Ozarks ECT

“Damned if you do and damned if you don't. At best it is inconsiderate to put the pressure on the group to make your decisions for you, stikmon. No one wants to speak up and tell stikmon to leave his dog at home. When someone does they are made out to be the bad guy. If no one speaks up you have to spend the weekend dodging the ranger and suffering the distain of other hikers you meet on the trail. That is in addition to the normal hassles a dog creates. The law says no dogs. What is wrong with obeying the law?

Ok, so call me names and be rude. Honesty doesn't win friends.”

“ya know people have been out looking for you. I was starting to believe that post of yours about not coming back. nice to know you are still alive and well.”

“"Normal hassles a dog creates"
I have never had any hassles with my dog an find it so amazing that the dog haters insist that there are. Unfortunately so many of the people out there do leaving garbage, fire rings, toilet paper, being LOUD, scaring away any wildlife for miles! My dog walks quieter them I do we've walked up on many deer an both stood quietly to watch. But had to move camp many times to get away from overly boisterous neighbors I
ll take my dog as a companion over people ANY day”

“and how fast do you drive on the highway...oh, Im sorry, I do exceed the speed limit. I don;t cheat on my taxes, I do follow directions, I don;t always follow recipies and I tore the tag off my new mattress even though it said not to. I'm so confused. From what I hear, you are not and never had planned on going on this hike, but If you were or were even remotely interested, I'd honor your wishes. I've not left the decision to the group, I've asked what the feelings were. and what I have recieved are entirely opposite to your view. If there is ever a hike that you and I are going on, I know that I will leave my dog at home or maybe I'll let him go and I'll stay at home. I'll have meditate on the subject.

Here's a question to anyone interested to respond...do any TT'ers out there follow all of the rules all of the time? I usually do. If you read back to the beginning bacpac, I was not going to bring my dog once I found out that the hike was going to be in the NP itself, I was encouraged to bring him even after I had decided not to.

How high is the pedestal that you stand on. I want to know so I can try not to strain my neck when I look up to worship you.”

“Why are you guys even responding to him????? He just like the attention.”

“Some people encouraged you stickmon, some were silent, one asked that you not bring the dog.

The point is, people should not be asked to abet you in this crime. You asked, I responded and now you ignore my response. I recommend you not ask in the future and just make your own decision. It is not fair to ask everyone to support you. Now I am the bad guy.

centavo, I cannot speak for everyones life experiences, I can only speak for mine. Most dogs are a hassle. There have been many similiar comments from other hikers. I speak up when I observe other hikers who ignore LNT ethics. I speak out on lots of issues.”

“Bacpac,
Your right, I cant argue that. all I can say is it's a shame my dog who is extremely well behaved. gets painted with the same brush as some who obviously dont. But it isnt an accident she's well behaved. I have obedience trained her she is trained for voice or hand signals I would not take an unruly dog anywhere.”

“Bacpac,

Who made you the spokesman for the silent and the meek? Furthermore, I was under the impression that you were not participating in this group hike. Something like you woke in a cold sweat…. If I am mistaken, and you are in fact planning to join our merry little band, then I will most certainly change my stand on this matter. But I believe that you are still sweating and will not be joining us, so please use another thread to share your views on dogs, there are several threads on the subject other than this one. Be rest assured that if the “DOG” becomes a problem on the trail, I will have significant firepower to take care of the problem.”

“The point is, people should not be asked to abet you in this crime.

LOL! Alert the FBI. Let's set up a stakeout.”

“Ruby Ridge II.”

“Firepower? On a hike? I hope none of the hikers cause trouble.”

“They're just jokin, nobody's gonna be packin a piece. Except the FBI as they lie in wait for that guy with the dawg, LOL!”

“if the law says no dogs you should not take your dog. asking others if it is ok for you to break the law doesn't make it right. ridiculing a person for saying you should obey the law is pretty lame in my book, wether they are a dog lover or not. if you exceed the speed limit, you are also breaking the law, and are subject to the consequences. if one person sees the dog there that was not expecting to or wanting to (whether they are part of your group and didn't want to say something or some stranger on the trail), then your breaking a law that they thought they were being protected by. leave the dog home or hike where dogs are allowed.”

