[pct-l] How not to be an a-hole on the PCT

Thu Feb 7 14:42:27 CST 2013

Barry I'm with ya on all these...I working on number six but I'm carrying a
Spot just in case and a night light

On Thursday, February 7, 2013, Barry Teschlog wrote:

> My 2 cents.  YMMV.  Opinions and used food outlets, everyone has one,
> etc.  Easily offended people or those with short attention spans should
> close this message and go on to the next post of interest.
>
>
> 1)  Be careful with your stove.  Don't start a forest fire.  Refrain from
> lighting camp fires unless it's a bona fide emergency situation - as in
> someone is going to die of hypothermia without.  Discomfort doesn't rise to
> an emergency level.
>
> 2)  Pack it in, pack it out to a location that you are SURE is an approved
> trash receptacle - like in town.  Don't leave your trash on the trail,
> especially at trail magic coolers unless there is specific permission, a
> non full proper receptacle and a set date for the magic person to come and
> fetch the refuse.  If you take a beer, carry the empty can out with you.
> Thoroughly bury your TP if you don't carry it out.
>
> 3)  Don't stiff businesses / waitstaff, etc along the way.  If you can't
> afford a usual and customary tip at a restaurant for example, you can't
> afford to be eating at a sit down restaurant in the first place.  Use fast
> food, the hiker box or buy groceries and cook in town.  Don't trash hotel
> rooms - tidy them up before leaving.  Leave a good impression in your wake,
> not a trail of destruction.
>
> 4)  Be kind to the trail angels.  Their home, their rules.  If you don't
> like their rules, no one is putting a gun to your head and forcing you to
> stay or go there in the first place.  It's YOUR responsibility hikers to
> find out the rules at the Angels' places before you go there so you may
> skip those that aren't your cup of tea.  You don't have to agree with their
> way of doing things to be respectful of them and their homes.  Thank them
> and politely move along if once you get there, you find it's not suitable.
> How would you like it if an obnoxious (insert the type of person that
> grates on your nerves most - hippie pot smoker, loud drunk, fervent
> proselytizing person, militant atheist, messy lazy cheapskate, entitled
> jerk, flaming liberal, closed minded conservative) were in YOUR home
> criticizing how you choose to live, or figuratively crapping all over your
> place, especially after you open up to help them?  And if you are a jerk in
> an Angels
>  home, don't be surprised if they pass the word up the trail to blacklist
> you - you DESERVE it, along with a slap up side the head.  It's called
> karma - look it up.
>
>
> 5)  For wanna be trail angels / trail magic providers:  If you put out a
> magic cache, it's your duty to care for it, otherwise you're just
> littering.  It sure is yummy (NOT) to come by a lid less Styrofoam cooler
> full of rotting fruit, swimming in warm water, with empty cans and mouse
> crap floating in there on an 80 degree day.  Maintain your goodie caches,
> which means only putting out items that are appropriate for the weather and
> location, with an appropriately critter resistant container, put a date
> when you put it out AND when you'll be back to pick it up (and go back and
> pick it up on or before that date), or just staying and being a live magic
> operation.  If you can't properly care for and maintain your magic caches,
> you shouldn't be doing them in the first place.  Find another way to help
> the trail if you can't properly maintain a cache.
>
> 6)  You have a duty to go onto the trail with a reasonable level of
> preparation, proper gear and self sufficiency.  If SAR is having to put
> their lives in jeopardy to pull your arse out of the back country due to an
> obviously preventable failure on your part, you're a jerk.  Honestly self
> assess your abilities.  If an experienced hiker is expressing reservations
> of your gear or ability to hike PLEASE give the reservations due
> consideration, for your own and SAR's sake.  If you can not be 100% self
> sufficient on the trail, you have no business going out there alone.
> Imposing yourself on another if you can't go it alone is being a jerk (if
> they volunteer to take you on, that's different).  Carry maps & compass.
> Know how to use them.  Have gear sufficient for weather  - in other words
> carry a shelter, warm clothes, appropriate sleeping bag and rain gear the
> entire trail.  Carry enough water in the desert.  Being a little cold or a
> little wet
>  isn't a reason to hit the "help" button your stupid little SPOT device -
> man up and fix the situation yourself.  If the weather is looking too nasty
> for your gear and experience, stay in town and wait it out - "go fever"
> killed the Challenger crew, it may kill you and the SAR crew trying to save
> your tush.  Have your own water treatment (a pet peeve - one "gentleman"
> when I hiked expected everyone else to be his water bi**h all the time).
> Another person I met on the trail refused to carry guidebook information
> and was always hooking onto others to mooch this from them - a-hole
> behavior first class.  Water caches are a convenience, not a necessity -
> plan for them to be empty and be grateful if they're not.  Relying on water
> caches is a-hole behavior - doubly so if you gripe about them being empty
> when you get there.
>
>
> 7)  Don't lie about what you did.  You're not a thru hiker if you skip
> non-closed sections, you're a long section hiker - which is an
> accomplishment in it's own right, it's just not a thru hike.  If you
> skipped an open section, be honest - "yeah, I did the whole trail, but had
> to skip this XX mile section because of YY" is alright and more than what
> 99% of folks will ever do.  Don't be a liar and say you "thru hiked" the
> whole trail when you didn't.  Fire closed sections don't count - the trail
> changes from year to year.
>
>
> 8)  Offer your ride to town a fair and reasonable amount of gas money and
> don't be disappointed if they accept.  Don't be a cheapskate.  If you can't
> afford to genuinely offer fair gas money for a ride, you haven't saved up
> enough to do the trail.  Get off your arse and work for another year, sell
> a piece of iCrap or take another job so you can do the hike without being a
> cheapskate jerk to your rides into town.  Genuinely thank them multiple
> times for the ride.  Remember, you're a dirty, filthy thru hiker, you stink.
>
>
> 9)  Don't stalk your fellow hikers.  If she's not interested in you, she's
> not interested - get over it.  You're out here to hike, not be on a
> wilderness version of a stupid MTV so-called reality show.  Besides, you
> STINK.  ;-)
>
>
> 10)  Magic is a gift, not an entitlement.  What part of "don't look a gift
> horse in the mouth" or "beggars can't be choosers" do you fail to
> comprehend?  Be grateful someone cares enough to take their time, their
> money and their effort to be out there trying to do right by you.  If
> you're a health food type, don't gripe about white bread, sugar laden
> sodas, and trans fats filled chips.  Thank the person for doing the magic,
> fabricate a polite lie that you just ate or that your stomach is upset or
> that you're having to hurry to make it to town and quickly move along
> knowing that they care enough to try.  Griping that they didn't have what
> YOU liked is first class jerk behavior.  (Personal story:  I still talk
> about the 2 huge apples, one Fuji, one Red Delicious, that the very kind
> folks at MTR gave me.  MTR is the greatest! )
>
>
> 11)  Dan nailed it on his post - if you break the rules, shut your pie
> hole and take the consequences.
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