"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you left them."
- Andy Bernard, The Office
"I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you left them."
- Andy Bernard, The Office
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I spent half the morning searching for it but here's some related CLASSIC stuff from one of my favorite trail journalists..no wonder his trailjournals have so many hits....
http://alimpinthewoods.blogspot.com/...8_archive.html
The start of it....
I's born in the dark ages and am old enough to know what life was like before cell-phones. I knew that time well, and the sad truth is I miss it. But yep, I understand that that time's gone fer-ever...and it ain't never comin' back. I also git that TIMES CHANGE (truth is, theys don't; we do). And I also understand that thems little choice but to accept it (or, as is the case in my case, to try to keep outrunnin' it all).
But I'll tell ya about it anyways sonny, 'cause it was a rootin' tootin' hootin' good time. MUCH BETTER THAN NOW!...
I guess I just looked at thru hiking as a way to disconnect. Not in a million years would I be lying in my tent browsing whiteblaze.net while hiking. Just me.
You are why I stopped posting here.
Posting away, hiding behind your screens.
Throwing stones in glass houses.
The fact that you feel the need to make an argument "for" smart phone use on the trail shows how sad you are. Posting away on Facebook to show everyone how happy your life is when you're really miserable, posting on twitter to show your influence when you have none.
Change your name to "Connected to a Screen Hiker", bc clearly you're not comfortable being "Lone"
re: A Limp in the Woods
Chuckie V. Used to be my neighbor. We talked before we both left for the PCT. Good guy. I don't think he needed my half-ass advice, however. He does just fine. As an aside, note the comic in his blog entry..a favorite of mine.
In any case, the experiences on the major long trails have changed.
You have to accept the trails for what they are not what you want them to be, though.
I'm a mainly solo hiker. And the thought of camping with so many people is not pleasing to to me.
But I know the AT is like that..so I doubt I'd do the AT in peak season.
In the same way, I know the AT is a highly connected trail via social media. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
re: Smart phones
Just a tool. They are not bad or good. They can be very useful I find. My kitchen knife is very useful. If my meal comes out like crap, I don't blame the knife...
Last edited by Mags; 06-15-2016 at 11:55.
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
UCONNMike, this is totally unrelated, but judging by your age and username I think we may have gone to UCONN at the same time. I was at Storrs from 1999-2003.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I didn't, nor will ever, make an argument for the use of smart phones. What I did was call you on the carpet for telling everyone, definitively, how they should or should not do their thru-hike.
For the record: I don't do twitter, I have 20-21 facebook friends but rarely post, only have 2 friends on whiteblaze (not sure why I friended one of them). Thanks Wise Old Owl for being my friend. Estimated 95% of my mileage (which is significant) has been "solo". The other 5% was out of necessity because of some projects I work on. Did I miss anything? Oh, if you quit posting because of me, should I be flattered? I'm not sure...
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
I get out when I can, but I've recently entered that whole "Wife and Kids" phase of life.
I'm a section hiker and at this poibt am probably on the 15 year plan for completion. As soon as I guessed that you did a thru right after graduating from UCONN a voice in the back of my head started shouting "WHY THE HECK DIDN'T YOU DO THAT TOO!?!"
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
I say the same about guns.
Adding, experiences don't just happen to us as if they fall out of the sky landing on us. We have a hand in shaping our experiences. There are plenty of folks hiking the AT that aren't glued to their electronics. Find them. Go roast some marshmallows, shoot the shart, pass the shart around the campfire/picnic table/etc, uproariously sing "we, we have made fire", and don't cut yourself with any knives.
I could have moped about annoyed atop Mt Marcy with all those "disconnected" Zombies hunched over their phones ignoring everyone else and the gorgeous fall day. I didn't! I started chanting, singing and dancing around like Kokopelli pointing up at the sky and pointing out two Cooper's Hawks, opining on cloud formations(ohh, that looks like a bear, talking about bears always gets people's attention!, that looks like a dove), and vividly describing the leaf colors and types of trees(ooohh that's a gorgeous scarlet oak in it's fall glory, ohhh look at those burgundy red maples, absolutely stunning, what a beautiful day). I even loudly commented on the deliciousness of the unadulterated untreated Adirondack water I was happily swigging. This got many to look up from their phones breaking their patterns of fixation. Three teenagers started dancing with me offering their own cloud formation opinions. We got plenty of stares but also some laughs.
Funny, how all the anti electronics folks suddenly get interested in seeing pics on your Smart Ph of a naked Maria Sharapova or the latest cuben fiber SUL gadget or wanting to see/hear about the latest weather repor
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 always know where I am. I'm right here.
he he he That was meant to be LOL LOL LOL not rah rah rah for heshe heshe heshe
True in many ways, but in others not so much -- I think.
You mentioned you appreciation of The Waterman's "Wilderness Ethics" book. Not sure if it was in that one, or in "Backwoods Ehics" where they recount how learning someone had a 2-way radio on their White Mountain bushwhack had a significant impact on their day and experience.
I get that.
Clearly different people will be impacted differently by smart phones in the backcountry-- and any individual's sense of remoteness may be far different on the AT during high season than on a bushwhack, but I think thier point was well made.
In my reality, not being reachable or being able to reach out electronically myself does change my relationship with the outdoors. Having a tool in the bottom of my pack has a host of benefits, but sucks all the same.
I disagree with you.
Waterman was talking about connectivity.
That is why it is a smart device and not just a phone. Put the device in airplane mode and you have a camera or a guidebook as only some examples.
If people choose to use the phone, assuming phone service is available, then they we have a device that is being used for connectivity.
And that is a different discussion.
Smart devices did not exist in 1991. Cell phones did.
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
You are also older than me by roughly 20 years.
I was 17 years old in 1991. And I knew people with cell phones.
It would be like me saying I don't know anyone who uses Tinder. Absolutely true.
But I am also 42 years old. The average Tinder user is roughly 27.
Cell phones in 1992 (close enough)
1992_phones.jpg
As the Watermans specifically mentioned cell phones in their book written in 1991, I'm going to say they were common enough that *** THEY WERE USED *** Or do you think they were making it up? Have you actually read the book in question? If so, you may want to read it again because you are forgetting some details. It is on page 117 if you are curious.
If you did not actually read the book, then your comment makes even less sense. You should read the book instead.
Last edited by Mags; 06-16-2016 at 01:27.
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
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 06-16-2016 at 02:07.