This thread made me laugh.
This thread made me laugh.
They are out there setting records, they should have first dibs on the shelters....I just hope they are encountering good ridge-runners to help them pack out their trash, I know those soiled diapers can be awful heavy.
Let's head for the roundhouse; they can't corner us there!
pettas.... curiously wondering what it means to 'interfere with the experience of other people'? Are children on the trail or at shelter/campsite an interference? If they are how are they more of an interference that any other person? Opinions and perceptions are being formulated from 'snapshots' of their lives on the trail. Along with individual preferences, those opinions get shared here... some encouraging, some snarky. It is helpful to have Gambit's firsthand insight. Personally, I cannot imagine taking a toddler on the trail for the extended time that they are doing. But man think about the memories that those kids will have and how every encounter they have with others on the trail, maybe even you, shapes their experience. I'll never get to meet them, but I would love to be close enough to give them a shuttle and some trail goodies.
This thread has surpassed the number of posts the Quinn family thread received last year. They are the family that did a successful flip-flop thru with a baby. That thread only had 163 posts. Many on WB said they wouldn't finish.
More walking, less talking.
Poncho Hiker - When I say "interfere" with another's experience, I'm talking about not allowing our kids/grandkids from annoying others; i.e. running through someone's campsite, being loud or rude (especially after dark), etc. It's pretty obvious when your kids are bothering someone else. With adults you would hope they would realize when they "cross the line" but with kids, who are just starting out, it may not be so obvious to them. As the "adult" I think it's up to me to be sure my kid/grandkid doesn't cross that line and become a nuisance to others who might be out there as well.
For what it's worth, I would hope this is a two way street. I keep my kids/grandkids out of your hair and you do the same with us. Is that really too much to ask?
That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.
snapper
Might want to check out their earlier vlogs. Run multiple marathons, hikes around Mt. Ranier 95 miles. Don't bet against this family, tougher than you think. What they have accomplished so far is a win. Don't hate, appreciate...
Whatev, not a fan of Flicka.
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]I decided to catch up on their videos. Quite a few things I've taken away but want to avoid writing a book about it.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]As they neared the Smokies I was really glad to see that they weren't manufacturing nearly as much drama. It makes their hiking videos much more palatable. The kids are doing great from what I saw.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]They need to eat more food. You can tell the parents are losing weight already even though they only averaging around 8 mpd including their zeroes every 3-4 days. We don't see everything they eat, but I would willing to bet that they should be eating close to 2-3 times as much as they are now when on trail. Combine this with the incoming warm weather and zero days being further spread out and energy levels are going to crash.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]In the Smokies it was good to see that they avoided the worst of the weather and were fine all things considered. I'd take the weather they were hiking in over cold rain every single time.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]It is terrible that someone called CPS on them. Nobody should have felt the need to insert themselves into their situation in that way. I've said it before that I think it is crazy to take a 2 year old out of the trail starting in early March. I also thought it unfortunate how the father handled the situation of their youngest child's discomfort which led to the flicking in the mouth incident as they ignored their better judgement a lot in the first week. But can anyone in all honesty watch these videos and say that these parents do not love their kids? In my eyes their children appear to be well loved and receive more parenting than a large percentage of today's youth.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]In the final videos he basically call out us here at whiteblaze. I would have completely respected if he just would of came out and told the people that don't agree they could F*** off and leave it at that. I actually agree with many of the principles and philosophies that the family tries to instill in their kids. [/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]Unfortunately, the father has all the charm of a used car salesman. If he didn't actually care what people thought he wouldn't of made one of their longest videos about how much he doesn't care. The video only served to remind me of how narcissistic and hypocritical he is. If you are familiar with personality types there is a lot to be gleaned from almost everything he says.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]But I digress. I wouldn't of likely addressed the last video if they hadn't made it about our discussion here in this forum.
[/COLOR][COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)]
I still wish the family the best.
[/COLOR]
I don't know what happened in my last post, I always type it in a notepad so I don't accident erase it before sending. So here it is again.
I decided to catch up on their videos. Quite a few things I've taken away but want to avoid writing a book about it.
