Etna NH ( HANOVER) Tigger's tree House.

[TIGGER]

Hi Class of 2016. I wish for you a great hike.
We are in Etna NH. We are Tigger's Trees House. This is our home. We welcome you. We charge nothing. We just ask you sign the guest book.

We will and have taken you to a grocery store that your do not have to mortgage your house at which to shop, I have and will take you to five stores to buy new shoes. We pick you up in Hanover @ the DOC. Or at the Etna Store.

We provide privacy, showers with towels and soap, dvds and computers, ice cream and sodas for nothing. We will accept a donation if you wish. or work for stay.

BUT HERE IS THIS THIS BIG THING. CLASS OF 2015, YOU STOLE US BLIND.
My $ 300.00 down sleeping bag, my best Back pack, my Cooking kit, and a tiny Brass duck of my husband's. You could say, " Well why don't you hide all your stuff"? Well, Why should I ? ALL my hikers are my guests in our home.
I just thought that we could provide some peaceful space and privacy for my hikers when they visit, vice the shelter with 50 comrades that are wet, burping smelly and snoring. If it happens again this year, We will just give it up. Karen H.

[WingedMonkey]

Every time I think about inviting hikers to stay with me in the Berkshires.....something like this snaps me back to reality.

[tiptoe]

I'm very sad to see this post. Hikers, pack your manners, for heaven's sakes. They don't weigh anything.

[CarlZ993]

This is so sad. I didn't stop there in 2013. I wish I did so I could thank them for what they do.

Good manners cost nothing. Nice does matter. Be appreciative for all the trail magic you experience on the trail.

[Starchild]

You were very hospitable to me and Splash in 2013 and very helpful to me when I could not find my sleeping bag, even offering me the use of your sleeping bag till Katahdin, but ended up driving me back to VT where I recovered it. It was a great stay, thank you. Sorry for those who want to take from a person so willing to give so freely so much.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Sad. Kind of relates behavior/attitude wise to this excerpt from another post quoting David Corrigan of Fletcher Mountain Outfitters (Kennebec Ferrymnan) regarding the 2015 season.

... We had a totally different type of hiker on the trail this year. The attitude that rules and safety warning simply didn’t not apply to them was quite prevalent among this years class of thru hikers. ... This is going to be a huge problem in the future if hiker numbers continue to rise, and especially if large numbers of those hikers are new to the hiking community, as seems to be the current trend. ..."

There has also been an increase in bad hiker behavior:
...As Dave's notes, this is a problem that is getting worse each year:

"... After nine years of doing this job full time, I can tell you—the ‘average hiker’ on the Trail these days is not the same kind of person that they were just a few years ago. ..."

[George]

I would imagine the average reader here will not be the issue - without some screening, it will only be a matter of time till it happens again - you are all ready disenchanted, might as well stop before becoming bitter

[Skyline]

Tigger,

This is likely the work of a very few bad apples, make that rotten to the core apples. Even if it was only one--you have been victimized while trying to do right by all the rest.

Hard to believe these thefts and other bad behavior happened without other hikers being aware, or at least suspicious. Did anyone step up to help you identify the culprits, so you could possibly retrieve the stolen goods? Or prosecute the thieves if you wanted to? Or at least warn hostels and others about them up the trail?

[Jeff]

Tiggers has always had an excellent reputation. Karen and Ralph....hoping for a successful 2016 hiker season. You deserve it.

[MuddyWaters]

Sorry to hear this.

But law of averages is against you.

Theres some percentage of bad apples in every bushell. You will keep running into a few.

The quality of apples is also declining it seems.

[Don H]

You were very hospitable to me and Splash in 2013 and very helpful to me when I could not find my sleeping bag, even offering me the use of your sleeping bag till Katahdin, but ended up driving me back to VT where I recovered it. It was a great stay, thank you. Sorry for those who want to take from a person so willing to give so freely so much.

I gotta ask; how did you loose your sleeping bag?

It never ceases to amaze me how people will open up their homes to complete strangers just because they're hikers. The hiking community is like your neighborhood community, made up of all kinds of people, some good, some bad. Knowing that I always lock my doors at night.

I stayed at Kincora in 2011when someone cleaned out the donation box. Despicable.

[rafe]

I haven't hiked with the herd in eons, but I make a point of mingling with thru hikers once a year or so. I just haven't seen the awful behavior that others seem to, but I'm clearly not seeing it from the outlook of a hostel proprietor or ferry man.

Surprised to hear these reports of thrus behaving badly in New England. I'd have thought the bad apples would have dropped out or been called out long before then.

The worst I saw last summer.... hmm. One thru on the Presi ridge, clearly having a very bad day, cursing and mumbling to himself as he flew by me. Another who melted a plastic bottle in a campfire in Maine, just north of Mahoosuc Notch. Yes, and some herb was consumed.

[Boots and Backpacks]

This is very sad! My wife and I stayed the night this past season with our small dog when passing through. We stayed in the Tank for the night, and felt at home. This is such a great place, and they picked us up from the local DOC after some shopping. Couldn't have asked for nicer people, or a better conversation. Each year it seems hikers are getting worse, and more places are closing the doors.

[rafe]

Nah, millenials just want a job with which to pay off $100,000 worth of college loans.

[Puddlefish]

I blame their parents, and grandparents, and great grand parents.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Nah, millenials just want a job with which to pay off $100,000 worth of college loans.

Hey, colleges have to make profits from their academic programs too. Most of them can't create fiefdoms on football revenues alone. Without colleges around studying things, we wouldn't know that college costs have tripled in inflation adjusted dollars since the 70's and 80's while incomes remained flat. Someone has to tell these entitled kids why they are poor and going to stay that way.

I blame their parents, and grandparents, and great grand parents.

True. Their dumb ancestors should have become wealthy. How simple would that have been. Idiots.




/sarc

[Boots and Backpacks]

I blame their parents, and grandparents, and great grand parents.

True. Their dumb ancestors should have become wealthy. How simple would that have been. Idiots.

How would say this to some who never knew their grand parents or great grand parents? Say someone like myself who never knew their grand parents or great grand parents. Someone whose grand parents passed away when their own daughter was only 4 years old, and she was placed into foster care?

Just curious.

[4eyedbuzzard]

How would say this to some who never knew their grand parents or great grand parents? Say someone like myself who never knew their grand parents or great grand parents. Someone whose grand parents passed away when their own daughter was only 4 years old, and she was placed into foster care?

Just curious.

I guess we should have put sarcasm smileys in there, huh? I fixed mine.

[Puddlefish]

I was merely spreading the blame across multiple generations. For as long as there's been recorded history, there are records of people talking about "kids these days!"

Basically, it's silly to generalize and blame the next generation, unless you plan to generalize and blame your own generation for raising that problem generation. Once you start to blame your own generation, and somehow exclude yourself from blame, then you have to dig deeper into the real reason for the problem, which isn't generational after all.

[4eyedbuzzard]

I was merely spreading the blame across multiple generations. For as long as there's been recorded history, there are records of people talking about "kids these days!"

Basically, it's silly to generalize and blame the next generation, unless you plan to generalize and blame your own generation for raising that problem generation. Once you start to blame your own generation, and somehow exclude yourself from blame, then you have to dig deeper into the real reason for the problem, which isn't generational after all.

But you have provided no one to throw stones at.