Do you guys have to deal with this?

[GScout]

So I'm a female, 44, section hiking for the first time. I grew up camping, backpacking and hiking, am fit, and have trained well, hiking over 200 miles carrying 25 lbs. in preparation for my 165 mile section of the AT.

In the course of my prep, I've been told by the shuttle service I tried to hire that my hike plans are too ambitious and I should not expect to complete the section I have planned. (Needless to say I hired a different service.)

I was treated by the sales guy at REI like I'm magical because I (gasp!) seem to know what I'm doing. (Thanks to you all and Youtube!)

Same guy also called me "curvy."

And the backpack I bought had a flower hair tie on it. Yes, a flower. Because apparently they must specify that this is for a lady and appeal to my inherent feminine side. The don't dangle footballs or penises off the "male" packs because, you know, we already assume they are for men.

And everyone asks me, "You're hiking ALONE??" As though the trail is especially dangerous for me alone as a woman.

My question is, do you men have to deal with this s**t? Seriously. Please tell me I'm just being overly sensitive. You know, cause I'm a girl and we're very sensitive. (Lol!)

Thanks for listening to my rant. Can't wait to get on the trail in two weeks! Hope to meet some of you there. HYOH!

[nsherry61]

Yeah, us guys have to deal with all that to. BUT, to us it's shows us we're macho by thinking we can do more and know more than expected instead of hearing the statement as a sexist underestimate of us.

[Jake2c]

Yup we do, all the time but often under different venues. Actually, I like it better when people think I know less than I do. I get to see if they are legit and I sometimes get info I would not have gotten if they felt I already knew everything. Oh, and the hiking alone thing is something everyone gets. If you do need help, or a ride into town, want to take a wild guess which gender will more often come up on the short end of the stick? Like 61 wrote. . . . .

[GScout]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. Glad to hear most of this is not gender-specific.

I should add, too, that both of these guys were nice, well-intended people. I think they were unaware of the impression they made.

[magneto]

How I - a man - deal with this sort of thing:

1) Ignore unwelcome advice.
2) Hike however the Hell I want.
3) Repeat until reaching destination.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rickb]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. Glad to hear most of this is not gender-specific.

I should add, too, that both of these guys were nice, well-intended people. I think they were unaware of the impression they made.

I think there is a good reminder in there that how one presents advise matters.

I am sure I fall short on occasion but when overhear that given by salespeople at stores, it sometimes makes me want to cringe. I was in EMS a few weeks ago and the first question the salesperson asked a woman looking for packs was what color she liked.

He probably would have asked something equally stupid of a man, but geesh.

Given that level of expertise, I can understand the flower tag to identify a "woman's" pack. I know the pack I have offers a different s-shaped shoulder strap that is designed for most woman (and some men), and that would not be apparent to the average clerk. So that doesn't bother me.

i would think shuttle drivers would know that many woman hike faster than farther than men -- not at all uncommon-- so I expect the advise you got there was unrelated to gender.

[brianb2]

Interesting thread, fun to read. Unfortunately gone are the days when you can rely on a sales person for legit advice. If you get one that knows their stuff then that's great, but seems to be the exception. That's why forums like these are so valuable.
Shuttle drivers are likely just reacting to what they see. Females soloing aren't an anomaly, but they're not the norm either. Males soloing aren't the norm. They meant well.
You're going to have a lot of time with you soon. Lots of time to contemplate this and more. Curious to hear any epiphanies you have along the way.
Good luck

[gsingjane]

Well, I can't speak to what people who don't know you will say and do. Sometimes I encounter salespeople who assume I'm a clueless dope and sometimes I don't.

As to the backpacking alone thing, once you have done it once, and come back alive and with your extremities intact, that should pretty quiet down the people who do know you. At least that was my experience. People "ooh'ed and ah'ed" the first time and then after that, "meh."

So are you a Girl Scout?

Jane

[billnchristy]

We haven't run into that yet, but we are also pretty new to hiking so probably wouldn't know what to take offense to anyway. The funny thing is, out on the trail I have been asked for directions multiple times so I guess we look like we are at home out there.

[Offshore]

I took a friend to be fitted for her first technical day pack at REI and was surprised to find the Deuter women's packs actually had a flower clipped to them - I'd seen them on the web site but didn't think they actually put them on the stock packs. It reminded me of when the VW new Beetles came out - they had a vase with a daisy on the dashboard because they were marketing to women (as if an artificial flower would make all the difference).

The Deuter flower didn't offend my friend, but she did buy the Gregory J28 over the Deuter based on fit. The flower did catch your eye among a wall of packs, though - so mission accomplished. The REI sales person was also great - asked a lot of questions and spent a lot of time explaining things to my friend. It was a nice balance of not assuming that she knew too much or too little.

