Types of people you meet on the Appalachian Trail (who are not trees)
August 5, 2024 7:32 AM Subscribe
Rusty Foster at WaPo: The Alphas tend to be more outgoing, quizzing any passing thru-hiker about whatever happens to be on their mind, whether hiking-related or not. I don’t believe this is a function of age; rather, it’s generational, since the Alphas as a whole are a feral, no-gods/no-masters generation who recognize no authority and will brook no hint of inequality with man or beast.
rusty your experiment has succeeded
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:16 AM on August 5
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:16 AM on August 5
Very entertaining writing overall, but this sentence in particular made me laugh:
...Maine’s booming teen-improvement summer camp industry, which lobs hundreds of kids a year at the wilderness in a steady mortar barrage.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:49 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]
...Maine’s booming teen-improvement summer camp industry, which lobs hundreds of kids a year at the wilderness in a steady mortar barrage.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:49 AM on August 5 [2 favorites]
I wish I had the funds currently to pay for his Today On Trail newsletter, because I like his writing so much, even though I'm not a hiker and have no context for a lot of what he's talking about! But he makes it fascinating and relatable.
posted by PussKillian at 9:25 AM on August 5
posted by PussKillian at 9:25 AM on August 5
I saw a group of alpha boys out on the Wilderness Coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, last week. They were bored and sitting up on the driftwood throwing rocks and smashing stuff with sticks, and when I walked by, they came down the beach and intercepted me, which gave me a moment of somewhat scary Lord of the Flies feeling, because they were all still holding their rocks and sticks. But then they were curious and respectful, and asked me about my hike (a long-ass section hike of the PNT), and they were more impressed than anyone else I met on trail, which was gratifying, and the whole interaction was pretty great.
Eventually, their teenage minder noticed they were missing, and came out of the woods to check up on them, but they could have knocked me down with their rocks if I had turned out to be a creeper. The whole interaction made me miss the 70s and 80s, when it was far more common to see groups of feral kids wandering around in everyday life.
I enjoyed this article. It contains truth. Much like Rusty, I, too, often wonder if I should wonder if the day hikers can smell me as much as I can smell them. (Also, it's always yield to uphill hikers. They are suffering.)
posted by surlyben at 9:43 AM on August 5 [6 favorites]
Eventually, their teenage minder noticed they were missing, and came out of the woods to check up on them, but they could have knocked me down with their rocks if I had turned out to be a creeper. The whole interaction made me miss the 70s and 80s, when it was far more common to see groups of feral kids wandering around in everyday life.
I enjoyed this article. It contains truth. Much like Rusty, I, too, often wonder if I should wonder if the day hikers can smell me as much as I can smell them. (Also, it's always yield to uphill hikers. They are suffering.)
posted by surlyben at 9:43 AM on August 5 [6 favorites]
I was blessed to live in a guest house in Cornwall Bridge Ct. for three days out of the work week in the early 90s. Main house was for owners but I was welcome . It was literally 20 yards from the trail. Most hikers were good about not trespassing on the property...A few didn't see the private property sign I guess. Owners always left bottled water out for them outside property fence. I lived in Manhattan and got on the bus at port authority in NYC and two and a half hours later I was in the most bucolic area ever. The bus was half undocumented cleaning help and half prep school boys returning to their posh schools. We all got along famously.
posted by Czjewel at 10:07 AM on August 5 [5 favorites]
posted by Czjewel at 10:07 AM on August 5 [5 favorites]
Google cache version since the site would not let me read the "gift" article without giving up personal information
posted by signsofrain at 6:16 PM on August 5
posted by signsofrain at 6:16 PM on August 5
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I've always thought I'd like the "wandering through endless trees" part of the Appalachian Trail but hate carting all my stuff around. I don't even like carrying water when I run (fortunately my local weather is very mild). Bag of holding when??
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:57 AM on August 5