Slackpacking

[Jonnycat]

I just wonder why you're living your life judging whether other people's approach is good enough to satisfy you. And what kind of pathetic madness leads one to have an attitude like that.
Unbelievable.

One could say the same thing about people who infer mental illness in those they disagree with. Is it too much to ask that you try to maintain the discussion, despite your passions, in a civil manner, without calling people "pathetic"?

[CalebJ]

One could say the same thing about people who infer mental illness in those they disagree with. Is it too much to ask that you try to maintain the discussion, despite your passions, in a civil manner, without calling people "pathetic"?

Welcome to 'missing the point 101'. You just got an A+.

[Lone Wolf]

back in 19and86 i was tryin' for a through hike. by the time i got to hot springs i was burned out. goin' too fast and furious. after 2 days off at elmer's i told myself it's time to slack off. i left town and walked just 5 miles to a little pond and called it a day. i gave myself a trail name that day. yankee slackpacker.

[rickb]

back in 19and86 i was tryin' for a through hike. by the time i got to hot springs i was burned out. goin' too fast and furious. after 2 days off at elmer's i told myself it's time to slack off. i left town and walked just 5 miles to a little pond and called it a day. i gave myself a trail name that day. yankee slackpacker.

After reading this thread from top to bottom. I suspect that were Guy Waterman’s book Wilderness Ethics: Preserving the Spirit of Wildness to be published today, he would necessarily be canceled.

For any thinking that challenges the prevailing trends, must surely come from a narrow minded and judge mental oaf.
https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Et...8344203&sr=8-1

[Five Tango]

So if I don't care what someone else's hiking style,lifestyle,orientaion,religion,or politics might be does that mean I am not mentally ill?Asking for a friend.....

[cmoulder]

I'd say your friend is well on the road to recovery.

[rickb]

I would suggest that there is a difference between not caring about how any individual hiker transits the AT, and observing how evolving group norms are changing the character of the trail.

For better or worse.

Change is gradual so it’s hard to see, but imagine a future where there is a food truck at every major road crossing, and 50% of hikers are picked up and brought back to their hotel at the end of each day.

Not going to happen, but only as a matter of degree.

Changes to the feeling of wildness on the trail are already palpable and there is no going back.

To my way of thinking, that effects every hiker and is worthy of thought.

Probably best not to discuss it around others whose feelings might be bruised, however. Human nature is such that we will always care way to much about what other’s think about us, and way too little about why their perspective might be different.

[Seatbelt]

Change is gradual so it’s hard to see, but imagine a future where there is a food truck at every major road crossing, and 50% of hikers are picked up and brought back to their hotel at the end of each day.

When I read this, I thought about reports I have read describing the El Camino Santiago in Spain. A hostel and food every night. I hope the AT will not evolve into this.
I followed a youtube hiker last year [who was quite popular] who assessed his thru hike when finished. He slept in his tent 2 times.

[Seatbelt]

I meant to say 2019 instead of last year.

[Tipi Walter]

When I read this, I thought about reports I have read describing the El Camino Santiago in Spain. A hostel and food every night. I hope the AT will not evolve into this.
I followed a youtube hiker last year [who was quite popular] who assessed his thru hike when finished. He slept in his tent 2 times.

Did he use the shelter otherwise or did he stay in town/hostel/motel???

[Seatbelt]

Did he use the shelter otherwise or did he stay in town/hostel/motel???

He stayed in town majority of the time[slackpacking], shelters a few times, probably less than 15 nights.

[Traveler]

There are different levels of thru hiking ambitions and "ethics". Some insist on tapping each white blaze from Springer to Katahdin, some use the blue blaze trails as a means to move around serious terrain sporting an injury, some slackpack, some pre-park a vehicle at a road crossing and use it to reach town without spending more than a few nights camping out, others refuse to consider a motel at all.

Everyone has their way of doing it and there will always be someone who disagree's with how they are doing it. Purist, extremist, recreationalist, spontaneously or planned, there are as many ways to do a thru hike as there are people who complete it. Few who start out doing the trail a certain way end up completing the trail the same way, adaptation and the ability to embrace it will likely be among the many lessons of nature for those who listen.

That we live in a place that offers these opportunities that are up to the individual to take on still amazes me and I am grateful to be here.
Oh, and if you don't embrace kissing of porcupines along the way, you just aren't purist enough for the trail and are doing it wrong

[Fallesafe]

Since the ATC and the ALDHA-West (both) make no distinction between slack-packing and carrying your pack for their recognitions of trail-completion, I'm completely unconcerned what anyone else has to say about it. Imagine caring.😂

[Deadeye]

...I thought about reports I have read describing the El Camino Santiago in Spain. A hostel and food every night.

