[at-l] Thru-hiker etiquette

[icw@xxxxxxxxxxx (Clark Wright)]

I might have toned down the rhetoric, but this is a good list; the last
item sparked a question - has anyone tried the "Breathe Right" nose
strips on a long hike?  If so, how did they work?

thru-thinker
[who doesn't snore too often! :) ]

Datto wrote:

> Here are ten tips on thru-hiker etiquette for the beginning
> of your thru-hike. By the time you reach Harper's Ferry
> it's unlikely you'll need to be told much about Trail
> etiquette -- you'll most likely have figured it out on your
> own.
>
> 1) God, don't bring one of those annoying MSR Dragonfly
> stoves that sound like a jet engine taking off and drowns
> out everyone's conversation at the shelter. Most annoying
> and you should be shunned (or worse!) if you insist on
> bringing one for something silly like 'simmering' on your
> thru-hike (Ha, does that make me laugh). More than once a
> hiker woke up in the shelter to find their MSR Dragonfly
> missing.
>
> 2) Don't go sprinkling that Gold Bond powder into your
> shorts and all over the ground below you at the shelter.
> Have you not learned one thing from being in the woods?
>
> 3) Absolutely, positively, *NO* dogs inside the shelter
> under any circumstances. Fido sleeps with you inside your
> tent. You may think ol' Fido is such a nice wee dog but
> believe me, others are going to think you the most
> inconsiderate of people if you bring a dog of any type,
> size, breed or personality inside the shelter.
>
> 4) If you decide to not carry a tent, tarp or bivy in order
> to save pack weight then you're a complete idiot. There
> were a few morons on the Trail when I thru-hiked that
> didn't carry a tent, tarp or bivy. When it got cold or wet,
> they actually *expected* to have people leave the shelter
> and tent so *they* could have room to stay inside the
> shelter. Ha, it ain't gonna happen. Once people find out
> you're not carrying a tent, tarp or bivy other thru-hikers
> are going to go out of their way to make sure you move on
> up to the next shelter away from them.
>
> 5) Talk softly at the shelter. Very important. Think quiet.
> The ears of thru-hikers quickly adapt to the quiet of the
> woods and you walking up with a big loud mouth is going to
> be most annoying to everyone else, particularly at the
> shelter.
>
> 6) Don't rip ANYTHING out of the shelter register. Very bad
> form to do so, even if you just need a blank piece of
> paper.
>
> 7) Don't go getting caught up in somebody's cause on your
> thru-hike -- like pole point holes along the Trail or
> politics or religion. You are gonna have your hands so full
> of just making it up and down the mountainside that you're
> just not going to have the energy to carry on about some
> cause or another (and no one is gonna want to hear about it
> anyhow because they're going to be so beat at the end of
> the day).
>
> 8) God *DO NOT* bring audio speakers with you and set them
> up inside the shelter so you can hear the music from your
> Walkman, thinking everyone else is going to love it too.
>
> 9) On the other hand, don't go getting on someone just
> because they brought some piece of technology along with
> them on their thru-hike. Phones, radio, Palm Pilot, that
> kind of thing. That assumes they're not abusing your space
> with it (like making a cell phone call from the shelter --
> that's very taboo). In the beginning of a thru-hike people
> have not yet adapted to being with themselves for long
> periods of time. Sometimes the technology is a crutch to
> help them get over their fear of being away from their past
> life or maybe just fear of being in the woods alone at
> night. They'll eventually work through it and you verbally
> harping on them because of your anti-technology views isn't
> going to do much except brand you as a zealot. If what they
> are carrying bothers you or if they're abusing your space
> you always have the option to get up and leave.
>
> 10) Roundhouse snorers -- you know who you are -- don't go
> thinking it's okay sleep in the shelter. Get a tent and get
> in it every night.
>
> Datto
>
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