WhiteBlaze Pages 2024
A Complete Appalachian Trail Guidebook.
AVAILABLE NOW. $4 for interactive PDF(smartphone version)
Read more here WhiteBlaze Pages Store

Page 9 of 14 FirstFirst ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ... LastLast
Results 161 to 180 of 268
  1. #161
    Registered User BuckeyeBill's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-18-2012
    Location
    Dark Side of the Moon
    Age
    64
    Posts
    1,445
    Journal Entries
    6

    Default

    Trail Magic, defined as an unexpected act of kindness, is a quintessential part of the Appalachian Trail experience for many long-distance hikers. This is what's missing from this entire "conversation". The unexpected part is what makes it magic. You're walking down the road in a downpour on a Sunday morning. You've given up on trying to hitch into town when a car pulls up beside you and offers you that ride. They take you to their home feed you and wash your clothes for you. Then they take you to the store and finally take you back to the trail. It fits the definition perfectly. Someone else mentioned getting a roll of toilet paper when she needed it really badly. Oh the definition comes from the ATC website.
    Blackheart

  2. #162

    Default

    Wow! So there is a lots to process here. I'm more confused then when I started. Let me see if I got this. 1. The ATC isn't saying magic is bad. Just bad for the trail. 2. Those that don't agree will choose to ignore this and just do magic anyway because they have a right to do whatever they want to. Like the Vermont Trail Club and The Green Mountain Hotel. 3. Those that don't agree with magic can't point out that this is bad for the trail because that's negative/controlling and they should go hiking somewhere else where trails aren't the social event of the season. 4. If enough kids wan't to hang out on my lawn and all agree this is cool with them its not trespassing and I should shut up. 5. A walk in the woods came out in 2015. 6. Marriage is hard. And 7. I should have been a paratrooper. Double wowsers. Did you ever consider that if an issue kicks up this much kaka it proves that it is a problem that must be addressed? Clearly sumin aint workin. I'm hearing the trail became this way recently and it seems like some of the wise old owls are saying it wasn't this way before. If everyone just ignore this trail ruling from ATC then why not pick and choose the ones you want? Like why pack out trash cuz that's a pain? Why bury poop? I find this inconvenient! Why hang food - irritating. Have fires where ever and my personal fav - screw bear cans. They suck. Just asking. Not trying to get dog piled. But I have kids and they probably wouldn't think to just blow off the governing authorities. Isn't it a bit presumptuous to just decide to do what you wan't and blow off everyone else cuz you happen to like passing out goodies to strangers?

  3. #163

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by egilbe View Post
    I've seen somebody doing a hiker feed on 302 in NH just before Webster cliffs where the AT crosses the last few weekends. I wonder if I stop, will they feed me?
    If it's who I think it is, yes they would.
    Teej

    "[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.

  4. #164
    imscotty's Avatar
    Join Date
    11-13-2011
    Location
    North Reading, MA
    Age
    64
    Posts
    1,271
    Images
    7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Curious G View Post
    Wow! So there is a lots to process here. I'm more confused then when I started. Let me see if I got this. 1. The ATC isn't saying magic is bad. Just bad for the trail. 2. Those that don't agree will choose to ignore this and just do magic anyway because they have a right to do whatever they want to. Like the Vermont Trail Club and The Green Mountain Hotel. 3. Those that don't agree with magic can't point out that this is bad for the trail because that's negative/controlling and they should go hiking somewhere else where trails aren't the social event of the season. 4. If enough kids wan't to hang out on my lawn and all agree this is cool with them its not trespassing and I should shut up. 5. A walk in the woods came out in 2015. 6. Marriage is hard. And 7. I should have been a paratrooper. Double wowsers.
    Curious G,

    Wow, you catch on quickly. Welcome to Whiteblaze
    “For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
    the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


