I recently read an older journal about a through hike that happened in 1987, for the 50th anniversary of the trail. I also have read many of the journals posted on this site from the past few years (extra thanks to lief and zipdrive). My question is this, how do you think the trail has changed over the past 15 years? Is that change good or bad? Has the heyday of the trail gone by? If so can it ever be brought back?
Zelda
To see how things have changed read Moose’s journal from 6/10/03. Unbelievavle. Actually, its very believable, but very sad.
Uncle Duke
You can always find some reason to believe the world, or your part of it, has gone to pieces. Remember why they called it “Blood Mountain?”
One bad incident doesn’t destroy the trail experience for everyone. Sure, more people will bring more incidents, but they will also bring more of the great trail interactions that most folks value.
If you want a true wilderness experience, you would be wise to choose another trail altogether. But one way or another, to paraphrase Kurt Vonnegut, the secret to a happy existence is to ignore the bad times and concentrate on the good.
Colter
just read moose’s 6/10 journal entry as per Uncle Duke. Wow…that sucks…is this the same FUBAR with a journal here? My guess is probably yes, considering the following, from his last journal entry 2 months ago:
<<<<“I have not hiked since 4/9/03, my hike is on hiatus, but far from over. Since I hitched to Miss Janets I have proceeded to eat large quantities of greasy, fattening, absolutely delicious town food, drink copious amounts of alcohol, gotten a mohawk, fallen in love, fallen on my head, travelled extensively throughout Mississippi and Alabama, asked a father for his daughters hand in marriage and was accepted. I am currently in Damascus being tested for Lyme disease. I wish you all the best. Be Well.
Gotta Live Hard to Be Hard, Hooah!”>>>>
Well, *******s exist. I feel sorry for Moose that he was unable to escape this particular one for so long. Hopefully with the guy in jail, he’ll be tied up for awhile and not ruin other people’s days!
m
hostels closing; towns souring on the thru hiker crunch; a few bad apples really stick in the craw
about the worst thing that i can recall from '76 was that a hiker who really missed the company of the opposite sex went into a particularly rough town one night and hit on the ‘wrong gal’ at a roadhouse…had some broken limbs which ended his hike…too bad-the guy really knew his trees and set a good pace since he was around 6’6"
tombone
FUBAR and Tripp got married @ Trail Days after just meeting this spring on the trail. Upon learning this, Flying Scotsman said to me “can you imagine phoning up your mum and telling her you just married someone named FUBAR?” Not surprised Joe Mitchell would encourage this behavior, he was at the drum circle @ T/Ds with his teenage son late at night. He stocks beer in the fridge there for .75. I had a wonderful night @ 4 Pines last year, although I got the sense that he was trying to relive his youth through hikers, there was a wannabe feeling. It is a shame, do I think it’s past its heydey? In some respects yes. It was still a powerful experience for me, but really was a function of who I chose to hang out with. There is a reason many hostels don’t allow alcohol…
:oh
Bluebearee
I was going to say, other than massive amount of tree killed due to acid rain, the trail has not changed much. Christopher Sholes as proven me wrong. I did not think I would ever hear about a male hiker attacking a female hiker. Yet another santuary goes down. Would someone be so kind as to post a picture of Mr. Sholes for safety purposes.
Blue Jay
I’d have to say the trail has changed but trail trash has been on the trail for a long time. I read moose’s journal for 6/10/03 and it angers me that one inconsiderate jerk can ruin another persons hike. I think popsicle did the right thing by pressing charges and leaving the trail if she feels unsafe. It sounds like FUBAR and the people with him aren’t hikers but yellow blazing trail trash who’s using it as an excuse to party and be obnoxious. I have heard of other bad experiences with party hikers on the trail but this is the worst.
Yes, I think thru-hikers have changed over the years. I read David Brill’s account of his '79 thru-hike when I was planning my hike. When I did hike it was different. People are putting time limits on their hikes and rush from town to town spending less time in the woods. I don’t why these changes take place but they have. I would say the heyday has pasted and now thru-hiking has become a sport and not the rite of passage it once was. Most hikers seem to want to reach the end and miss the journey.
