Please don't. Trail feeds are even worse than feeding the bears. Maybe do some good and sign up for some trail maintenance instead.
Hikers can carry their own food but they don't carry tools for cleaning the trail.
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Please don't. Trail feeds are even worse than feeding the bears. Maybe do some good and sign up for some trail maintenance instead.
Hikers can carry their own food but they don't carry tools for cleaning the trail.
I agree. Please don't, these hiker feeds are getting out of control. The trail has become a big circus.
It's a kind gesture,,,,,and I will say this,I set up some food and drinks at a detour in connecticut last year,not knowing how frowned upon it is.Not one of the forty hikers that came by and ate and drank ever explained it to me either.If they had I would have picked up and left.I just want to apologize for doing it,it won't happen again....live and learn
No good deed goes unpunished, right? I think that this was a simple announcement from someone trying to do a nice thing for hikers, not an invitation to discuss whether hiker feeds are good or not. In a free society, free people are given the right of free association.
Eh, one's at the Fontana Hilton. Not like they'll be clogging the trail for that one. Is the picnic shelter even directly on the AT? I don't have my trail map for that section yet, and don't see it in the guide.
As for "dumping" on threads, he's just stating an opinion. When there's something that one person enjoys, and another person feels detracts from the trail experience, then both people should be able to express their opinion. As long as everyone is respectful, that would seem to be within the TOS of this website.
I don't enjoy crowds, I don't enjoy ministry groups, I don't enjoy this kind of activity. I fail to see why my voice should be stifled, and yours should be heard.
Maybe between all of our opinions there can be compromise reached, and concerns can be addressed. Reasoned debate is a wonderful thing. Internet forums are a great place for such debate, as long as we keep within the terms of service.
If forty hikers partook of the feed, I don't think it's all that frowned upon. Sounds like you had forty people who appreciated what you did. I don't think you need to apologize for anything.
Sojourner: Clearly some people don't like them, so please don't set up smack dab in the middle of a trail. But if it's off trail a bit and you aren't hassling people...plenty of people seem to appreciate them, so I think it's okay. Just make sure you pack out the trash. Thanks for doing this.
I bet most of the critics wouldn't pass up an ice cold soda on a hot day.
I gave up soda years ago, it's poison. It's essentially a serving of acid, with enough sweetener added so that your body doesn't immediately reject it for the poison that it is. It does horrible things to your body because of the pH balance. Basically most tasty foods are acidic. Ingest too much acid and your body has systems that negate that acid, push the limits and that balancing system will start eating your own bones.
I'd gladly pass up a soda, but I'd probably accept some water from a single individual hanging out, who wasn't evangelizing, and wasn't widening the trail by setting up a pavilion and grill and otherwise destroying my peace of mind.
It's a interesting situation. Decades ago, before thru-hiking became so popular, someone sitting at a road crossing with 50 cold sodas would probably have gone home with over 40 of them. It wasn't that there wasn't trail magic. People often would give you things - fresh vegetables while passing a farm, a cold soda or beer, an invite to dinner, a ride to town, etc. It's just that it wasn't advertised, scheduled, etc. Perhaps "staged" is the word I'm looking for. It was generally spontaneous, and more personal. So maybe it's more just a factor of the times we live in.
Oh I was getting the impression that it was a no no....I always pack out what I pack in and was actually on the road walk of the detour.Like I said no one walked by without grabbing something and no one told me what a bad idea it was.It was actually a give and take ordeal,,,,I wanted info on equipment and what they thought of the hike for future references,,,what do you think the percentage is of people that hike that frown upon this?
I don't feel hiker feeds necessarily are bad, but I think they help to foster the party atmosphere along the trail. Some hikers will do whatever to get to a scheduled feed. A couple of years back I ran into some NOBO's in the Grayson highlands and they said they had an app for their phone that told about hiker feeds and trail magic. It seems some people down south get disappointed if there is not some trail magic at every road crossing.
Hiker feeds and planned trail magic are much more a southern thing than northern thing. A large part of that is the sheer numbers all starting around the same time (within roughly a 4 week window). By the time "the herd" gets past Harpers Ferry, less than half remain, and even more so into New England, their numbers are cut to perhaps 25% of the original, and they have spread out a lot as well due to hiking pace. But even so, you don't see hiker feeds in the Whites in the summer, where there is a potential "hiker audience" on many days as large as anything you will see in the south in March/April. Local people, and organizations, are generally more reserved and/or focused on activities other than feeding hikers. Hiking isn't accompanied by the same party atmosphere that occurs with Springer Fever (note the Baxter State Park controversy).
