[at-l] on to Hiker Stank!

[sloetoe@xxxxxxxxx (Sloetoe)]

Message: 21
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 11:17:22 -0500
From: Bluetrail@aol.com
To: at-l@backcountry.net
Subject: Re: [at-l] antiperspirant: a good thing

> Ah, Sloey, you remembered.  A gal always loves to be
remembered.
### Joan Joan Joan!

> And I had NO idea that you cared -- cared about whether or not
you were stinky when you went into the restaurant BEFORE you
showered.
### You jumped to that conclusion juuuuust a mite too fast.

To the rest of you:  Sloetoe and I have a long running mock feud
about whether a hiker OUGHT to shower (whenever possible) before
he hits the local restaurants, groceries, etc.
### No, not "ought."

>From his post, maybe he doesn't smell as badly as some.
### ...I don't think I smell at *all*! Ask POG! She took me in
last winter after 10-12 days, and all she smelled was the dead
puppy that had crawled into my Gore-Tex/fleece. But not me!
(Least-ways not as she *allowed*, anyways.)

> I have NO objection to hiker stank when I'm hauling around
someone just off the trail or escorting them through my house to
the guestroom (and guest shower) in my unofficial FT hostel.
(But don't get me started about those folks who come to ALDHA
right off the trail, sit in overheated classrooms for the talks,
and apparently don't shower or wash their clothes the entire
weekend.)
### Ahhhh, seee, *there's* where the disconnect was. You said
before what you said above. What *I* was saying was only that
*mayyyyyyybe* the hikers don't have a *clue* how they might
smell. Maybe they think that youuuuuu STINK. I don't know; I
ain't there now, but once I was. I offer the following:

Subject: Stank was Re: [at-l] Bill Erwin
Author:  Thomas_McGinnis_at_UCCLAN@ima.isd.state.in.us (Thomas
McGinnis) at ima
Date:    1/15/99 4:01 PM


     My sister and I just laughed about that a couple of days
ago. When I pulled into Kent, Connecticut to take a few days
off, do food drops to Maine and such, I hadn't had a shower
since Delaware Water Gap. Not only had it been hot, but
EXTREMELY humid. I don't think my shoulder straps or hip belt
had dried out since even Harper's Ferry. I'm ripe.

     I didn't notice. I COULD, however, pick up "civilians"
scent 10-15 minutes (half a MILE?!) ahead, either with
cigarettes or perfume/cologne or deoderant or even shampoo
scent. (Can still do that somewhat, but I know I don't have the
range anymore.)

     Anywho, all my gear except my sleeping bag (which I kept
scrupulously clean) had a bit of mildew here and there. I guess
I did too. I waited outside the pizza joint, and when she pulled
up, I siddled up to give her a hug. Quick lookover, quick hug,
quick kiss, then this peering look into my eyes, searching
for...what? She didn't find it, whatever it was. She looked at
me quizzically, like she didn't understand something, and then
she said "Boy! You STINK!" ("Well!" thinks I, "there's quite a
welcome!") "Well thanks, Kathy."

     So we grab my pack (as I remember it), load it and me into
the car, and commence the familiar drive back to the parents'
house on the coast in Milford. We're tooling along, at a pretty
good clip, and Kathy opens her window. All the way down. The
wind roars. Her nose is wrinkling. "Do I smell?" I ask
innocently? "Oh, Tommy," she says, "It's not like B-O or
anything. It's like this ANIMAL thing....But BOY it's powerful!"

     I honestly couldn't notice a thing. But I know that even as
late as this past Labor Day (Davenport-->Hot Springs), I thought
the H.O.F. (Hiker Odor Factor -- how much we stink) was
diminishing with each day we were out. I am probably wrong about
that too. By the way, I never noticed another throughhiker's
smell, either, although I admit I mostly saw others only in
towns, post-shower. But my sister still remembers that pick-up,
in detail!

     So lift a toast to the smelly hiker: "May you be downwind
while hiking, and upwind when not!"

     Have a great weekend, everyone.

     --TMc
     Sloetoe'79

______________________________ Reply Separator____________
Subject: [at-l] Bill Erwin
Author:  hudsom@us.ibm.com at ima
Date:    1/15/99 3:10 PM

One of the newspaper articles about Bill and Orient mentioned
that Orient used the scent of thru-hikers to follow the trail; I
was impressed (for about 2 seconds) until I remembered what
thru-hikers smell like....
Skeeter

=====
Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.

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