AT/ long distance hicking

imported
#1

hey

i am doing a research paper on long distance hicking. but i am haveing some problems narrowing the topics down, if anyone has any ideas i would really appreciate it!!!

thanks

bryan

#2

i did a research paper on the AT when i was a soph. in high school, i don’t know how old u are, college or high school whatever, but if u got any questions feel free to email me,

clong

clong

#3

How about a paper on why (there’s a fun one!) and how long distance trails are constructed? Eating habits of long distance hikers? Lots of material out there regarding logistics of long walks. How long distance walking has changed over the years? Disorders caused by long distance hiking (see also: Springer fever, Chaco tans, 6 month employment granularity, funk, fork allergies…) Have fun!

Skittles 03

#4

Here’s some suggestions, do a paper on:

  1. Why people undertake long distance hikes.
  2. How long distance hiking impacts the person and or their values and in what ways.
  3. The issues involved in planning and executing a long distance hike
  4. The the age, sex, race, educational background, occupation etc. of long distance hikers
  5. The physical side of the long distance hike.

Good luck!

Downunda

#5

Bryan, I’m not trying to be a smart-azz, but the word is “hiking”, not “hicking”. Good luck on your research. You should enjoy it!

Joe

#6

All the '99 AT alums are “hickers”. Shortly before Roan Mountain we saw a sign on a tree inviting “hickers” to a new hostel in the area. When we got to Damascus, many of us got email addresses with our trail name followed by “hicker”. For several years after that, I used the email address “yogihicker@…mail.com”. You would not BELIEVE the number of people who emailed me stating: “hiker is not spelled with a ‘c’.” uh, yeah, I know . . . it’s a joke!!!

After a while, I stopped explaining.

yogihicker

www.pcthandbook.com

yogi

#7

Bryan, I haven’t thru hiked yet, section hiked a lot, and plan to thru this year. One thing that I’ve found most interesting is the reasons why people hike long distance. A good comparison/contrast would be the age of hikers, where they come from and their reasons for hiking. One common thread that I’ve noticed is that most, regardless of age, have a deep, underlying desire/need to be part of, or to understand, the natural world and how they fit into the grand scheme of things. There are some who go out there to party but it seems that most simply want to commune with nature and come away with a better understanding of themselves. The life friendships formed with others who share a common interest is a plus. The reasons for that are as varied as the individuals and the corners of the world from which they come each year. Some, like me, just grow tired of corporate crap and crowds and prefer a more simple life, if only for a few months. A good place to start would be by reading trail journals. The reason for hiking for two '05 hikers that stand out to me are Tyger and Dancin Free.
Another subject that I find interesting is why most hikers seem to forever be bound to the trail in some way after completing a thru. It seems the trail is like a magnet, always tugging at them to return, which many do.
That’s MHO. Good luck. :girl

bgone

#8

you can do one on why people do it, but then it will lack depth unless you are a natural born sociologist. you will interview a number of people, they will tell you why, and all what they learned, and some late night at 2 am you will realize it is all oversentimental gobbligook and what are you supposed to do with that. i speak from experience. i gave a oral presentation on that topic, and it really came out weak.

what i want to see a paper on is where this liesure/adventure culture has come from. an exploration of the social and economic factors in a society that might produce this large chunk of people who are quitting jobs and hiking for 6 months. have any past societies had this much liesure time, this much soul searching, this much freewheeling? we come from an affluent and dominant society, most of us are white dudes, so what is it that makes us want to pretend to throw it all away? guilt or just plain priveledge? have soceties promises proved fruitless and so we reject them, if only for a time? i am tired of us all getting compared to native american hunter gatherers and ancient european saint-pilgrims. i am not so sure this is a pilgimage, or i at least suspect there is more (or less) to it. so you could adress the pilgrimage thing too. a historical perspective on wanderlust. come up with some answers and send them to me. bye.

milo

#9

For a title, call it “Long Distance Ficking Hicking” or you could call it “I Slept with Miss Janet”…

The title (either one) will sell the thing without doubt.

Yogihicker rocks.

Some ideas: Hostels along the AT, History of remote spots on the AT, etc. etc. There are lots and lots of books written about hiking (hicking) the AT (see the ATC website) and do a web pull for ideas.

See you out there.:cheers :cheers :cheers :cheers

Maintain

#10

someone should start a group for next year “hickers-R-us”

tip of the hat to 2003’ers.

zero

#11

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  5. Evidence for the Existence of Extraterrestial Trail Angels

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  10. AMC Huts: A Study Into How to Blow a $1,000 Research Grant

Kineo Kid

#12

Bryan, broad research projects get too big and too complicated really fast. Keep it very simple and you’ll have a do-able project. A simple and fairly easy idea would be to do a sample of last year’s long distance hikers who posted on trailjournals. You could look in the stats for each hiker and study say the average number of miles hiked per day compared to the total distance hiked. You could compare average number of miles hiked by say gender or age. You could find out how many nights people stayed in shelters, tents, hotels, etc, again possibly comparing that to the total number of miles hiked or the average miles per day. A simple question might be “For hikes who hiked over 500 miles, how many days were 20+ mile days?” Then compare to 500 to 1000 miles, 1000 to 1500 miles, 1500 to 2100 miles. This would all be easily accessible on the stats bar on trail journals. Keep it simple and you’ll enjoy it. Rainbow

Rainbow

#13

Kineo Kid----You’re good…real good!!! ha ha ha :lol I agree with your list 100%

StarLyte

#14

Hey Bryan, once you have decided on a topic or approach for your paper if you can’t get to talk face-to-face with hikers to gaher information then I’m sure much of the information you need for any aspect on long distance hiking is already available by searching the forums on this website and on the Whiteblaze.net site.
Good luck.

Downunda