Unpopular opinion (Subject matter that is almost never talked about)

[Matt_C]

This is part of a series I've been slowly putting together. I want to be clear about the content of this video, this one of the more darker aspects of hiking, people try to tell people not to talk about or start becoming aggressive to try to deter people from even bringing it up. I'm Sorry if people dislike this, but this subject matter that DOES exist, it is part of hiking, and really needs to be talked about just as much as other parts. When i make a series I include all parts I don't cherry pick I include everything. If you're going to comment about anything in this video then please watch the entire thing and not skip before commenting. thank you.

[LazyLightning]

I get what your saying but I'm not judging what anyone does either. For myself I felt like picking up where I left and not slack packing and picking the easiest direction and what not was being true to the trail and I liked to go about 10 days between resupplies and tried to stay within walking distance. Was nice to stay indoors when I resupplied though, not that I care what anyone thinks of my hike either. I probably wouldn't last a day with you either but I'd still be out there, taking my time.

[Matt_C]

I get what your saying but I'm not judging what anyone does either. For myself I felt like picking up where I left and not slack packing and picking the easiest direction and what not was being true to the trail and I liked to go about 10 days between resupplies and tried to stay within walking distance. Was nice to stay indoors when I resupplied though, not that I care what anyone thinks of my hike either. I probably wouldn't last a day with you either but I'd still be out there, taking my time.

As I said do the trail however you want, what do I care? The issue me and a bunch of other hikers have is when people outright lie about what they're doing and become delusional.

BTW here is the follow up video to this that explains who I'm talking about and why (You will see how what people do actually affect other people which is a problem

[Matt_C]

Crap, I incorrectly pasted the video link, here is the correct one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa5vicGzyGg

If I could edit my posts I wouldn't have to post a second reply. I've never seen a forum where a person couldn't edit their posts.

[Traveler]

According to some older information I have here, all users (donating or not) should be able to edit posts within a few minutes (15?) of posting them. Making a donation to keep the site going, as a donating member allows editing up to 15 days. These conditions may have changed, which a Moderator can address better than I can.

To the video, I tire of the holier than thou, "If you don't hike like I do you are doing it wrong" types who may or may not have strange ideas about doing the AT either as a thru hike or section hikes over many years. I have been hiking on the AT (among a vast number of other trails) for 54-years and have seen all kinds. When I started getting deeper into hiking and philosophies that accompany the activity, I found there nearly as many philosophies as there were people, in some instances when discussing this topic with 5- people around a campfire there were 7 different opinions. Oy.

This is why HYOH, or hike your own hike, is an important element among most serious hikers. There are people who hike 7-miles on the AT and make a 3-hour video of their adventure lamenting about food issues, lack of wildlife, no standard sanitary services, and perhaps 11,627 other complaints of how others act on trail. Unless one is vandalizing the trail, I generally have no issues with people. That said, if I see someone having trouble I will offer help, which is a great way to share one's knowledge and reinforce Leave No Trace concepts to people new to backpacking.

Otherwise, HYOH is an easy way to not get worked up over what amounts to rather small things.

[lucky luke]

hi matt,
i love your talk, basically because of its content.
in 1984 i got on the trail in ny on dec. 24, not knowing a darn thing about it. i did not even have a map and got sent wrong (north) by a cop. i ended up up broke in february in harpers ferry.
later i came back to hike the rest with my wife, 1997 and 1998. both times we were late in the season and hiked quite a bit in the snow. the moment she was not enjoying it anymore we dropped out in 97. the snow was waistdeep at bromley mtn. in 98 she complained after about 100 miles in snow "i am taking the next bus home", but she pulled through, having a fantastic view on top of clingmans dome on the same day. just for understanding.

trail magic: ***?? you can order your trail magic hamburger on the phone nowerdays? you know which magician is awaiting you at which road x-ing at which times? what does that have to do with trail magic? yes, a visa-card is certainly magic.

back in "the good old days" magic was finding a tool if you needed one. finding a snickers dropped by a dayhiker. my favorite was the head of bockjoy (the salad, dont know how you spell that in english, i am german) a harvesting farmer gave us when we passed by. at antlers campsite we ran into a family that paddled a load of food by canoe to feed the nobo bubble. unanounced. they ruined our daily milage because we enjoyed them so much that we stayed over night. the hungarian guy who drove us, hitching a ride into town for resuply, AND back to the trail. nothing was planned, there were literally no shuttles available. the good things just happened by themselves, not after a phonecall.

