Hartford Advocate (CT) article on a thru-hike By Emily Weil

[Brrrb Oregon]

You say "This was one woman's experience, right?"

I say "This is what one woman CLAIMS to be her experience."

And I, for one, don't entirely believe it.

You don't have to believe it to imagine that she believes it, though. I suspect that the entire problem is the profound difference between her perceptions and the perceptions of everyone she had a problem with. Even taking her own account at face value, she was more than merely unlucky in the outcome following her choice and treatment of her trail companions.

At any rate, I had to admit that I did have my concerns, if only because the ACT seems so much more crowded than the PCT. When you're from one part of the country, after all, you hear all sorts of nonsense about what people and places in other parts are "really like." I have been more than relieved to read that this article does not fit the general perception of what a woman can expect if they hike the ACT alone. That is what I'm taking home from this thread.

[Smile]

Ed Bell: The article is a poor example of what women thru-hikers should expect.

I have to agree with you Ed.

[Sly]

I stopped believing the story when she said she had rib deep fords in the first 1500 miles and she met a hiker named Riff that yo-yo'ed 7 times consecutively? Is there such a guy?

Perhaps it's just a screenplay to a fictional movie...

[Jack Tarlin]

Sly, I don't think there's a guy who's yo-yo'd more than once, never mind seven consecutive times.

Seven consecutive thru-hikes has been done exactly once, and it didn't involve either yo-yoing, or a guy named Riff.

And if there are any deep or treacherous fords in the first two thirds of the Trail, they must have slipped my mind.

In short, there is much here that does not ring true.

[fiddlehead]

While reading the article, my thoughts were that she was on the wrong trail. Perhaps the PCT or CDT or a SOBO would be more what she is looking for.
But, the more i read, the more i realized, it didn't matter where she was in life: traveling alone around the world is done by many many women all the time. I meet them a lot here in Asia and most of them love what they are doing, and have learned how to handle delicate situations.
his girl could easily stay away from shelters, men, bars, problems. We all do and go where and what we choose to go and do.
I truly believe she is the cause of many of her problems.
I agree with Jack that the article should not have been published. It's very negative and i believe unjustifyably so. remember, we are only hearing her side of the story

[Ewker]

good thing she didn't run into a Minnesota Smith type on the trail

[Tin Man]

I stopped believing the story when she said she had rib deep fords in the first 1500 miles and she met a hiker named Riff that yo-yo'ed 7 times consecutively? Is there such a guy?

Perhaps it's just a screenplay to a fictional movie...

Perhaps the truth is somewhere between what she writes and pure fiction. Let's say it sounds like an embellishment of what may have transpired and some of it may have been paranoia at work too. We don't know and we are just speculating, but I think we would have heard a lot more stories like this if it were a common thing. Let's just say that women do have a more challenging time warding off unwanted attention in a closed system like the trail and this woman was not as prepared as most of the others who came before her.

[fiddlehead]

This story reminds me of someone i met back about 10 yrs ago (no names now)
The girl was always surrounded by a horde of men, she even looked at me somewhat helplessly as i entered the camp site she was using for the night. And sort of shrugged her shoulders to me as if saying: what can i do?
I gave her a little advice about choosing her camp, and not telling anyone where, and stealth camping and all.
Well, about 1,000 miles further on, met her again as she flipped and was traveling exclusively with one of those guys that i saw her with back there in GA.
She eventually married the guy as i was invited to the wedding.
I think she got what she was looking for.
Perhaps this girl who wrote that long story did not.

[TIDE-HSV]

Searches of "Backpacker" mag, "E/The Environmental Magazine" and "Transitions Abroad" all turn up "no matches found" for "Emily Weil."

[SGT Rock]

I got the same thing. As well as a check on that one site www.eco-chick.com. There are lots of people listed, but she is not one of them and her name doesn't come up on a search.

[TIDE-HSV]

the next step is TrailJournals, to see if she - or any of the other folks she mentions - is referenced anywhere. With the swath she seems to have cut, somebody should have mentioned her...

[TIDE-HSV]

I forgot - search only covers writers...

[bfitz]

Stalking is never normal. Being attracted to someone is. Trying to keep yourself in close proximity to someone for days on end is stalking. Letting someone know you find them attractive is acceptable, but given the unique backdrop of long distance hiking, one would be wise to choose their moment wisely. My reaction to this article really has nothing to do with the issue of male thru-hikers stalking or "pink-blazing". The article is a poor example of what women thru-hikers should expect. The problem with hikers using the trail as a dating service is the fact that there is no "home" to retreat to if things get weird.

Yeah, If you want them to stop stalking you step 1 would be to stop having sex with them, IMO.

[SGT Rock]

Before y'all start trying to track this down too far on trail names, the names could have been changed to mask who they really were.

[bfitz]

I hope so, because she sure trashed a few trail names in the article.

[TIDE-HSV]

But that would be the responsible thing to do...

[rickb]

From the original version on the web at

http://www.ctnow.com/custom/nmm/fair...,1624312.story

at story's end.

Names and certain details of this story were changed to protect people’s privacy.

Emily Weil is a travel writer and environmental journalist. She currently lives in California, but, if you ask, she’ll tell you that her real home is in the calm pine groves and the craggy granite outcroppings of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

An older lady's point-of-view. I've had several attractive young women hikers tell me they have trouble ditching unwanted attention from 'pink blazers'. One particularly cute lass said she had gotten her brother to meet her three times and say he was her boyfriend to get rid of unwanted 'pink blazers’ while we were talking in the shower area at Trail Days 2005. I thought it a bit odd that a woman her age didn’t know how to get rid of unwanted attention. I certainly did at her age.

She mentioned one female thru-hiker in negative terms - a girl that was sleeping around a lot that year. She said the girl was using new pink blazers to get rid of other pink blazers after she got bored with them. She said the girl had a lot of other problems and went on to tell me enough for me to fill in the blanks. My best guess would be a long history of sexual abuse, really messed up boundaries / social training and very low self-esteem.

When you mix a beautiful young woman with a bunch of 'hungry' fellows, sparks are going to fly. Most young women have the ability to not to let the sparks ignite a fire if they don't want a fire, but a young woman with the problems described to me very likely would not be able to successfully navigate in this difficult emotional water. She would not understand that some of the fellows would want to remain in her company after she had used them.

What I am saying is that her experience would not parallel what other young women would experience. The vast majority of young women - especially attractive young women - learn how to fend off unwanted attention without all the drama the story above relates and without using another person as part of the equation.

[Sly]

Quote:
Names and certain details of this story were changed to protect people’s privacy.

Emily Weil is a travel writer and environmental journalist. She currently lives in California, but, if you ask, she’ll tell you that her real home is in the calm pine groves and the craggy granite outcroppings of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

It still doesn't explain the "rib deep fords" in the 1st 1500 miler or the 7 consectitive yo-yo's by a hiker of any name.

[Topcat]

It probably wouldnt be good to try and figure out who the author is as i am sure Deja Vu has been used as a trail name 100 times. I know i have seen it in trail journals more than once.