    John Greenleaf Whittier

  5. #165

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rabit View Post
    My point is, no one has the right and I personally find it ridiculous when ppl try to force changes because of their own wants and desires. If I personally don't like the way a place is I don't go there. I don't pitch a fit trying to get it changed just so it suits ME. I wish ppl would stop trying to make ppl look bad because they enjoy a different experience. Either go when it's quiet and there is no bubble, which is what my husband and I do and for the record we have never experienced or even seen a hiker feed when we're out there, or don't go at all. You've thru hiked it twice, you've had your experiences, let others have theirs.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
    Ha! I figured it out!! Nice. So this is the remark that really stood out to me. No disrespect Rabit but a question. Isn't the forced change based on personal wants and desires be imposed by magicians in this instance? While I'm hearing this is the way it is. I'm also hearing this isn't the way it was, this isn't the way it was supposed to be, and now this isn't the way it should be. Form older hikers and the AT commission respectively. There are a couple of other things here that don't add up but there really beside the point. Don't go? Very troubling I think that the trails are open to a select few and not all. I'm wondering why if I passed out beer and hot dogs in my local park down the square they'd arrest me and this is somehow ok on the trails. I joined this talk after being a frequent reader and during my recent Virginia lash I was confused and a bit put off by magic. I thought it was a fundraiser bake sale. I didn't want anything and this seemed to irk the magicians but when they found out I wasn't going to Maine I sort of disappeared. They were like oh you're not thru hiking anyhow so what we we all talking about before this dope showed up at our parking lot. And yeah I kind of like an empty country road for its charm and sense of being far off. It seems like this drama as it has been called would go away if magic did to. Then we could all just hike and talk about food. No?

    Thanks for welcoming me Scotty!

  6. #166
    Registered User
    Join Date
    12-19-2005
    Location
    Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    3,715
    Images
    3

    Default

    You want to go on a life changing event?



    ive been on one life changing event-my first Grateful Dead concert...

    life hasn't been the same since....

  7. #167

    Join Date
    05-05-2011
    Location
    state of confusion
    Posts
    9,866
    Journal Entries
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rabit View Post
    My point is, no one has the right and I personally find it ridiculous when ppl try to force changes because of their own wants and desires. If I personally don't like the way a place is I don't go there. I don't pitch a fit trying to get it changed just so it suits ME. I wish ppl would stop trying to make ppl look bad because they enjoy a different experience. Either go when it's quiet and there is no bubble, which is what my husband and I do and for the record we have never experienced or even seen a hiker feed when we're out there, or don't go at all. You've thru hiked it twice, you've had your experiences, let others have theirs.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
    Well, ummm....this goes both ways
    The people forcing change are actually the ones that like free food
    not the ones that dont

    Both have a right to express their opinion and fight to make the trail what it is.


    When it comes down to it, the problem isnt about food
    Its about the type of person that is hiking , and their groupies

    people that arent out there for solitude, they are out there for groups and socializing, and their numbers are growing
    so are their ridiculous groupies

  8. #168
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-23-2014
    Location
    Fayetteville, NC
    Posts
    599
    Journal Entries
    4
    Images
    7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rickb View Post
    Now that was harsh, JMB!

    Thru hiking isn't as hard and isn't heroic like some of the things you listed -- I kind of think you should have put having a baby on that list for even better effect --but it counts as something special, I think.

    Definitely more than a vacation.

    But regardless of your or my opinion on that, it is a simple fact than many good people have gone out of the way to treat thru hikes rather well. Because they were thru hiking.

    On my hike, those people included a small town that opened up their community center to us, a church that build a special cabin for us, a family that was known for 1000 miles to take great joy in offering every thru hiker that passed by an icecream cone (me more), a monastery that welcomed thru hikers with a meal and bed, and so many more.

    If you want to demonize those people for putting all their efforts elsewhere, I would be shocked. If you want to say that they could have spent their energy better elsewhere, I might agree. But I suspect that you most probably would have just said "thank you" if you were there.

    And perhaps even conclude that all those good people were thinking more like Starchild than you might want to admit.
    As a section hiker, I forged many an acquaintance (and a few long lasting friendships) along the trail. Some from other thrus, most from other section hikers. I even get Christmas cards from an "adopted family" in Indiana that forged a special bond with me, all from one 3 days trip on the AT north of Damascus.