As they neared the Smokies I was really glad to see that they weren't manufacturing nearly as much drama. It makes their hiking videos much more palatable. The kids are doing great from what I saw.
They need to eat more food. You can tell the parents are losing weight already even though they are only averaging 8mpd including their zeroes every 3-4 days. We don't see everything that they eat, but I would be willing to bet that they should be eating 2-3 times as much as they are now on trail. Combine this with the incoming warm weather and zero days being further spread out and energy levels are going to crash.
In the Smokies it was good to see that they avoided the worst of the weather and were fine all things considered. I'd take the weather they were hiking in over cold rain every single time.
It is terrible that someone called CPS on them. Nobody should have felt the need to insert themselves in their situation in that way. I've said it before that I think it is crazy to take a 2 year old out on the trail starting in early March. I also thought it was unfortunate how the father handled the situation with their youngest child's discomfort which led to the flicking in the mouth incident. They ignored their better judgement a lot in the first week. But can anyone in all honesty watch these videos and say that these parents don't love their kids? In my eyes their children appear to be well loved and receive more parenting than a large percentage of today's youth.
In the final videos he basically calls us out here at whiteblaze. I would have completely respected if he just would of came out and told the people that don't agree they could F*** off and leave it at that. I actually agree with many of the principles and philosophies that the family tries to instill in their kids. Unfortunately the father has all the charm of a used car salesman. If he didn't actually care what people thought he wouldn't of made of one of their longest videos about how much he doesn't care. The video only served to remind me of how narcissistic and hypocritical he is. If you are familiar with personality types there is a lot to be gleaned from almost everything he says.
But I digress. I wouldn't of likely addressed the last video if they hadn't made it about our discussion here in the forum.
I still wish the family the best.
I haven't watched any vids since 9 or there abouts. But the discussion on WB has been idiotic to put it quite simply.
Lonehiker (MRT '22)
It was established over three weeks ago that the information provided by the individual on trail journals was incorrect. I am just as glad now as I was then that the reports turned out to be false. If you want to pick out a single post without reading pages of other posts feel free to do so but a few of us were trying to establish a timeline based on the information available at the time. It is easy to see that I left the word 'if' out between the words "they left Double Spring Gap" it makes a lot more sense as we were trying to figure out where and when they would of been at certain places for everything to be true. Read the post I made 24 minutes before the one you just quotes where I say "if the timeline is right". Nobody here knew anything for certain at that time including myself.
I'll admit that assumptions were made based on the available information and I'm glad my assumptions made from said information was incorrect. I still think they were foolish for beginning their hike when the did, although I don't believe them to be idiots anymore either.
I still wish them the best of luck.
If creating your account to ask me these questions made you feel better, well I hope it did.
Now that we know more about their efforts, wow!. How many of us have had success with a group of 8 over this distance. How many of us are perfect parents? I wish my kids were part of this hike.
What an awesome family.
Most of their peers are sitting in cubicles or eating tide pods and sexting their friends or staring at screens all day long or pooping themselves.
The kids are probably in better conditions (in terms of food, shelter, family, and safety) than kids in most 3rd world countries and many inner cities and trailer parks in America.
The lessons learned and confidence gained are going to stay with these kids for life.
Hope they make it to Katahdin just to piss off all the armchair backpackers and psychologists.
I’ve just started watching the videos to see what the hubbub was about. And I’ve read a lot of the comments on YouTube and on WB.
What I’ve gleaned thus far is that I am super jealous of this family doing something together like hiking the AT. Sadly, I never grew up enjoying the outdoors, nor was I encouraged to hike. It was only until later five years did I discover a passion for all things outdoors: backpacking, hiking, fishing and hunting. I may have missed out on a few decades of outdoor fun, but I’m sure going to make up for it. I’m currently training and prepping for a 2019 NOBO attempt.
Second thing I get from the comments, is that I’m sure a good percentage of those comments are from people who don’t even hike. They’re quick to point out the family are attention seekers. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t.
Anyhow, I wish this family well. At least they’re trying which is more than I can say for people who hide behind their computers passing judgement.
We don’t stop hiking because we grow old, we grow old because we stop hiking.
- Finis Mitchell
https://lighterpack.com/r/6yyu2j