I STOPPED HIKING THE PCT BECAUSE OF TOXIC MA

[Hobbes]

I think the author's chief complaint was the discovery that the PCT was simply a microcosm of society at large. Rather than the noble, patient, all inclusive environment she expected - or had been falsely lead to believe - she found out that HYOH has certain conditions. The chief judgment of course being capable of actually hiking, to which gradations of exclusion naturally flow. In my personal experience, when one is tired, dirty and hungry, none of the classic divisions exist, other than can one actually 'walk the walk'.

While many/most have confirmed the prevailing attitudes and competitive nature of the trail & hiking, it seems those reciting their own experiences are in relation to they themselves actually being included within "the in group". No one here - at least to my knowledge - with respect to backpacking, has any referential experience to being on the outside looking in.

Now, this brings up an interesting perspective, because unless someone is an incredible super-star, each of us has experienced failure in some way or fashion. The essential issue then becomes, who is to blame? Ourselves or the particular 'system'? And the real mental test is, do we respond by citing a long list of conditions/culprits that conspired to thwart our efforts, or do we recognize & acknowledge the ultimate fault that lies within?

This is where I think social media is perhaps playing a deleterious role that effects certain, at risk individuals. It seems to be providing a (false) platform for those who may have otherwise been forced to introspectively examine what happened, why it occurred, and whether it can be rectified. Absent that, they now have avenues available to cast themselves as victims and expose themselves to the world, exacerbating what might be already questionable states of mind.

[balzaccom]

Nice post, Hobbes. The only place I disagree is about the "deleterious" role of social media. I think it provides a platform for anyone who wants to talk. And the more they talk, the more they disclose who they are, and why they feel the way that they do. I'm OK with that. I appreciated what the blogger wrote about hiking the PCT. It was true for her. I am glad I didn't choose to hike with her, because I don't think I would have enjoyed it. But that doesn't take away from what she wrote. She didn't have fun on with the others on the PCT, and I suspect she isn't alone. The fact that she shared that is fine with me.

Is she correct in her analysis? It sounds like it, from what others (and I) have written here. But that doesn't mean that the PCT is evil, or that the people who hike it are demented. It just means that the PCT isn't a unicorn and rainbow trail. It's not a support group for those in need. It's hard work, and as others have noted, it's a slice of the rest of society. No better, no worse, but with much better scenery!

If you tackle a long through hike to as a means to discovery, I expect you will succeed. A dear friend once began a 1000 mile segment of the PCT for a milestone birthday, and gave up after less than a week. He came back a somewhat changed man. For him, It WAS a discovery, just not the one he expected.

So I don't know what we gain by telling people that they do, or do not have "what it takes" to complete the hike. Seems like this is a bit at odds with the concept of hiking your own hike. I think everyone learns from a hike, and we can't always predict what we will learn.

And I wish that some of the idiots in Washington spent more time on the trail, and less time ....well, don't get me started.

[dave54]

...

You can always find something to get offended about if you try. My feelings are "it's not worth the energy, so why bother"?!!!!

Absolutely! The author went out on the PCT looking for something to complain about and share with the internet, and of course she found it...

I got through the first few paragraphs of her blog and stopped reading. Just another hate filled rant about how dark and evil our society is. The internet is filled with them and I don't need to waste my time reading another. I must not be very 'woke', or whatever the current trendy oppression buzzphrase du jour.

Confirmational bias. If you are already convinced the world is filled with hate and bigotry then everyone you meet and every experience will be filtered through that lens and will reinforce that worldview. If you believe most people are friendly, honest, and decent then you will have corresponding interactions with them. It's my choice, and hers. She chose differently than I do.

I hope I never meet her on the trail. That would be a (very short and transient) negative experience on an otherwise pleasant day.

[SSSdave]

Read her whole blog piece plus the comments. Well written. Vanessa is introspective with good awareness of emotions and unstated motivations of what others are communicating to her. Be careful in being critical of what she says as she often struggles for a balance trying to present not only her perspective but also what she suspects is in the minds of others and her own shortcomings.

Vanessa >>>"I know when I list them here the folks who don’t want to admit this is a problem will find ways to discredit my experiences, call me crazy and oversensitive, insist that I’m the problem, I’m an anomaly, this has nothing to do with their precious community and everything to do with me...

Initially I was terrified to talk about the stuff that drove me off the trail – no one else seemed to mention how terrible it feels to be physically exhausted every day and still have to muster the emotional strength to either take on or avoid aggressive, demeaning, oppressive behaviors – and it felt intimidating and vulnerable to name the problems so bluntly."

Human behavioral reality is people whether knowingly or subconsciously size others up upon meeting into first impressions, fitting them into character and personality types they are personally familiar with. And the majority of people are not only mediocre at doing so but overly rigid in how they assess others. A great deal of our face to face communication is non-verbal at a subconscious level. Those with innate introspective psychological skills are a minority. Over an adult lifetime most of us gradually gain skill and wisdom doing so. Since the majority of thru hikers are younger adults, it is not at all surprising some she met interacted so with her poorly. Additionally as she herself admitted after likely being advised so by others, many male dominated outdoor enthusiasts have competitive challenging undercurrents in their behavior during such activities. And such is likely to readily come out in communication with groups of such men, because there is a tendency for subconsciously smoldering cauldrons of such thought.

I've sometimes been critical of motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of other backpackers for decades and the same exists in other activities like snow skiing and climbing. For instance, I find as misplaced those day hikers, backpackers, or thru hikers with motivations too centered around how much how far mileage orientations in such mountain environments where scenery, natural wonder, and enjoyment of experiences are really why most people are there. If trail mileage and challenge was all there was they might as well do so on urban streets like endurance athletes in competitions.

