Is anyone else getting the vibe that 2006 is going to be a freakshow on the AT this year? I say this in fun and good cheer. I know you must be a little extraordinary to hike for six months to begin with, but 2006, oh my!!
Wheelman
2006 a freakshow
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#2
No not at all, but if your refering to Merle Mcc “06” Yea,he is one for sure, loves to explain his sex life and will add very limited hiking Items, Most all hikers use this Forum for informative info related to Hiking, He has crossed more then one Line and should keep it to hiking details and that would be doing your own hike!! Not how gay you are.
US_Grant
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#3
US-Grant came out of the closet to say,
“He has crossed more then one Line and should keep it to hiking details and that would be doing your own hike!! Not how gay you are.”
He is utilizing the online journals for the exact reason they were created, to keep an online journal. You are not forced to read it, but you are allowed to read it. He has not asked for anything, nor is he using it for personal gain. There is nothing wrong with what he is doing. If you don’t like his journaling techniques then don’t read it. As for there being more “freaks” out there this year, probably not more than normal. Its usually a pretty cooky crowd.
Hammock PhD
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#4
If the Walk in the Woods movie comes out in 2007, that’s when the feak show will really start.
Ti Poles
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#5
So far I haven’t read anything in Merle’s prep pages that crosses any line. Just some brutal honesty. In fact, if he keeps up his actual journal with the candor with which he has done the preps, it might be one of the better journals of '06.
Unless I missed something, he doesn’t say he’s gay. In fact just the opposite. That he’s known gays, isn’t bothered by the existence of gays, and has been propositioned by one or two during his life is probably just his way of thinking out loud. It doesn’t matter anyway.
Freak show? That could apply to many of the hikers I’ve met through the years, maybe myself too, if they/we were judged the way folks in the (un)real world judge. Some of the AT’s “legends” would be considered freaks outside the hiking community. On the AT, diversity has value to most folks. Merle will probably be a valuable addition to the diversity.
Skyline
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#6
It is a good thing, I think you are right that after the movie in 2007 the real freakshow will begin. :cheers
Wheelman
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#9
My 14 year old son loves to read Trail Journals, He said: Dad look at this one, and what do you think about it? it was this Merle’s, I must say, what in the hell does a few of his prep pages have to do with TRAIL Journals, to say how temped he was with a Gay realationship his more then this Brutal Honesty you claim, this is pure trash, and he should see a Doctor about his so call screwed up life. My Son loves to read good hiker Journals, and will advoid his for sure, and he can go on to his Gay want-to-be hiker journal, but its not hikeing he’s looking for, I will tell you that right off.:girl
Maxie
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#10
If you don’t like it, then don’t read it. Like Hammock said, it’s a journal, not a guidebook for how you should live your life. If we all thought the same way this world would be a very boring place. Some people put that kind of stuff in there because they simply like to offend other people, and when other people actually do get offended, it only makes them do it more. As far as child censorship goes, if you don’t want your son to know anything about other lifestyles, that’s fine, but don’t expect the rest of the world to shelter him for you.
Just my own opinion.
Josh
Josh
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#11
Maxie,
I read Merle’s prep journal, as it was up to yesterday, and offered my opinion that it’s no big deal. Feel free to disagree. I’m only replying because you seemed to direct your anger at me.
This is Merle’s journal and only he gets to write it–not you or any of the rest of us. Are you suggesting his journal should be censored? Actually, I’m not real sure what you are suggesting; your post is barely coherent.
On this and other sites where the content is generated by the public you and your son are going to read a lot of diverse stuff. Based on your writing above YOU might find some of it even more objectionable than Merle’s. If it is your intent to shelter your teenage son from frank discussions of many varieties that’s your right. In four years, he can legally make his own choices about these matters.
For the record, based on nothing more than his writings to date, Merle is not a gay wannabe, he’s a thru-hiker wannabe. And that’s as far as I want to defend the man as I don’t know him.
Skyline
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#12
Ah,the cultural wars rage on.Makie:You should be proud that your son is interested in Hiking and not hanging out in the Mall or watching “reality T.V.” I would think that as a good Mother,you would explain to your Son that we are a diverse society,not only socially ,but also in our selection of “a mate”.
I must confess that I didn’t read Merle’s postings,or read it, and it didn’t ring a bell,but it dosn’t sound like it was a big deal.