Darth Pacman
The people who hike the trail have changed greatly in recent years. My older brother hiked in 79 and my younger in 82. Back then few trail names or festivals or community you see now. Hikers were loners and could go days without spending the night with other hikers. You rarely saw female hikers and stayed in town a lot less then current hikers. The best journal I have read on how the trail used to be can be found by typing “Then the Hail Came” in your search engine and reading this on-line book. I hiked a big section in 2000 and had a different experience then my brothers. I loved it and thought the people and experience was great. I do not think it was any better or worse then prior years, just different. The biggest problem is the amount of people on the trail but I think the hikers do a remarkable job of policing themselves as I am sure FUBAR is about to find out. Years ago with fewer people the incidents of bad behavior were spread out among fewer hikers and did not seem as bad but were still there.
Big B
I can corroborate what Big B said. On my '83 hike, it wasn’t unusual to spend the night alone. I usually visited the shelters to get water or to duck a thunderstorm. Most of them were pretty run down and nasty. As I recall, the shelter journals (we called them logs) went back at least 3 years. I kept town trips to a minimum to save money, but I most always hitched alone. In a lot of the towns, there weren’t any fast food joints and the local restaurants were only open on weekends. Reading these journals has really shown me the differences between my hike and the experiences folks have today.
Other than some disdainful looks from some people (hey, after all, I was really a homeless guy) most of whom I met hiking the trail were great. I even met Bill Monroe after a family took me in near Johnson City, TN, while getting lost on a relo. And, just a couple of days later, a 90 year old farm woman met me on the trail with a shotgun and told me to “get outta her yard, the gubbamint had no right to tell folk they could walk through her yard!”.
I plan on doing it all again in a few years, after I retire.
Tim
If I remember right, the Rat Pack used to hang out on the Hobo Central website. Tried to pull it up yesterday and the site was gone, replaced by some other webpage.
Bold Turnkey
Thanks for posting this suggestion! I’m looking forward to reading about his trip.
Here’s the link: http://www.skwc.com/exile/Hail/Hail-pro.html
Too-Dang
Remember the cry in Animal Farm: SNOWBALL! SNOWBALL! Snowball became the scapegoat for everything that went wrong. Now the cry of FUBAR! FUBAR! will be heard when people moan and bitch about how things went wrong with the AT experience. FUBAR is a bad, bad man. He has shut down hostels, driven off women, and given thru-hikers a bad name.
So the next time you wonder why the AT has fallen into the gutter, remember: FUBAR! FUBAR!
Solar Shin
Excellent, I cannot remember the last literary reference on an AT site, but I think it was about Lord of the Rings. Not only that but I do believe Solar Shin is correct. However, I think you may have missused the word “scapegoat”. A scapegoat is a person bearing the blame for others or a person against whom is directed the irrational hostility or aggression of others. In this particular case there is nothing irrational about the hostility.
Blue Jay
Solar Shin,
“FUBAR is a bad, bad man.”
You certainly are right about that. He atacked a woman. He should spend some serious time in jail.
He isn’t THE reason somethings have changed for the worse. He is more of a sympton of bad changes. Lets face change is gonna happen. It isn’t all bad, far from it. However, the more people on the trail the more incidents of this kind will happen.
Walker
not trying to demonize the guy…he’s obviously an active, out of control alcoholic. if he doesn’t kill himself first, or wind up permanently in jail for killing someone else, he will have some “good” stories to tell someday in AA. I sure do hope he doesn’t hurt anyone else.
m
While we’re on this topic, hikers in the Peaks of Otter area should read Pushing Up Daisies’ entry of June 10. Hiking is safe but caution is always needed.
terry
Tim’s descriptions of the AT in 1983 sound like the PCT today. Fewer people, no “cliques,” no agendas.
FUBAR
This guy deserves all that our justice system can dish out.
And I would suggest that his new bride wake up and smell the roses.
Hikerhead