Hike your own hike

[Peder]

The only thing that really gets me is when someone gives unnecessary or patronizing advice. This doesn't really happen to me, but it happens to my wife with disconcerting frequency.

Men!

[Lurch]

The only thing that really gets me is when someone gives unnecessary or patronizing advice. This doesn't really happen to me, but it happens to my wife with disconcerting frequency.

Don't forget the blatantly wrong/stupid "advice" by people trying to show off how awesome/experienced they are...

[Grannyhiker]

It must be my advanced age or something, but instead of being the recipient of unsolicited advice, I'm normally asked for information. I don't give out any unless asked, despite being sorely tempted!

[retired jerry]

I try not to give unsolicited advice

Sometimes I just say a few conversational words, but afterwards I think "oh no, I just gave unsolicited advice"

[RobinB]

I'll sometimes offer directions if someone's obviously, obviously lost, but even then I'm uncomfortable about it. Last year there were a couple of guys near Triple Falls staring at a tiny printout - in turned out to be the PH route description of the ROA trail - and I stopped and asked if they wanted to have a look at my map. They'd missed their turnoff by at least a mile. But generally I think it's best to just let people ask, and otherwise assume that they know what they're doing.

As an aside, I think my favorite "bad advice given freely" story is from the PCT near Goat Rocks a couple summers ago. I was taking a break at the edge of a snowfield near Elk Pass and overheard a couple of weekend warriors admonishing what was clearly a thru-hiker for her footwear choice (she was wearing Cascadias, of course). "Didn't expect the snow, huh?"

[llamero]

My llamas attract a lot of attention and a large percentage of the hikers we meet (horse riders, not so much) want to converse and ask a few questions: are those alpacas, how much can they carry, do they spit? I feel that I should take some time and be a good ambassador for the llama packing community. It can slow me down, but I certainly don't want people to go away thinking llamapackers are unfriendly. Sometimes the conversations are one sided: please control your dog, thank you for controlling your dog I really appreciate that, would you please step a little further off the trail so the llamas don't get spooked and knock some one down, thank you for stepping off the trail and giving us room to pass.

I had a boy scout ask me one time: mister, would to take me back to the trail head? He lost confidence in the leader when he got a little turned around on the way in. Not a big deal they obviously found the lake.

A horse rider once rode up to me on the trail and asked if I thought I knew where we were. I did know, we had met at a junction that was incorrectly indicated on the map. When I showed him he disagreed. Maybe he was right, I had never been there before so I asked him to show me on his map where he thought we were. He didn't know. His map had been missing for about an hour. You can cover a lot of ground riding around lost on a horse. Not to pick on horse riders, he just happened to be one. On the way out a few days later I found a map on top of a junction sign.

I have to admit that I've found myself being overly chatty to people I meet on the trail, usually after I've been out for more than a week

[retired jerry]

Uh oh... I hope thae wasn't me asking inane llama questions

[texasbb]

...
I have to admit that I've found myself being overly chatty to people I meet on the trail, usually after I've been out for more than a week

How long had you been out before this post?

Sorry, just goofing around. I can either chat or not, don't mind either way. The only thing that really bothers me is to be soloing way, way out somewhere and meet another solo who passes without even making eye contact. That's rude at best, and I sometimes wonder about sociopathic at worst.

[Sean Thomas]

The only thing that really gets me is when someone gives unnecessary or patronizing advice. This doesn't really happen to me, but it happens to my wife with disconcerting frequency.

Don't forget the blatantly wrong/stupid "advice" by people trying to show off how awesome/experienced they are...

I get a lot of that for some reason! Maybe because I don't look like a typical hiker(no poles, gaiters, hydration pack etc) and my usual backpack looks like a little kids school pack Also I think wearing shorts 11/12months of the year throws people off in the colder months too


I have come up from behind a lot of people the last few years on the trail and I would echo what others have said, 99 percent of the time everyone is extremely friendly. I was little shy a few weeks ago when Jo and I caught up to the these guys coming out of Smith Creek. They knew we were right behind them but never stepped out of the way or anything for about 1/3 of a mile. Finally I just did what I should have done and politely asked if we could squeeze by. They were all really nice and stood off the trail as we passed waving hello and saying something about how it must be good to be young

[llamero]

...
I have to admit that I've found myself being overly chatty to people I meet on the trail, usually after I've been out for more than a week

How long had you been out before this post?

Sorry, just goofing around. I can either chat or not, don't mind either way. The only thing that really bothers me is to be soloing way, way out somewhere and meet another solo who passes without even making eye contact. That's rude at best, and I sometimes wonder about sociopathic at worst.

Yeah, I get it. Yesterday was crazy busy from 6:00am until 11:00pm and I'm still amped up. Don't post here much, but when I do...