If your Son is going to be a hiker,he will be exposed to many situations on the trail, and at shelters,that are reflections of society in general.In my many,many years of hiking I have experienced lots of “unusual” experiences:eight nymphets in their underware,capering about in the Shelter[Vermont, Long Trail]meeting two nude hikers, [AT conn],two females being very “friendly” to each other at a shelter [on the NP trail in the Adirondacks.]I just use the above examples to explain that life on the trail is not from the Boy Scout manual.
P.S.I like Girls
old&in the way
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#13
Hey Hammmock p ditty. What do you mean more like RE LEE? Walk lightly carpetbagger.
Virginian
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#14
Isn’t every year on the trail a bit of a freak show? I grew up in North Woodstock NH (trail town) and have hiked about 1800 miles total on the trail and I definately have the feeling that every year is a travelling circus. As for Merle, don’t read his journal if it bothers you. I imagine your children will find things a lot worse on the internet than what he has to say!
Good luck class of '06 and long live the travelling freak show!!!
nokia
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#15
Maxie said something about how he needed a doctor? How about a LOVE DOCTOR, big boy? :evil
But seriously, when your sone turns 18, he will be able to go to Iraq and kill people, but he won’t be able to buy a beer. Shelter him from THAT reality if you can, because it’s an infinitely more damaging truth to face than someone writing about his feelings on gay issues.
Regardless of what you do, your son will decide how he feels about other peoples’ sexual preferences on his own. Personally, I could care less about who boinks who. It’s none of my business and out of my control, anyway–that’s what this is all about: control.
The trail is diverse, Maxi. Relax, it won’t hurt you. If you’re lucky it will teach you to respect other people’s ways of expressing without lashing out in anger. When you get angry and afraid, just stop and let it pass and see how your world hasn’t been threatened or damaged in any way.
Nothing to fear hear, sir or madam. It’s hiking.
Maxi-Maxi Lockdown
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#16
Why lecture on how to raise other people’s children? It’s absurd, in more than one way. The judgmental nonjudgementalisms are getting old.
- Aes
Aes
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#18
Aes,
“Judgemental nonjudgementalisms?” Yeah, I can hear/see Brit Hume saying that on Fox News Sunday in his usual condescending way.
Maxie will raise his kid any way he wants to, that’s his right. Even when he’s wrong. Hopefully his kid has other influences in his life to balance his old man’s bigotry. Otherwise, four years from now society will just have one more holier-than-thou intolerant right-wing adult to deal with.
Yeah, I wrote that to intentionally sound exactly like Brit Hume if he took the REAL fair-and-balanced side of an issue.
Don’t hold your breath.
Skyline
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#19
My 17 year old daughter loves to read soft porn on the internet, I heard her say to my younger son not long ago: Jim look at this one, and what do you think about it? next thing I know the door is locked and I realize they haven’t said a word for 20 minutes. I must say, what in the hell right to you liberals have to temp our children with porn and homosexuality, this is pure trash, and Skyline should see a Doctor for what’s going on in his mind. I want my son to read good hiker Journals, not trash like his older sister I’m afraid it’s too late for her, but I’m afraid she’s corrupting him thanks to the likes of you who encourage this permissiveness. You can go on to your Gay want-to-be hiker journal, but its not hikeing my teenage kids are looking for, I will tell you that right off.
Max
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#20
“Pure trash” seems to be the limit of your critical vocabulary, Max. The term is purely subjective, meaning it’s your opinion, which you are free to express. Your kids will find their own levels of comfort, probably someplace beyond your level of comfort, as kids are inclined to do.
Of course, back in the mid-1700s, the British Government thought the same thing about what Thomas Jefferson had to say. The freedom to worship or not, and express oneself are cornerstone of American culture. If you don’t like that, change the channel, don’t read the journal of hang out with people who think like you do. The Appalachian Trail experience is an American experience in that it exposes you to a wide variety of hikers who share a common love for the outdoors, their dream and their country. Families fight among themselves and we are an American family. Some of us are just less evolved than others, and that’s ok.
So get over it, Max, the world doesn’t revolve around you or your children. You’re lucky to be able to read trail journals at all, to live in such a beautiful, advanced and developed nation. You and your children are enjoying a unique priviledge here in this country and shoudl learn to respect the values that make it possible. From Many, One.
Maxi Lockdown