Date: 2016-07-21
From: Camp

To: camp
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Hiker Culture - for anyone reading my posts, War and Peace might have provided a quicker read. This one is what I observed about the hiker culture on the AT.The Cambridge Dictionary defines culture as the way of life of a particular people, esp. as shown in their ordinary behavior and habits, their attitudes toward each other, and their beliefs. Culture "...developed during the group's history of handling problems ...It determines what is acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, right or wrong, workable or unworkable. (Business Dictionary). One thing that amazed me about the culture on the AT is just how quickly I (and other hikers) adopted it. It became mine and I felt privileged to be part of it. Within days, I recognized what was "acceptable or unacceptable, important or unimportant, "right" or "wrong", workable or unworkable." And it's now easy to see how productive the culture is in handling the types of problems that have emerged for AT hikers and how healthy it is towards having a great hiking experience. Here are 12 of its attributes I saw:1. "Hike your own Hike." "Hike your hike" means it's your journey - experience it in a way that is respectful of others and of the environment, while enjoying the trail in a way that best suits you and your purpose for hiking. It is a core foundational belief of the community and a great metaphor for life. 2. Inclusive - Everyone is immediately embraced as part of the community. You are "in" unless one of two things happen - a) you self select out or b) you exhibit such aberrant behavior as to actually frighten people and they distance themselves from you. 3. Respectful - Regardless of age, sex, race, religion...there is a fundamental level of respect hikers have for each other and the world around them. You see this at "hiker midnight" (8:00 pm) in a shelter or hostel bunkhouse when talk suddenly becomes a whisper and then extinguishes altogether, when hikers pass and greet each other on the trail, and when hikers abide each day by the core principles of "Leave No Trace." (Leave No Trace refers to a set of outdoor ethics promoting conservation in the outdoors. It is built on seven principles including elements like travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, and respect wildlife).4. Communal - Besides sharing common interests, attitudes, beliefs, and values, hiker's freely share property and space. Almost every hostel and many (hiker) motels you stay at have a "hiker box" where hikers leave or take supplies - food, gear, clothing that one hiker didn't want or need is rapidly consumed by another. Within hostels, complete strangers sleep within feet of each other and congregate to talk in a common living areas; within shelters, the feet that separate strangers who are slumbering together become inches. The motto is that there really are no strangers, just people you haven't met yet! After showering and while doing your laundry in a hostel, you change into "hiker clothes" which are typically in a closet or box the hostel owner filled with clothes from a local thrift store. These get laundered after you leave but will get used again and again and again. Oh, and you will often combine your laundry with another hiker(s) to save money, time, and the environment, or pool money in a hostel to share a meal together. 5. Trusting and Trustworthy. Your means of existence resides almost entirely in your backpack - food, clothing, water, gear, and money, and yet you are willing to leave it as you go off trail for water, as you take a sponge (bandanna) bath in a nearby stream, or as you go into a store while the stranger who picked you up waits for you in the parking lot with your pack in their trunk. You will even leave your pack outside of the Barber Shop in Port Clinton PA as you go for a beer down the road at the Firehouse because you've been assured by the Frank and Rocky that "no one will touch it...trust us. " And at the EMS Store in Manchester Center VT, you will be asked to leave your pack in the store's vestibule while shopping, but if you want to leave it there rest of the day while eating or shopping elsewhere in town, please do because "no one will touch it."6. Simplicity - hikers value the simplicity of their lifestyle. They quickly learn how little they need to survive and be happy. And how seemingly small all of the "big" problems they had in their life before hitting the trail now seem to be. The simplicity of trail life is one of its biggest draws. 7. Hikers are comfortable in their own skin, even when it's dirty and smells...which is most of the time. 8 One's socio-economic status is irrelevant on the trail and everyone is treated as equal. 9. Hikers live in the present. One hiker summed it up best when he quoted Seneca verbatim - "True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he had not."   10. Honor. Hikers are an honorable lot. They want you to hike your own hike, but if you take a shortcut and don't admit it, there's a good deal of bristling. 11. Optimistic. Hikers do commiserate with one another particularly after a long, hard, wet, cold day, but they are inherently optimistic, and quickly move on from setbacks and struggles. They appreciate that things could have been worse and they know that that matter how bad things get, they will get better. 12. Hard workers - Hiking the entire AT is ultimately more mental than it is physical, but it's really, really physical! AT hikers embrace this aspect of the Trail and repeat it day after day after day. I have no idea whether or not other hikers brought this same work ethic to the jobs they left behind, but when you tap into someone's passion, you see them moving mountains.