“SteveHiker Great you are back! What about this weekend?

I sure am sick of Dog Talk on this thread.

Let's take this trip offline & maybe change the location to ugh Mather's Lodge at Petit Jean. Then we just sit around the fireplace and discuss war & world hunger. Then retire to a nice warm and comfy cabin. (Okay, guys I am laughing)”

“It still looks doubtful for me this weekend. Gotta take care of some biz closer to home. All depends on how well things go these next couple of days. Never say never.”

“Another Dog comment -

When we were there in November a wandering dog joined our merry band of hikers and no one seemed put out by this. Yes, it's against the law to let your dog run loose, but the dog didn't seem to know that.

In fact, he was kinda cool to have around to feed the leftover "trail angel" food too, as I remember.

Stikmon, you do what you think is best for the folks actually attending the hike, not those sitting behind their computers taking pot shots at you..

Good Luck!”

“txwoodswoman,

well put,

How about it? Are ya going to make it, if ya are email us.”

“I am leavin this am for ARK!Moz I will call ya!”

“You better pack the sunscreen because it is going to be Sunny!

And I was just getting use to cold wet cloudy rainy sleety snowy windy weather. Oh well, will just have to do my best to survive.

Hmmm, sunny, that sounds like typical California weather. We'll take it!”

“Stalker, et all..

I'll be there, set another place at the proverbial table for me.

Ain't gonna rain no mo!

Tec”

“Tx
Great! Look forward to meeting you.”

“I am new here and was just wondering if this is a typical trip. I don't understand why people who have no intention of going on a trip interrupt the flow of a thread and criticize active participants.

I guess there is an ass in every crowd.”

“"I have been posting here since 1996 and was just wondering if this is a typical trip. I don't understand why people who have multiple troll names interrupt the flow of a thread and criticize active participants.

I guess there is an troll in every crowd."”

“Stubby you definitely are new around here aren't you?

Just One A@#? LOL

You have to read thru a lot of BS to get to the meat in these thread sometimes. Try not to let it bother you and you'll feel better after a couple aspirins. In the mean time let the kids have there fun! As you may have noticed we took this off line because of the BS. We certainly don't want this to carry over in the woods.

BTW, a lot of serious outings are briefly mentioned on TT and quickly go offline. Welcome aboard and enjoy the show!”

“Whadafuh?”

“BACPAC,
So you have been typing since 1996.. that is all that you have done. Bacpac, have you ever climbed down off your high horse and joined some fellow typers? I don't think so. Have you taken the time to meet and respect others and what they stand for. I would really like to meet you but the more I read, I realize that you are full of words rather than action. You are a keyboard hiker and hide behind the screen, not willing to expose yourself because you are afraid of what others will find (your true-self) a small man that is full of talk without action. If I am wrong, then please prove to yourself along with everyone else that you are more than a witty typist (with an attitude). But don't be a coward, and hide behind your screen.

(Not Laughing - actually it's kind of sad.)”

“Stub,

you are right, there is an ass in every crowd (including here). You have to have your BS filter when you visit TT.”

“SHUT THE F UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“Tarp, are you talking to me?”

“Stalker, I appreciate your concern about my well being. I appreciate the fact that you want to meet me. It is ironic that you consider me to be the odd ball out. I think this internet hiking with strangers is over the edge. Creepy if you ask me. Don't you have any real friends?

I hike, I backpack, and I camp. I chose to do these activities with family, friends or solo. Hiking with strangers seems odd. There are a fair number of people on this site who are the type of people I go out of my way to avoid. You happen to be one of them. Why would I want to sit and listen to you potificate around a camp fire? There are also a few people on this website whose company I might enjoy, but I consider many to be complete losers (you again). The thought of making this hike occurred to me, but I don't see the benefit to me other than it is geographically close.

