[pct-l] lameness of pct2007 and law budget hiking

[roni h]

Seems like again, due to my confrontational and a highly abnoxious
personality, I a have to write what many people think but are too nice
to say. (At least what I think many think)
This is what I wrote in the pct2007 group, which I consider to be on
average the most lame group of thruhikers I've ever met:




"
The fact that both medow-ed and I, who have an opposide perspective about
most stuff, actualy agree about this subject, shows there must be
something to it.
what ed is saying in his nice, none confrontational way, I will repeat
in my rude Israeli style. It looks like hikers in the last year or
two are becoming increasingly lame, and are strongly loosing the sense
of titenited community that used to be found amongst thruhikers in
previous years.
I don't know the pct group of 2006 but I there are 3 reasons I see of
the apperent lameness of the 2007 group:

1) There was an unusal amount of couples hiking the pct this year.
I'm not saying all couples are lame, but couples, especialy but not
exclosively young couples, tend to be much more closed to interaction
with other hikers. For them its more a couple experience than a social
experience. Again, I can show many exceptions for this rule, but as
an average, I find thruhiker couples to be much more lame than single hikers


2) Almost all thruhikers I've seen this year were hiking an a much
higher budget than I've seen in previous years, especialy 2003. More
accuratly, the low to very low budget segment of hikers seemed to be
completly missing. Tony and I were virtualy the only people I met who
persistently stealth camped in towns. I think there might have been a
few others but far less than I I've seen in normal years.
One reason for that is possibly Yogi's hand book. Its a good book but
its definetly geared towards the higher budget hikers who actualy buy
the book. Of what I've seen in it there is almost no mention of
stealth camping sites in towns, which makes most people think there
are none.

You might think stealth camping and low budget hiking has nothing to
do with lameness, but the truth is that if you think about a group of
hikers, they will always be bounded much tighter together, if they end
up having to stealth camp or sleep 6 in a motel room than if every
single one of them ends up getting a motel room for himself.
For me and Tony one of the most interesting chalenges in hiking is
finding a good stealth site in a town.
I'm know that there were this year many hikers who should have been on
a lower budget than mine (I actualy have money, I just try to spread
it over more hiking seasons) but they weren't very succeful in keeping
to their budget, partly because everyone around them was on a higher
budget.
Stealth camping and low budjet hiking are aquired skills. without
having anyone to show and teach you how you can easily thruhike on
less than 10$ a day, and still enjoy it, You might never try.

3) As I mentioned in the past, I saw an unusaly high sense of
entitlment from hikers towards trail angels. Not from everyone, but
from more than I've ever seen before.
Its probebly partly due to the abundence of trail magic but also has
something to do with the almost complete lack of low budget hikers
this year. Bluntly speaking, for a high budget hiker who stays in
every motel, a trail angels house is basicaly just a free motel room.
 For me, who didn't stay in a single motel room on the whole pct this
year, a trail angels house is so much more, (inc' what might be the
first real hot shower I had in a month or more)...
I know this is a gross generalization, but its natural for people to
appreciate more what they dont have normaly, than what they have.
And so,generaly speaking, a low budget hiker tends to have a smaller
sense of entitlement than a high budget one.


I'm not sure what the solution for this situation is. Definetly
having pct 2007 hikers try to keep in contact with each other would
help, but its probebly too late for that. People got used to not
writing, finding excuses why not to write insted of why to write.

I do think that someone might want to give at the next kickoff a talk
about low budget thruhiking on the pct (not me, because I'm probebly
not going to be around there this year). Thats an aquired skill that
seems to have all but disapperd from the pct, which is a real shame.


Roni (in Israel)


--- In PCT2007 at yahoogroups.com, "edfaubert" <edfaubert at ...> wrote:
>
> Roni is on to something, note i did not say Roni in ON something.
> Many of the class of 07 were first time hikers on the PCT and had a
> great time enjoying all the miles and the people you meet alone the
> way. For many LDHs its the people you meet that makes a diference in
> having an enjoyable time.
> Having been envolved for over a decade with you folks i will say
> there is a difference in the hikers of 07 and say 2000 or as Roni
> said the 03 group. We still see at the KO folks who hiked years ago
> still together as a group and keeping in touch. For whatever reason
> and i have not heard a good explanation for this, times change and
> the yearly folks hiking the trail change as well. Take the class of
> 06 for example, after 02 we saw a class gift from them to the class
> of 03, same for the next few years too. giving something back to the
> next group of hikers coming behind you. When it was 06s turn to give
> something back there was no takers offering some form of thank you
> from the group. I think its only those of us who have been involved
> with the hikers on the PCT for years and years that really see a
> difference in the collective group of thru hikers.
> Am i saying this is bad, well no,not at all. Roni had pointed out
> something last summer about hikers in 07 (expecting) rides back to
> the trail etc etc where when he hiked befor no one would have even
> asked for a ride back to the trail.
> That was then i know and now is now but still it beggs the question,
> why have hikers changed in the past few years. Those of us older
> folks who are into mangement positions talk a lot about the upcoming
> generation of folks who just don't care about responibility
> anymore... Is this same kernal of thought affecting the hiking world
> too? And if it is, is it a bad thing or just something us older folks
> have to readjust too.
> Just some food for thought here....................and this is not to
> say Roni is in anyway correct about anything, either.................
>