As she stated, her purpose in the blog article was to be a WARNING to other naive persons like she was that thru hiking is not all that social media surrounding such tends to paint it out to be. We can criticize her for attempting what she did for a list of reasons like not being in reasonable shape to take on such a challenge, however she obviously is aware of that now and understands how others like her might fall into the same trap. She also challenges the thru hiking community to more enlightened change, however expecting such is possible may be naive because that is really more ingrained throughout our Western culture and society especially in our workplaces that over my lifetime has only slowly changed.

[limpingcrab]

Ha! One of the best perks of getting older is that you no longer care what other people think about you (or think at all)!! As an older, female backpacker I often get questions/looks because I am hiking solo. It doesn't really bother me, because I am doing what I love to do in one of the most beautiful places in the country! You can always find something to get offended about if you try. My feelings are "it's not worth the energy, so why bother"?!!!!

Well said.

Setting goals, like a thru hike, seems so personal that it's weird to cut it short based on actions and attitudes of other people. I guess if one of her motivations was to join a community, rather that reach a personal physical goal, then maybe that would be a reason to quit. I just can't imagine giving up on something like that based on the attitudes of people I met along the way. I guess we're all wired differently.

[Gazelle]

I find that the few times I am actually on the trail, not off trail CC, the men are actually nicer than the some of the women they want to know where I have been, what I have in my pack, almost always are amazed that I am out there alone but seem genuinely interested. On the other hand when a woman is with the man asking the questions they don’t like it much...I will let you draw your own conclusions. Woman/woman groups or a solo woman no problems usually just a quick hello and on my way, no questions asked of me. I do have men speed up after I pass them all the time, but doesn’t last long and kind of fun! Oh and most look around for your non existent partner. But then again I am not on trail very much so my exposure is limited.

[Lumbergh21]

I am a white middle-aged male heterosexual hiker, aka all that is wrong with the world. Guess what, I have been taken to task with gear decisions, camping site choices, water crossing methods, water filtration methods, and lastly once for whining. I have made bad decisions both in the brick and mortar world and in the wilderness. I have had personal, professional, and hiking failures. Guess what, instead of whining even more about how hard it is, how everything in society is conspiring against me; I learned from these experiences. And, I try to pass these lessons along from time to time.

I bet if she shared her plans with experienced hikers, she was told what she should expect and what she needed to do to prepare for it, physically if nothing else. Seems that she is looking for scape goats for her own failures rather than facing up to them and addressing them. As many have called it, she's a product of the victimization culture. Stuff like this will continue if it is not confronted, which is why I give her no credit. Are there some jerks on the trail? Sure, but at a much lower percentage than in the office building. Most people on the trail will give you food, water and shelter. That's a trait that is very hard to find in any city, including Portlandia. She's a hammer so everyone else is a nail.

[DAVELA]

I read this as tongue in cheek.I dont see how it could be construed as anything else.

[TahoeJeff]

I read this as tongue in cheek.I dont see how it could be construed as anything else.

Well no one here seemed to read it as tongue and cheek....

[AlmostThere]

I can believe her because I have experienced plenty of similar things, on and off trail, mostly off. I can believe her because the PCT attracts all kinds, including the people who never backpacked before and want bragging rights. I can believe her because it's true - there are people in the world who feel free to abuse others, whether out of racism, sexism, or just their own sense of self importance. I have never had so much verbal abuse as when I started to organize hiking groups.

You learn how to cut people out of the groups, or how to leave them yourself, pretty fast. If she wanted to leave the trail because of it that's her choice -- the groups hiking the long trail are often people who feel the need to rely on a community, without the mindset of the experienced backpacker, and taking on the trail as a social group is different at the core than taking on a trip with a couple other experienced backpackers who are about the hiking and the experience of nature, rather than about posting stuff on Facebook. If you've never checked in on one of the PCT facebook pages you might not see how these folks approach the trail differently - a friend who did the JMT wanted to go back and do the PCT because he enjoyed the socializing, the meeting people from all over the world, the hanging out at VVR with thru hikers --- when that vibe matters more than the backpacking it makes total sense to me that it would ruin her trip for there to be some macho bros giving her a hard time. Being condescended to, or verbally abused, and having others not even see it? How much worse is that? Lots.

She may be blogging and sounding whiny now. I wouldn't doubt that she was NOT whining on the trail. You can't make that assumption. The more likely scenario is that she said nothing -- women are socialized to be passive in confrontations and then they are criticized later for not being assertive in the past situation. If they were assertive, then they are criticized for being b*tchy and whiny. I would sooner believe that she said absolutely nothing on the trail, until her level of discomfort drove her off it, because I have been there too. Out in the wilderness and surrounded by people who clearly judge you, or criticizing you, or otherwise prove to you that you are not one of them. I don't do that anymore. I get called all kinds of names for my trouble, but after years and education, and just way too much exposure to toxic attitudes? I'm done with it. I'll stand up for someone if I see it.

I can spot someone with red flags -- I'm actually in mental health and spotting symptoms of serious mental illness is my job. Toxic people are something I only put up with when I'm paid for it, though. People who cause that kind of problem on my trips don't get another trip with me to inflict it on us again. It's become less of a problem in my groups than it's been in the past.

If you only hike with a few friends once in a while? I can believe you aren't seeing it. Doesn't mean it's not happening, sad to say.