    I have run into several military vets, from the Vietnam era to Desert Storm/Panama to Iraq & Afghanistan campaign vets. Suffice to say, many of these were providing trail magic by simply maintaining the trail, and I thanked them for that.

    I am NOT, in any way, denigrating or dismissing any person's decision to attempt a thru hike, whatsoever. But when all is said and done, it's a vacation, that doesn't put the individual in inherent harm's way.

    I met a gentleman last fall north of Hampton who sold all of his personal belongings and decided to live on (really off of) the trail and all it's goodness. He made a conscious decision to do that, and toss his former lifestyle to the side. What greater good for mankind was he sacrificing his time for?

    To willingly and deliberately do that knowing full well the consequences is an individual decision. It's a vacation, pure and simple. You didn't sign a contract. You didn't put your life in jeopardy for the greater good (whether your peers and society agreed with it).

    One may not think of it as such, given the conditions one sometimes endures just being out on a trail, but to automatically place that category above others is elitist in it's simplest form.

    Yes, I may seem a bit harsh in my comparison, but enduring the diatribe of "I'm special because I'm (willingly) enduring all kinds of austere conditions and bugs and dirt and cold dehydrated meals" is getting a bit old. Hell, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam vets would say I had it easy.

    One group I would support on their thru attempt? The Warrior Hikers. But they KNOW hardship enough to appreciate a thru hike attempt.
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep."

  9. #169
    Registered User middle to middle's Avatar
    Join Date
    09-25-2005
    Location
    A A county, MD.
    Age
    83
    Posts
    360

    Default

    Yes true, I say more trquila pints are needed. I am very serious.

  10. #170
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-23-2014
    Location
    Fayetteville, NC
    Posts
    599
    Journal Entries
    4
    Images
    7

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Slo-go'en View Post
    Where have these large "feeds" been occurring this year? How many have there been?

    I can't say that I've ever run into a feed put on in a remote or pristine location. They have always been at or near the side of a road.
    There was the story of an overtly obnoxious hiker feed at the Overmountain Shelter https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail/no-one-could-believe-this-amazing-trail-magic/



    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep."

  11. #171
    Registered User
    Join Date
    03-23-2014
    Location
    Fayetteville, NC
    Posts
    599
    Journal Entries
    4
    Images
    7

    Default

    My point EXACTLY! Read your own book.
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep."

  12. #172
    Registered User kestral's Avatar
    Join Date
    02-12-2011
    Location
    Melbourne, Florida
    Posts
    379

    Default

    Funny how polarizing this thread has become.

    My dad taught me to always try to treat others as you would like to be treated. When a minor disagreement or perceived disrespect occurred give others the benefit of the doubt. Remember please and thank you. Don't take what isn't yours, don't expect someone to give you anything, keep your ugly words to yourself. You are judged by the company you keep.

    these are kindergarten rules. Sometimes I forget them or choose not to follow them and it leads to trouble.

    People who provide trail magic are giving up their time and money to do something. Maybe their motive is to live vicariously through the hikers stories. Maybe they want to tell you about their perception of god. Maybe they want to give back kindness that was shown to them. Maybe they want to get out of the house on a nice day.

    Its not ok to create litter or belittle those who aren't doing the kind of hike you want them to. Not ok to harass people to partake or not partake. I get the AT rules for hiker giveaways. Perhaps this list should be posted on the notice boards where giveaways most often take place. We all have horror stories of bad interactions with people we meet on and off trail. I meet more good and great people then jerks when I'm on trail. Try to keep it positive, lead by example, walk away and enjoy your hike. That's why you are there.

  13. #173

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JumpMaster Blaster View Post
    There was the story of an overtly obnoxious hiker feed at the Overmountain Shelter https://thetrek.co/appalachian-trail...g-trail-magic/
    I think the keg party put on by the Appalachian State Collage at Overmountain back in '08 was better How long does it take 50 hikers to drain a keg of beer? About 10 minutes.
    Follow slogoen on Instagram.

  14. #174
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-18-2010
    Location
    NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    3,133
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kestral View Post
    .