A bit off-topic, but inn-to-inn (or hostel-to-hostel) walking is very popular in Europe and Great Britain. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the relative lack of open space compared to the US, but also with cultural and regulatory differences. Here in the US, plenty of X-C skiers and cyclists go inn-to-inn.

Just another option to have fun outdoors.

[greenpete]

HYOH policy is not an excuse to discount or censor disagreeable opinions, what someone might call "dissing".

This is going a bit off-topic, but this HYOH maxim cracks me up. It's seemingly used as a "get-out-of-jail-free" card. Its intent is to stifle discussion, whether controversial or not. A polite way to say "Shut up and mind your own business."

I was raised and taught to be unafraid of controversy, and to ask questions and challenge and discuss things...in a civil manner, without insults. Nobody is advocating for a law against slackpacking, and I don't think anyone wants to alter the ATC's stance on what constitutes a "thru-hike." If you want to use a vehicle to haul yourself or your gear around the trail, that's your business. In fact, some of my favorite hikers this past year - Chuck Wagon, Batman, Handout, Misdirection, etc. - are slackpackers. I don't like the practice, myself, for several reasons. But I'm not dissing anyone who does it, here or anywhere else...I just don't particularly care for that mode of thru-hiking, and wanted to see if others feel the same way.

So a big "thank you" to those of you here who are willing to sidestep the timeworn HYOH "policy" and discuss the (obviously) controversial topic of slackpacking in a civil and thought-provoking manner.



Wilderness is where things work the way they're supposed to work - Walkin' Jim Stoltz

[slowdive]

The trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp is full of "slack-packers", having porters carry peoples stuff with the hiker just carrying a day pack. I kind of felt embarrassed to see them. My thinking was carry your own crap, its only 40 miles, granted mostly above 10,000 ft but some of the porters I saw were wearing sandals and carrying building supplies. Maybe not that relevant to the AT but to me it seems like a slicky boy way of completing it, but what do I know? Get outside thats the whole point.

[stephanD]

I love slackpacking, especially when you can walk from the trail back to your hostel, but it can become quite pricey really fast......

[Odd Man Out]

A bit off-topic, but inn-to-inn (or hostel-to-hostel) walking is very popular in Europe and Great Britain. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the relative lack of open space compared to the US, but also with cultural and regulatory differences. Here in the US, plenty of X-C skiers and cyclists go inn-to-inn.
Just another option to have fun outdoors.

The trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp is full of "slack-packers", having porters carry peoples stuff with the hiker just carrying a day pack. I kind of felt embarrassed to see them. My thinking was carry your own crap, its only 40 miles, granted mostly above 10,000 ft but some of the porters I saw were wearing sandals and carrying building supplies. Maybe not that relevant to the AT but to me it seems like a slicky boy way of completing it, but what do I know? Get outside thats the whole point.

I follow trekking fora for both Nepal and Europe and certainly trekking cultures are unique to each location. In Europe it is quite common to take extended hut to hut treks without the need for camping gear (although you may need camp food and kitchen). In Nepal it is common if not normal to hire not only a porter, but also a guide (who supervises the porter) and trek lodge to lodge, in which case you need only a sleeping bag (technically you could get by without the bag and rely on the lodge blankets, but by most accounts they are pretty marginal).

We all have our paradigm - the lens through which we view the world, influenced by our culture and experiences. We are often unaware of it but nevertheless it is always there. One of the best ways to understand how you see the world is to experience someone else's paradigm and one of the best ways to do this is through international travel. Learning to appreciate and accept traditions foreign to your own is a great gift you can give yourself. When we took our family on overseas vacations, I told them that if they see something they haven't seen before, it would be appropriate to say "That's different", but not to say "That's weird". The former is a statement of fact but the second is a judgement that may not be appropriate if it simply you assuming that your paradigm is "correct".

[MapleHiker]

Halfway done with my first thru-hike. Since Springer I've learned about slackpacking, which I previously didn't know about. I'm amazed at how many thru-hikers resort to this method of distance hiking, once the grind sets in. From what I see, full packers like me - those who try to carry their homes on their backs the whole way - are the minority. The thinking seems to be "Everyone else is slackpacking, why shouldn't I?"

Isn't slackpacking another way of "cutting corners"? I'm guessing many slackers might regret taking this "easy" option after reaching Katahdin.

Thoughts, anyone?...slackers and non-slackers?

Those who want to slack pack the hard sections may have a good reason to do so outside of just making the hike easier. I have more respect for hikers who do not slackpack as backpackers, but ultimately my opinion doesn't really matter. If you make your way 2100 miles from GA-ME then you're a thru hiker even if you slackpacked the whole way. Grandma Gatewood was basically a slackpacker.

[greenpete]

I have more respect for hikers who do not slackpack as backpackers, but ultimately my opinion doesn't really matter.

I guess that sums up my thoughts as well.



The universe gives us wonders, and we build bear cages - D. Hiscoe