Seek out another trail with other hikers.
Keep it my secret and enjoy it by myself.
Spread the word to my hiker friends and try and popularize the trail.
Hypotetical questions are ridiculous.
What if....
...the AT was devoid of people? (yeah, I know, I hate hypothetical questions too). What would you do?
I'd be sure to have my winter gear, 'cuz it must be November!
What if there were no hypothetical questions to ask?
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
TNJED, I don't suppose this sprung from another thread hereabouts, did it? I voted the 4th entry not because the question was rediculous but because the answers were; they were leading and somewhat restrictive. But I'm mindful of the fact that polling is inherently so.
My honest answer is that people are at the center of my thruhiking experience. I must, at this point, differentiate my own thruhikes from my own short hikes. I thruhike to spend lots of time in the woods with lots of different folks. Even here, I still seek solitude at times. I take short hikes where sometimes I purposefully seek out places to be alone.
If I could, I would have answered your question with several responses: I would hike other trails where I knew people were AND I would try to popularize the AT so I could hike it - with other people.
Interesting question TNJED.
The people are the trail
To quote the music of Takoma Ted, the people are the trail. Ask almost any thru-hiker what the best part of his trail experience was, and the response will probably be the people. Not only the fellow thru-hikers, but also the day hikers and short term hikers, the trail maintainers, and the people in the many small towns along the way.
Would I still hike the trail if no one else was? You bet, but it would be a totally different type of experience, with different memories, and a lot of loneleness at times.
folks on the trail
When I did my SOBO, it wasn't at all unusual to go 2-3 days and not see a soul. All the solitude you could want and then some. Lonely? Sometimes, but very fulfilling at the same time. I was between and behind most of the Southbounders and didn't hike with anyone for more than a day for 1200+ miles.
Was it better or worse than being iwith others more often? Who's to say? I really gained alot of insight into myself that I would not have received by hiking in a bunch the whole time. I don't think that painting everyone with "the people are what the trail is all about" is accurate. For the great majority, sure, but there are other reasons as well.
-Johnny Swank
While I haven't done the AT or any long distance hiking, people are not the reason I want to do so. I look at a long distance hike as a time for reflection and renewal. That is not so easily accomplished when your ego is constantly prodded each day by the presence of others to maintain its identity.
On the other hand, I know that loneliness can easily break you. A southbound hike seems to offer the best balance of solitude and company for my tastes .
stay in sheltersOriginally Posted by MOWGLI
Dang! You are digging deep today!
Fire up a humor thread. You know you want to...
I'm with LW.
If I wanted to see a bunch of people, I can go to a bar or the mall. Don't have to carry as much stuff.
If you don't make waves, it means you ain't paddling
L.W. : THAT is funny!
The poll is closed? I would use it more if there were fewer people on it.
No people, no trail. We know this up in Canada where there are no people. The trials wither and die. Well, actually, overgrow and disappear. If they were ever there in the first place.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
Good question Beater - although looks like the poster above isn't aware of what a hypothetical question is.
After reading a gazilllion threads by people asking for company on a hike this weekend or that weekend or lets meet up with 50 other people at Springer on 12/31 I'm convinced that if it was a certainty that you would be the only person on the trail when you hiked that at least 80% of current hikers wouldn't be hikers any more.
And that 80% is probably a low guess.
What if nobody knew what hypothetical meant???
It would depend on the circumstances, I suppose.What if nobody knew what hypothetical meant???
What if Spittenpigen were an astronaut instead of a hiker?
His wings and saliva would burn up on re-entry.
He sure would be flying high!!!!!
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