approach to footwear for hiking - his comment was that my heavy soled boots created more "wear and tear on the trail" than softer-soled boots, and that people like me were destroying the trails by not using softer boots.
I was so taken aback by this moron, I didn't even know what to say to him. I had spent much of my (admittedly still young) life hiking in mountains all over the US, and I had never encountered such dickwad, and had never heard such a "theory" about footwear. I thought about it for a couple of minutes, then leaned over toward him and said, "Tell ya what, go f--- yourself, ok?"
I think I was a little bigger than him (I'm not very big). Anyway, he quickly picked himself up and moved on.
I later felt that I should have behaved a little differently. A smile and "thanks, I'll give that some thought", and leave it be, would have been more appropriate. But I was so baffled by the sheer idiocy of this obnoxious little prick, I kind of lost my cool.
As someone commented above, there's a lot of people on the trails who are ... socially maladjusted (my words). It's inevitable, and probably has gotten worse over the years, with greater access and mobility and availability of information. Time for a little note to self - live and let live.
I'm trying to learn to ignore comments about my gear, my speed ("slow down and enjoy yourself"), etc., but I have to admit - unsolicited "advice" irks the heck out of me. It even bugs me when people comment about the "view at the top" that I'll get to soon, as if the view was the only reason to hike. I seem to get grumpier about it as I get older and grumpier, and have to tell myself to chill.
I have no advice to offer to deal with this issue, I can only empathize.
Then I can apologize for my snarky comment about your screen name.
Come to think of it, now that I'm pushing 60, I don't get many comments about my speed anymore.
:d.................Originally Posted by deadeye
You say that as though it's a bad thing.
The only thing worse than hiking in tennis shoes is playing tennis in sneakers! Man, nothing urks me more than a sneaky tennis player!
But the guy had a point. Everyone knows the only correct footwear for rocks is rock shoes!
I have found that nodding my head with a shoulder shrug and thumps up will suffice as a suitable response to just about anything.
Such a great story. And the fact that the porter accepted your gift graciously. Without the need to boast about how bad azz his feet are. Really speaks volumes regarding this thread topic.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My 2 cents worth...I really don't understand where this "self-entitlement" attitude comes from or exactly when it came about, that others so rudely push their opinions onto others without it being solicited. Arrogance is really an ugly character! Thankful my mother raised me better than that and even more thankful I had the ability to listen and learn from her!
Life is full of ups and downs! Hike on!
It would be interesting to run a poll asking hikers how often they encountered unsolicited gear (or other) advice on trail, correlated with the miles hiked. I think that truly obnoxious input is pretty rare. Like many other things discussed online, it is a bigger issue online than on the actual trail IMO.
I think by and large this is true. I think I have been asked about stuff I have with me or have on more often than people commenting about it. Usually the questions I get are legitimate and sincere and sparks a pretty good conversation.
That's pretty neat!
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
I think this discussion has been very informative for me. Being a natural 'fixer', I tend to speak up if I can be helpful in any way, whether in a physical way (offering extra water, supplies, Vitamin A, or my battery charger for someone with a dead cell phone) or in a less practical way by offering lessons learned from my albeit limited backpacking experience. I know of many times, personally, when other backpackers have offered suggestions and advice. I've always gratefully absorbed all that was offered and quietly discarded the extra. Certainly, I have never been that obnoxious Mary Ellen, but in the future, I will keep quiet unless specifically asked. Probably the best plan regardless of the circumstance.
That said, I am wondering why we aren't more incensed when someone offers Trail Magic. Who are they to assume a thruhiker is thirsty, hungry or can't walk the three or four miles between trail and town?
I always found gems of knowledge in everyone's opinion. No one is smarter than all of us. Knowledge seems to be based a lot on experience and everyone has different experience and therefore draws different conclusion/assumptions.
I'm with Cotton Terry. I fix/build things for a living (electrician) and find myself wanting to be helpful.
Guess I will avoid this behavior in the future.
TF
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed that is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
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