[TomN]

Everyone is always shocked that I go backpacking for long periods by myself, they just don't get it. I rode with a shuttle driver who had a good story. He picks up a guy who had never been backpacking before but has all the latest most expensive gear, never used before. He takes him to the AT near Springer. When he drops the hiker off he seems confused and is looking all around. The driver asks if he is ok, the hiker says he does not see the AT. The driver points it out to him. The hiker is very confused and says that can't be it, the AT is a paved path that runs from GA - ME, that was a dirt trail, he was very shocked. The driver assured him that was the trail. He leaves the hiker there but was doubtful how far he got. I think the shuttle drivers see a lot of people how are totally unprepared.

[Pedaling Fool]

I'm stuck on "curvy"...can you elaborate

[cassiedanielle]

I'm planning on starting my section hike in July. There is a chance my friend won't be able to come, and I will be one of those 40ish women hiking alone. Some of my friends keep telling me it's not safe. Statistically, it seems crime is pretty low on the AT. Is it ok to plan a solo hike as a woman?

[Starchild]

FWIW I am often asked if I was doing / did my thru hike alone (I'm a guy) and other hikes I've done, I'd say it is a gender neutral question. The exception was in Maine near where missing (female) thru hiker Inchworm disappeared. Several people asked us, me and my (female) hiking friend, not to hike apart from each other but to stay together in this section.


I've heard comments about starting out too ambitious, not the the level of saying one should not expect to complete it, but take it easy at first and don't be overly ambitious and try to push the big miles right away, so again not exactly seeing a gender issue here either, however some people do take women hikers as less capable then men and are condescending towards them, so it could be.

The sales guy at REI seemed to do you right, your reaction to that seems a bit weird, perhaps you are just expecting to be treated differently, which some would say you are attracting that treatment to yourself by your expectation of it (sometimes called the law of attraction). IDK

As for the pack with the flower on it, I would not mind a appropriate (and lightweight) symbol on my pack however I can see why some (male or female) would not want that. But since packs designed for men don't have them I don't sweat it. I would say the flower is more for easy identification in the store, not only so women can easily see and thus try out a pack designed for women, but men can also know and not accidentally buy a pack designed for women for themselves. Yes this could be done differently, with a removable something which would make it easy to ID in the store yet once you bought it you would have a plain pack.

[BirdBrain]

I'm stuck on "curvy"...can you elaborate

Maybe she is. Some are. That is a relevant factor. Pack designers incorporate the odds of women being shaped differently into their designs. The other pertinent facts is that a high percentage of men are pigs. A high percentage of women know this. This makes talking about a woman's shape as it relates to their pack choice an awkward conversation. I am willing to bet some women reading this would be uncomfortable with your question and my elaboration. Let me say this: My 3 favorite women (my mother, wife, and daughter) would have 3 different pack considerations. If I helped them choose a pack, a conversation about their body shapes would have to happen.

[Sarcasm the elf]

While I'm sure that women do get these comments more often, I can assure you that as a guy I still get plenty of the "Gasp hiking alone?" "You'll die" "You'll get eaten by a bear" "That's to many miles" comments directed at me. Almost all of this nonsense comes from people either non-backpackers or those with very limited experience.

Also, many people that work at REI/EMS appreciate the rare opportunity when they get to help someone who is actually there to talk shop and get outfitted for a trip. One salesmen told me (paraphrasing) "I'd rather spend three hours with you getting you fitted for a backpack and talking about your trip plans than spend a half hour helping yet another kid pick out a trendy pair of shoes."

[influenza54]

Oh man, I can't imagine a paved trail that long! I would hate it. Walking on pavement with 30 lbs on my back would kill my knee.

[rojotide]

You are confident and not overly sensitive. Good luck on the trail and conquer!

[Water Rat]

Definite eye roll moments, but I completely understand the days where you just want to look around and say, "Seriously?!" It can be a bit much when it is event after event of people doubting your ability without having asked a single question about your hiking background....

My favorite clueless salesperson story involved the time I ran into the cooking section of an outdoor store. I was there to grab a small, simple backpacking stove for a friend's birthday. Though I knew what I was looking for (and had already politely declined the offer of assistance), the salesperson took it on himself to keep trying to sell me the Jetboil Joule. He still didn't get it when I placed the small backpacking stove next to the Joule and asked him "if you were hiking by yourself for over 2,000 miles, which one would you want to carry?"

Sadly, that breed of clueless salesperson seems to have increased its population. I hope you have an amazing hike!

[Cotton Terry]

GScout, I think you would appreciate Princess Of Darkness on The Trail Show podcast. Check it out.