[pct-l] thus behaving badly

Fri Apr 18 15:22:06 CDT 2008

I'm going to post this because I detest seeing someone who is on the trail
and unable to defend themselves maligned. 

The hiker in question, Wheeew, was here and I got her side of the story in
person. For the record, I consider Bob Mayon over at Hiker Town a friend and
I didn't get to hear his side (his blog was down when I got to their site).
I think it's important to note that Bob was following instructions -- Wheeew
was told that the owner of the property at Hiker Town is the one who issued
the order to have the hiker leave and lock her out of the property.

There was advance communication between Bob and Wheeew about the zero day
that was going to be taken there, and it was communicated to her that if no
one was going to be there, a key would be left so that she could let herself
in.  So the understanding was that if Bob could not be there, she could
still stay.  She planned her strategy around taking a zero (based on the
correspondence with Bob).  He was there when she arrived though, and fed her
and put her up for the night. All was well up to this point, according to
Wheeew. 

When she was told that she had to leave (at approximately 6:00 a.m.) to
cross the Mojave on a 90+ degree day, she was completely blindsided and
upset, feeling unprepared to face one of the most infamously nasty stretches
of the trail. Mind you, she was doing Section E first as a shake-out hike,
so she didn't have 500+ miles under her belt already.  

The hiker did nothing to deserve being dumped in the desert unexpectedly
after a promise of a zero day. Perhaps her attitude afterward getting the
news was less than stellar, I wasn’t there and cannot say. I can attest that
Wheeew's behavior and attitude here has been perfectly acceptable -- she
started her hike here and returned again when she completed Section E. She
is an extremely nice lady and is welcome here any time. 

Yes, hikers need to be thankful for what they receive from anyone, and no
one owes them anything. Hikers with entitlement attitudes need their behinds
kicked.  

OTOH, if one of us in the hiker support network commit to helping a hiker,
and they are counting on us to do so, it's important that we follow through
with our commitment and not let them down.  They may earn a drop-kick out
the door once they arrive, but pulling the rug out from under them without
justification is another thing altogether.

Right or wrong, hikers have come to depend upon trail angels to be there to
help them.  And, they have every right to expect our help if we put
ourselves out there telling them then CAN depend on us to be there. If all
you provide is random or selective support, but sure people know that up
front. If hikers can't depend on trail support, don't advertise that you're
there to help them -- period.

Committed to helping hikers, and probably commitable,

L-Rod

p.s.  Thank you notes are nice, but personally I would much rather that
hikers show their appreciation by joining the PCTA, and by doing at least
one day of trail work when their hike is through, more if possible.  Thank
you notes go in a drawer and collect dust.  PCTA membership protects and
preserves the trail.  

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of JOHNNY J FARBER
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 9:54 AM
To: pct-l at backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [pct-l] thus behaving badly

The past two days I have gotten a lot of good ideas on how to show
appeciation to trail angels---I love the thank-you post card idea.  When I
read the journal entry that was written about the hiker town experience I
saw the hikers frustration at getting her plans changed unexpectedly.  She
had the right to feel frustrated.  My 2 cents:  we all have our crabby days
and these are not right or wrong, but venting anger towards someone over the
internet is totally inappropriate.  I think that an alert not to plan zeros
there would be ok.  Everyone, includindg a trail angel has the right to
change their mind if something comes up.     I hope I behave myself when I
hike next weeK.  FREE  
     1. Re: thrus behaving badly (RobTrailmail)

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

  Message: 1
  Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:55:14 +0100
  From: RobTrailmail
<rob at trailmail.galbavy.de<mailto:rob at trailmail.galbavy.de>>
  Subject: Re: [pct-l] thrus behaving badly
  To: Pct-l at backcountry.net<mailto:Pct-l at backcountry.net>
  Message-ID:
<20080418175514.y1w83u3kqo40kosk at webmail.df.eu<mailto:20080418175514.y1w83u3
kqo40kosk at webmail.df.eu>>
  Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes";
  format="flowed"

  I'm mostly lurking here but today I want to add
  my 2 cents.

  I totally agree with David and most of the other
  postings here.

  In my humble opinion hiking the PCT became kinda
  like "mass hiking tourism" in the last few years.

  New trail angels are popping up all along the way
  each year.

  Some thrus think that thru-hiking entitles them to
  certain things and that it's the trail angel's job
  to help out ("there are so many angels out there
  anyway").

  This attitude sometimes sneaks in without you
  realizing it.

  Some of the thrus I met in '04 - me included - were
  showing attitude to some extent.

  A thru-hike IS an accomplishment and a special
  experience but because we are doing something special
  we tend to think that we are entitled to something
  special. We keep forgetting that there is no such
  thing as entitlement in this case (as David said
  before).

  We are getting angry / annoyed ...

  ... when we don't get a ride right after arriving at
       the trailhead.

  ... if there's no beer left in the fridge of the trail
       angels.

  ... when there's no water left at a water cache.

  ... when the hotel owner charges you extra for extra
       people in the room.

  ... when the resort owner doesn't let you use the
       laundromat cuz he needs it.

  ... etc

  I'm sure this was different, let's say, 10 years ago.
  When almost nobody you met in towns actually heard of the
  PCT and hikers really appreciated every bit of help they
  got. (I wasn't around back then of course but that's my
  impression)

  I really will try to keep this in mind for my thru-hike
  this year...

  ...and if I forget and start to show attitude again I
  would politely ask you to remind me of my words from today.

  Many of us are out there to actually find our way into
  ourselves: the pilgrimage into the core.

  So let's just not forget what drives us, why we are out
  there, and maybe we need a little reminder from time to
  time from fellow hikers, trail angels and / or the PCT-L.

  Good luck to the class of 2008.

  Hike on!

  -Germanator-

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