Trail town etiquette

imported
#1

I realize that most CDT hikers go through various towns and some are better than others. But please be aware that your journals are open for everybody to see. Please don’t bash a town just because it does not suit your needs. Most of these towns are not, nor will they ever be “hiker friendly” because they simply were not built up around the CDT trail. In addition, I constantly read about CDT hikers wanting/needing to build better relations with local people; yet nobody thinks twice about insulting the town or the people in it. Please don’t assume that members of that town do not read your posts. My take on it is this; if you want assistance in these areas (ie…water and food caches, a hot shower, etc…) it would pay to be nice to those individuals living in them. The more you express how depressed their town is, or how you would never live there, or make remarks on the people living in it; the less likely you are to get assistance. These people are well aware of the state of their town but it takes a little bit more than a “magic wand” to improve things. Many towns are working on improving their visual appearance but due to funding it has to be done gradually. When you walk into a town you are only seeing just a snapshot. Unless you have spent a considerable amount of time in it you might be better off not judging until you have.

All of this is simply meant as helpful advice; do with it what you wish. I hope you all have great hikes and reach your own personal goals that you have set out for yourselves.

dancingdog1

#2

dancingdog1…that is good advice for life in general…thanks…:cheers

Chairman

#3

There a few people who publicly downtrode on or call towns Names about the PCT, which is nuts…just because you have a bad experience or your opinion is higher of yourself then it is of a town stop, you dont have to publicly insult the town.

What I have found out, is if a certain person in a town is rude, or a certain hiker is rude to a town, maybe its just that individual (On either side) and not the whole…but again, dont blame a town that goes out of its way becasue you think you deserve some sort of acknowledgment and to be bowed down to because you are a thru-hiker…or section hiker or just a hiker.

If you dont like it it fine, thats your choice and opinion, but insults will hurt the next hikers chances of being made to feel welcome.

and that happens too much.

Youre still just another dude…or dudette.

lion king

#4

We ran into that on the AT. Some hikers had trashed a place in a hiker register. Four years later, the owners still remembered what was said and were still upset about it. They kept dealing with hikers, but it was very reluctantly. The earlier glow was gone.

Trail towns are all different. Some hikers get upset because the stores are limited or the restaurants don’t serve food they like, etc. The town may not have the services you expect. On the CDT the towns are often very very small. Part of the adventure is to make do with what you find or figure out where to go for what you need. Aside from the AT, the locals may not have even heard of the nearby trail. Chances are, they won’t care. They may not be willing or anxious to cater to the hikers. And why should they? We stink and we usually hate to spend money - that doesn’t make us appealing customers. A lot of hikers have attitudes that say, “I’m special.” And they expect trail magic for no other reason than that they’re so special. But to the locals you’re just annother touron on vacation.

We’ve been lucky and run into terrific people wherever we went. We like to talk to locals and find out their concerns and interests - and it has been quite an education sometimes. We have occasionally heard stories of other hikers who made either a good or bad impression on the locals. Memories can last a long time.

Ginny

#5

With the exception of the low class, hillbilly, backward folks from Waynesboro, most trail towns are nice.

Trail Towns