hostels: in 85 there ware hardly any. at iron masters mansion the caretaker gave me a free night and i got another free night paid for by a group of quakers. we had so much fun together and spent a great weekend together. a night in the doyle did cost 7 dollars and 29 cents tax. i got 2 hot baths for that and a warm room to spend the night in. it was below zero f` outside and i needed to buy food in town.
today: "oh, i am soooo tired, but i have to hurry, my shuttle to this hostel will pick me up at noon..." followed by " there is some drizzling rain expected this afternoon, i have to get off the trail, otherwise i will loose my life." and 2 days later " the food in town was so good, the hostel very nice, and the drizzle is over now, so i can get me a shuttle to take me back to the trailhead".
i did appreciate the shelters. it was a good way to pack up dry in the morning. but they were far apart sometimes unrechable.

resupply: once every 7-10 days. going into town always meant clean clothes and most the time i/we kept on hiking for half a day. sometimes we´ld stay in a hotel as a luxury. but it also meant a pack heavy with a load of food sufficient for at least a full week.

now, being on your side of the argument i must say that times have changed.
and the style of hiking has changed for many people too. for me as well. my tent weighs only half of what it did in 85, i carry a stove these days, and i do my resupplies more frequently. but for me my hiking style has not changed so much. i still dont like hostels or hotels, but i will use them more often than 40 years ago. hiking with my wife has lead to compromises as well. she is pretty tough, but she is not like me. we had to arrange to stay together. we both had to give.

even the old greek have complained about the, as you call it, "pussyfooted" youth. the times, they are a changin´. they cerrtainly are, they always were and will be. the only way out i see is: HYOH. simply do it the way you like the most. and let the others do the same. let them water up terms like "thruhike", it is their way. i dont like it, but there is nothing i can do about it. ranting will not change things back to our liking.

i was hardcore mountaineer when younger. i had no problem to haul a 80 pound backpack all day long. to me the AT was a walk in woods, even in winter. i never expected anyone else to do something my way. certainly not hiking.

we are all out there to enjoy. i enjoy a hard life, being wet at night and drying my clothes and sleepingbag with a boiling hot nalgene. not everone does. but what difference does it make to me if someone goes to a hotel every other night. let him do it, i dont care. i would not want it that way (for me!) and thats why i dont do it. no reason for me to get excited about what others do. i look at it more like being offered a joint. take a puff, or decline it. but as long as the smoke goes the other way i have no reason to tell that person to get the hell out.

i´ll enjoy this discussion, i am sure.
happy trails to everyone. hostel or not, who cares?

[wornoutboots]

I Really enjoyed "Hiking" in 2016, when I thru-hiked the PCT sobo, for the actual contents of the hike, "the Challenge and Solitude"! There are NO Shelters on the PCT and the hostels are fantastic because they may take you 2 or 3 weeks to get to them, I may have stayed inside a dozen time or so. Also, the hitches are anywhere from 10-20 Miles to get to a town every 5 to 8 days depending on your pace not every other day like on the AT. (Hey hike what you like, I'm happy to have LASH'd the AT from GA>VT and look forward to finishing it someday.)
However, I am eyeballing the CDT for the same Challenge and Solitude!

[wornoutboots]

I am interested to know OP, what are your credentials for hiking and staying out in the woods. Time out, distance, terrain, area?

[chknfngrs]

OP just joined this site…

[Alligator]

I got about 5-6 minutes in wondering what the topic was going to be. I was thinking it was going to be about mental health at first. I got to about 7:30 where it appears that this a Youtuber controversy about which Youtuber has actually hiked the trail. Whiteblaze.net does not support these types of cross platform battles. If you are having controversary such as this, keep it hosted on your YT channel. If a specific hiker wants to claim here at WB that they hiked the trail, sure others may disagree here it's an age old argument. Importing it from YT isn't particularly productive unless perhaps it's a fastest known time or a well known personality. Jumping on Jane Hiker's case because they posted a video or journal somewhere is more sniping. Honestly I am not going to waste 35 minutes of my time over it. It sounds a lot like backbiting among Youtubers.

If a person puts their two feet on the trail and goes point to point that is hiking. The ATC has standards for reporting if a person wants the certificate to claim they are a 2000 miler. You are welcome to discuss that here but keep in mind that WB is not going to be a battleground for some tit-for-tat among Youtubers. Keep it shorter here too, this is a forum format. If people here had to read a 35 minute transcript most would pass.