Punch cards for Appalachian Trail hikers

[ridgewalker777]

Here's an idea to consider: As in orienteering, participants would have the option of using punch cards as you travel from section to section. Key landmarks and shelters would have punching devices. This would have partly a verification purpose, but more to impress on the mind the stages of the journey. I was wondering if others thought this deserving of consideration or the ashcan, and whether there are trails besides orienteering where such a system is used.

[SGT Rock]

I don't see a need for it.

[Lone Wolf]

To verify what? A thru-hike? It would be easy to cheat.

[TJ aka Teej]

Some years back Wingy proposed "Avery Monitors" that would be posted up and down the Trail to verify the authenticity of Thruhike claims. There was supposed to be a banquet (hosted by Himself) after the hiking season to hand out awards. The only thing that came of it was general ridicule of the idea, and several parody proposals that included barcode tattoos, tracking chip implants, fingerprint reading white blazes, and parapackers hiding in the trees.
I think the ATC is handling this just fine.

[MileMonster]

Uh, who needs verification?

[Lone Wolf]

Who needs verification? The anal, over achieving purists of course.

[MOWGLI]

Well, one thing that might be nice, is something similar to the National Park Service Passport. As you visited different places along the trail, you could hand stamp your passport. The stamps would indicate the location (ex: Walasi-Yi, NOC or Fontana Dam) and provide the date you were there. Individual stamps would have photos from different places along the trail.

It wouldn't be for tracking the validity of a thru-hike, as that would be an impossible task. It would simply serve as a keepsake. I really like my NPS Passport. Anyone else familiar with that?

[oldfivetango]

Who needs verification? The anal, over achieving purists of course.

Yeah Mr Wolf-you have hit the nail dead square once more.All I want to
know is,if in the event I were to through hike,what sort of prizes and money
do I get at the end?Do I get an interview on the today show with Katy Couric
or run over to CBS like the Survivor Show losers?Or do I get to endorse products like boots,shoes,tents,or (in my case) hammocks?
In the end,does anyone other than the hiker and his/her family even care?
Somewhere along the way I got the impression that the personal experience
alone was the lure of the trail.In my minds eye I can see Wingnut hunched over an Avery monitor watching the move of every intruder upon his trail.
Cheers to all,
Oldfivetango

[The Solemates]

What a crock. And another way to argue about punched ballots, hanging chads, dimples, pimples, and horse zits.

[shades of blue]

We purists aren't all anal, over achievers....wait, maybe a little anal and we do feel the need to achieve....ummmm never mind.

I think the idea of verification is stupid, if that is the main thrust of all this. The idea that I have to punch anything reminds me of work too much.
As for purists, and blue blazers....HYOH. I enjoyed our little blue blaze Wesser trail hike, but still feel the need to hike the white blazes. That is me...Maybe on my later hikes of the trail, I may not feel that way, but for now, I do. I don't consider blue blazers hippie, underachievers either. Just a different path on the same journey. My .02

[Jaybird]

Here's an idea to consider: As in orienteering, participants would have the option of using punch cards as you travel from section to section. Key landmarks and shelters would have punching devices. This would have partly a verification purpose, but more to impress on the mind the stages of the journey. I was wondering if others thought this deserving of consideration or the ashcan, and whether there are trails besides orienteering where such a system is used.

WOW! what r u smoking?

[Skeemer]

MOWGLI16
Well, one thing that might be nice, is something similar to the National Park Service Passport. As you visited different places along the trail, you could hand stamp your passport.

How much would these Passports weigh?

[Youngblood]

I'm curious. What are the detailed rules concerning a white blazing purist thru-hike? I've often heard Jack use the term entire trail where entire means entire, but there are so many occassions where one leaves the trail corridor (whatever exactly that is) that I've never been sure how one can be sure they have followed all the rules or not. Is there a written list so that folks know if there are doing it correctly when they get off the trail corridor(?) at shelters, vistas, water sources, hitches to towns that are east of the trail (for nobos), nature breaks, blowdowns, snack breaks, lunch breaks, etc.?

I didn't follow the white blaze purist approach on my thru-hike for long, it seemed a distraction to the purpose of my hike. Loosely, at the beginning my purpose was to enjoy hiking from Springer to Katahdin, experience many of the small towns along the way, not get seriously hurt or die trying and enjoy the company of the folks I met along the way. After I got started I realized that it wasn't exactly one long fun hike, that it was many smaller hikes with trials, tribulations and many decissions that had to be made/remade on practically a daily basis.

Frankly, once the reality of that set in, the white blaze purist approach seemed rather foolish to me as I was looking for a recreational pursuit, not a contest where I had to factor in the white blaze purist approach (whatever that is) into every decission I made regarding stepping off the trail corridor (whatever that is). At that point, I decided to just take the path that took me where I wanted to go along my journey to Katahdin and to enjoy the experience for what it is. But that is just me and the way I look at things, I don't have a problem with white blazing purist and white blazing purist shouldn't have a problem with me. It isn't something that should polarize the AT community, there is room for all of us along the AT corridor (whatever that is).

Youngblood

[MOWGLI]

How much would these Passports weigh?

Well, I have never weighed one, but then again, I don't weigh much of anything. Maybe 6-7 ounces. The size of a very small book.

This would not be for the gram counters among us - and you know who you are.

[MOWGLI]

In my minds eye I can see Wingnut hunched over an Avery monitor watching the move of every intruder upon his trail.
Cheers to all,
Oldfivetango

When it is all said and done, the ATC patch & certificate is worth just as much as Wingfoots approval. That is to say - nothing. When the hike is done, all you are left with is your memories, so go and hike the trail the way YOU want to. Not the way someone else thinks it should be done.

[SGT Rock]

Too easy to beat, just get someone to partner up with you and then take turns hiking up to the stamp points and just get those if you really just wanted to get stamps. Then there would be the real trophy takers that would steal them to put in a scrapbook somewhere.

I like the idea of a GPS tracker chip being installed under the skin, that way the Holy Counsel of Verification can ensure you made it when they scan your chip at the end of your hike. Hopefully you don't get hit by lightning and get your chip erased.

[rickb]

"Some years back Wingy proposed "Avery Monitors" that would be posted up and down the Trail to verify the authenticity of Thruhike claims. "

That is not true.

Time + poor memory + bad feelings = distortion of facts.

I does make a colorful story, however.

Rick B

[weary]

...In my minds eye I can see Wingnut hunched over an Avery monitor watching the move of every intruder upon his trail. Oldfivetango

Except that Wingfoot never proposed any such thing. He simply argued at one point that the ATC guidelines were a bit vague and should be made clear. More recently he has urged as have I and others that those who apply for a 2,000 mile patch actually follow the guidelines established by those who issue the patch. He is simply against "dishonesty in claiming 2,000 Miler status."

Wingfoot argues that "the Trail (should) give outdoor-recreation enthusiasts an opportunity to travel freely in the mountains and safely experience the natural world around them."

Weary

[rickb]

The best thing the ATC could do would be to eliminate their 2000-Miler Award, and a formal listing of folks who report having hiked the AT.

They could continue to mail out patches, and/or publish a list of names in thier magazine.

This would be a good message to send, since the mission of the ATC is primarily one of Conservancy. There are alternative hiking organizations that could offer these so-called awards if thier members wanted it.

This will happen, its just a question of when.

Rick B

[Lone Wolf]

I totally agree with Rick.