    People who provide trail magic are giving up their time and money to do something.
    no, they are choosing to spend their time and money doing something that is for themselves. they are not doing works of charity.

    i went to the movies last week. did i "give up my time and money" to do so? i suppose technically so, but saying it way implies i committed some sort of selfless act for the benefit of others and that is not what i did.

  15. #175
    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
    Join Date
    12-12-2002
    Location
    Marlboro, MA
    Posts
    7,145
    Journal Entries
    1
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tdoczi View Post
    no, they are choosing to spend their time and money doing something that is for themselves. they are not doing works of charity.
    Most of what we do is for ourselves.

    Years ago I sent some trinkets to a hiker serving in Iraq, including an ATC membership. This was great fun for me and hardly charity. As it turned out, even though I sent everything anonymously, the soldier sent an amazing note to the ATC then forwarded my way. It made my day (and more) and was really cool. Making human connections usually are.

    Disussing how Feeds and such impact the Trail -- and more AT experience-- is appropriate, but delving too deep into people's motivations for wanting to make connections serves little purpose, I think.

  16. #176
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-18-2010
    Location
    NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    3,133
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rickb View Post
    Most of what we do is for ourselves.

    Years ago I sent some trinkets to a hiker serving in Iraq, including an ATC membership. This was great fun for me and hardly charity. As it turned out, even though I sent everything anonymously, the soldier sent an amazing note to the ATC then forwarded my way. It made my day (and more) and was really cool. Making human connections usually are.

    Disussing how Feeds and such impact the Trail -- and more AT experience-- is appropriate, but delving too deep into people's motivations for wanting to make connections serves little purpose, I think.
    its all related though. both the motives of the people doing it, its impact on the motives of the people hiking, the resulting impact on the trail and it's other users, it all goes together.

    if we are to "fix" any of these things a change in the culture surrounding the AT is necessary. that by definition, involves people's motives.

  17. #177
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-01-2011
    Location
    Hendricks Cty, Indiana
    Age
    69
    Posts
    1,005

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tdoczi View Post
    no, they are choosing to spend their time and money doing something that is for themselves. they are not doing works of charity.

    i went to the movies last week. did i "give up my time and money" to do so? i suppose technically so, but saying it way implies i committed some sort of selfless act for the benefit of others and that is not what i did.
    I fail to see the correlation between your movie attendance and picking up a wet hitch-hiker. Random acts of kindness are done by many self-less people in this world. Not saying I am one, but I have known a few.

  18. #178
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-18-2010
    Location
    NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    3,133
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Seatbelt View Post
    I fail to see the correlation between your movie attendance and picking up a wet hitch-hiker. Random acts of kindness are done by many self-less people in this world. Not saying I am one, but I have known a few.
    and i'm not talking about picking up a wet hitch hiker. and i dont think anyone else here is either.

  19. #179
    Registered User
    Join Date
    06-18-2010
    Location
    NJ
    Age
    47
    Posts
    3,133
    Images
    1

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tdoczi View Post
    and i'm not talking about picking up a wet hitch hiker. and i dont think anyone else here is either.
    i would also add though, since you brought it up, theres a distinction that needs to be made between someone who lives in say, gorham, picking up a wet hitch hiker they happen to be passing by and giving them a ride and someone who lives in, lets say TN, who travels to NH during thru hiker season for the expressed purpose of looking for wet hitch hikers who need rides.

  20. #180
    Registered User egilbe's Avatar
    Join Date
    10-18-2014
    Location
    Lewiston and Biddeford, Maine
    Age
    61
    Posts
    2,643

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tdoczi View Post
    i would also add though, since you brought it up, theres a distinction that needs to be made between someone who lives in say, gorham, picking up a wet hitch hiker they happen to be passing by and giving them a ride and someone who lives in, lets say TN, who travels to NH during thru hiker season for the expressed purpose of looking for wet hitch hikers who need rides.
    One is trail magic, the other is a groupie

Page 9 of 14 FirstFirst ... 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 ... LastLast
++ New Posts ++

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •