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

[Scott Iceberg]

"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.  ;-)"


Well, so does she.


________________________________
 From: Barry Teschlog <tokencivilian at yahoo.com>
To: PCTL <pct-l at backcountry.net> 
Sent: Thursday, February 7, 2013 3:06 PM
Subject: [pct-l] How not to be an a-hole on the PCT
 
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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