[pct-l] Strange people on the trail...

[Jeffrey Olson]

On 11/21/2012 8:22 PM, mkwart at gci.net wrote:
> Yes--hiker demographics are changing.
I'm not sure times are changing that quickly.  I was camped at Lava 
Spring in Central Oregon in July 2005, lazing in my tent, staring up at 
the scudding clouds as the sun set - the colors just incredible. A 
couple with their little dog walked up.  Both were stressed and 
hurting.  For some reason they set up their camp about 20' from me, 
never checking in.  I knew they were at their physical/emotional edge 
really quickly.

The man was so patronizing and his partner was so submissive.  But she 
was the alpha dog.  I probably should have gotten up and at least said 
hi.  But I was near sleep, so I just listened to their drama as I faded 
off.  He did everything while she whined about how much she hurt, 
hugging the dog, making suggestions...

I've spent time with druggie mutes, "Wow Man!" being the extent and 
depth of their ability to converse.  I was sitting on the trail in 
southern Washington sewing/repairing one of my shoulder straps when the 
90s version of Jack Cassidy of Jack Kerouc and Tom Wolff fame charged 
by, testosterone just dripping off him - "Yep, gotta be prepared for 
everything."  His pudgy buddy just rolled his eyes.

I've met a couple guys like Fireweed describes, and I just be curious.  
They are odd ducks out there on the trail.  I'm sorry emotionally 
abusive men find someone to put up with them.  I don't think the trail 
is any different than any other place on life.  The full range of 
humanity displays itself everywhere, even on a long hike.

I've spent nights with young guys partying into the night next to a 
campfire - again I listened to them as I fell into exhausted sleep. My 
girlfriend and I met the middle of the tiny herd in 1992 and saw one guy 
totally in love with the woman the group was hiking with. Hiking with 
them was the alienated loner, a physically perfect male specimen who was 
dwelling in the depths of being human, and exuding hurt like a fire 
shines light.  He was living so deeply in his own search for meaning and 
purpose it was hard to talk "with" him.

Just before the drop down to Sonora Pass at the top of the road that 
comes up from Kennedy Canyon, I met a group of four 20 somethings 
stressing about their daily mileage - they were worried about making it 
to Canada before the snows.  I'm totally enraptured and high from the 
view, and our five minutes were spent estimating mileages, terrain, and 
what they'd encounter to the north.  I had to leave before I got 
captured by their anxiety.

Like Fireweed I hang with people I resonate with and move on when 
someone is a static, negative edge.  You just get sensitive and make 
choices based on your intuition.  That's a skill the trail can teach.

Jeffrey Olson
Rapid City, SD