Maybe it is just me, but I don't think of this as a competitive activity. If this makes me a coward in your eyes, I don't really care. Hike your own hike and I will hike mine.”

“To: everyone that matters, and bacpac

The truck is all packed and I will be leaving about 5:30 in the morning. See ya there.

Bacpac - if your Mom will let you borrow her testicles then come on out. We would love to have you, really we would.”

“bacpac, I can actually relate to what you said above, but you contradicted yourself. If hiking our own hike involves meeting strangers over the internet to do so, then who are you to take shots at any of us?

We, in turn, need to respect your right to hike your own hike as you see fit (with family, friends or solo) and not judge you, either.

So, perhaps agreeing to disagree in this instance would be in order and we all just move on?

Tex”

“Bacpac,
If you really want to know what is strange, this whole site is pretty odd. Strangers talking about God knows what, with a bunch other stangers. You know I don't participate much in these threads, just try to pick up some useful info., now and then I may speak up and it only pisses everyone off. The scarey thing is that our views on most things, I said most things, are very similiar. The thing that ticks me off about you is that you criticize everyone and nit pick everything. You would be a much happier person if you let things go and quit being so cynical to others.”

“ya'll are fighting over lil ole meeeeeeee? how manly. my heavans, what's boy to do. and over my dog. crak me up. I said I wasn't out to antagonize anyone, i was looking for opinions. I got them, thanks. I used to take my dog with me when I went on my business trips (sometimes 2 weeks at a time). I was told I "shouldn;t" bring him. I don;'t anymore...NO BIG DEAL!!! its not like finding out that you have muscular distrophy or liver disease...I will respect the wishes of others, cause I have a conscience and my mother brought me up to respect the feelings of others. I will do so, even if the other isn't going on the hike...nuff said...MOVE ON!!!”

“Stalker, Again, I appreciate your concern about my well being. I am happy. Being cynical makes me happy. I don't think we really have much in common at all. Maybe you would be happier if you didn't spend so much time thinking about me.”

“You right! What da heck was I trying to say yesterday? Weird even for me.”

“I wonted to let you guys know I will not be able to attend this one. Sorry Mozark boots and myself were looking forward to see you again. But it is not to be in spite of my best efforts.
Again Sorry and I hope everyone has a great trip and I look forward to the trip reports.

Grunt”

“Tx, My comments were not contradictory. I didn't take any shots. I tried to explain how I feel. If I knew how to describe my motives without commenting on the cause I would be in politics.

I don't want to be in politics. I just want to increase my self-esteem by making other people feel inferior. Is that so bad?

Snicker”

“I will be backpacking and camping in the Buffalo Wilderness area this weekend. If I am recognized and approached by TT hikers I will extend common courtesy. Don't hang around.

I will not be with the group for the following reasons:

1. I think some of you are creeps.
2. I am not on the secret mailing list and don't know where you will be.
3. I think you are creeps.”

“Wow, how did I miss this one?? Oh yes, I don't live near Arkansas.

Hey I agree with you on this one bacpac. I find these trips just a little odd and I wouldn't feel comfortable hiking with most of these people nor would I care to hike with many of them. It's fun to read the board but I have my own friends to hike with and don't have the need for more of the internet type.

That being said, to each her/his own. Do whatever you want. If you post on a public board expect a public response.”

“Every man is an island and I am very selective about who steps ashore.”

“"friend - Someone whom one knows and likes." Webster

"friend - a stranger whom I have not yet met." unknown

"My enemies I can trust, with my friends I must be careful!" unknown



bacpac & Gear Slut
I may know more after the Florida ECT hke, my first group hike. I have already seen that at least two of the group did not read the trip description very well as to a canoe trip being on the fourth day for anyone interested. And another wants to relocate the first night's campsite!

After coming to TT last November, I recall a string in which people were discussing some folks with whom they would not care to hike!

"However, it's difficult to make a friend without first meeting." Me.

So I'm going to give it a shot.”