I doubt many hikers actually frown on it (free food/beverage, etc.) at the time they receive it. But lots of starting thru-hikers aren't experienced or long term hikers either. Most seasoned hikers don't expect anything, and honestly, hitched rides are probably cherished more than anything else. But as hiker feeds and such proliferate and become commonplace, thru-hikers hear about it and almost start to expect it. Leading to seeing the situation in a less than positive light, and conjuring up negative thoughts about intentional trail magic. Such as, "Don't feed the thru-hikers - It's like feeding the bears, eventually the bears come to expect it."
Dr. Enuf agrees
http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2012/0...tennessee.html
Soda was just an example. Substitute with bottled water, beer, burgers, hot dogs, etc. partake if you wish, move on if you don't.
As as for soda, I used to drink several cokes a day. I'm down to one or two per week.
Last spring I heard of a situation where a church group did a 3 week feed. They took up all the space in the nearby shelter, and all the nearby camp sites, not to mention clogging the privy and not maintaining it. Leaving no place for hikers for a month. Look at Maslov's hierarchy of needs. It's far more important to have a place to poop and sleep and a trail rid of roots etc. to trip over and bust my head open. Than to have a greasy burger to fill my tummy up. The real trail angels are the maintainers, the feeders are more trouble than good. If they want to feed their egos figure out something positive.
last year at gooch gap a church took over most of the space for 3 weeks doin' a feed, feeding hikers that ain't hungry yet
me, pirate and wee willy were handin' out beer to the hikers next to the church camp. THAT they appreciated :) they don't want food yet
Yeah, private citizens should need a health dept license to give away food at a road crossing. Ridiculous. Yes they should clean up after themselves. If they don't, litter laws already exist.
Not sure why hiker feeds bring out so much anger in some people. Just hike on. It isn't like anyone will force a soda into your hands. If the groups doing hiker feeds mess up the trail or litter in parking lots, deal with those groups through existing law.
I agree on the existing laws part. That will vary from town to town, state to state based on what those citizens want. If they don't want noisy festivals, and litter, they'll institute the laws that require permits, fees, law enforcement presence and all that stuff.
As for why hiker feeds bring out "anger", what's not to understand. People have told you why they have concerns in this very thread.
They don't want:
-to be preached at
- to encourage the party atmosphere on the trail
- crowds
- trail erosion
- reminders of the commercial world
- feeds taking shelter space for weeks on end
- the litter caused
I'm not saying the ministries group that started this thread have or will be guilty of these behaviors. They seem to be setting up off the trail, at a private business and at a picnic shelter (whatever that is.) Maybe they've heard some of these concerns in the past and are being courteous enough to have addressed them already. Maybe they'll read this thread and address them in the present?
I'm happy this thread exists, as I can now easily avoid this particular feed. I'm happy the original dissenter spoke up, so we could have a civil discussion.
Here's in imperfect analogy that should at least illustrate why people are speaking up. Imagine someone posted the following trail event.
Novice Bagpiper Recital at 8:00 pm at McAfee Knob Will be handing out complementary kazoos and confetti. For the benefit of the through hikers!
Whether hikers are "angry" or not is beside the point: Hiker feeds, as long as no local laws are broken, is a voluntary association between free people in a free country. If hikers are "angry" about it they can choose to (1) not participate; (2) hike a less crowded trail; (3) promote enforcement of laws that are being violated; (4) propose new laws if existing laws are not sufficient.
As for complaining about ministries - No one is forcibly preached to. If someone starts preaching, move on.
Also, I personally like solitude on the trail which is why I would never choose to hike the AT near the southern terminus during peak hiker season.
You used the word angry. I thought it was very much the wrong word, as it has a negative connotation and tends to diminish the person you're debating with, as if they're illogical and angry children. I don't see that anyone is angry here, thus I gave it the quote treatment.
I live about two miles from a Jehovah's Witness church, and every single time they go out on one of their rampages, they knock on my door. They ignore the ugly posted sign on my front porch. I call the police, but they don't give a crap. Short of spraying them with a hose, I'm stuck with them. So, I'm particularly sensitive to this issue. I go on the trail to escape this abuse.
Let me add to your list. 5) Discuss one's trail concerns on a website dedicated to the trail.
Free people in a free environment and all that. I fully intend to just walk on by them. All I ask is that they don't clog the trail, don't erode the edges of the trail, and not pester me after my initial "no thank you."
Too any and all do gooders planning to dispense canned or bottled alcoholic beverages.... I like Tecate. Please do not forget the limes and of course the salt. If Tecates are not available Coronas work. How dare you try to save my soul!
New thread to discuss hiker feed issues..thanks
Since Mags split up the threads, my opinion is no longer relevant to the discussion.
I section hike in the south well outside of the bubble and to me trail magic means when someone has left the hose out, or maybe a drink left in a spring. During the bubble time I may do a trail run from Sam's Gap to Hogback Ridge shelter and typically take in a bag of oranges or apples and take out a bag of trash just because. I've seen that shelter camped out with 30+ pretty miserable looking people and judging by their reactions this little surprise is in a lot of ways better than a meal at a road crossing.