Hiking with Internet people

“It seems like many of the people on this site actually hike together. Is this right? How do you get over the internet stranger hysteria? How do you get your spouse to let you go and not think your nockin' boots?”

“usually im not really hiking with "strangers". i have personally met someone who has hiked with the others most of the time.”

“Its all a cult jiminy. They are really all undead flesh eating zombies and use this site to lure fresh meat out into the wilderness. Don't be fooled by their "pictures" on Phil's Photo Page.”

“After resisting for a couple of years, I started meeting up with people on this site for hiking trips and I've never looked back. I now have a solid foundation of people I can count on to go backpacking with pretty much any given weekend. It's great!

It was easy for me to do since I'm a guy. I'm also presently single, so I don't have to worry about squables with a sig-other.”

“Everyone I've met so far has totally ROCKED!!!

8)”

“I went to michigan a couple of weeks ago and flew in and people i've never met let me stay at their house, fed me and then someone else gave me a ride up north to where we were hiking to. Never met any of these people and I had the best time. Check out the 101 to eat and drink your way to a lighter pack thread.”

“It is an odd thing that most people might not understand. I'll bet that there are more people that have positive meeting experiances via internet than we know. We only hear about the bad events, as they draw good ratings on the TV. I think that people who use this board and hike are using technology the way it was meant, for positive uses! Everyone I have met, I would hike with again. I'll also point out that some that I know have developed relationships out side of hiking. I am very glad that I stumbled on to this site.”

“i'm just a psycho as everyone that i've met, from this site.

just don't actually go to sleep, and you'll be ok.”

“Once you have a glass of the koolaid you will understand everything.”

“Isn't there any sort of stigma with local friends? That guy has to go get internet friends to play with and that sort of thing?”

“yes, they all think that we are nuts, but we have a blast, and most of my local buddies couldn't handle a 500 ft. incline, or swithbacks, or eating dehydrated food for that matter.

Try it out, if ya don't like, no biggie..... involve the significant other, many TT'rs bring them along, and they have fun too.”

“If your significant other thinks you are knocking boots, you have other problems to worry about then "Internet stranger hysteria."

I have met a few people over the Internet, however. All of them turned out to be normal. Well, normal as one can expect. Not from here, though I may do the Maine trip in March and meet some TTers. When I mentioned this to my wife, it was more of an FYI, not a "Can I go? No, I won't be knocking boots" sort of thing. :P”

“We are just a very large cult and we try to get new people in so we can have our way with them!!!!

MOOOOOOHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

8)”

“Hmmmm... knocking boots? Don't people prefer to take their boots off?”

“That takes too long!”

“Sometimes people do!

8)”

“A friend of mine who also hikes, turned me onto this site. I went on my very first TT trip (check out the Jordan River thread), and HAD A BLAST! I had only talked to a few people at that time, on the phone, and realized that they were just as normal as anyone else..... 'cept we all share one passion: HIKING and CAMPING under the great big sky! When I finally met these people, face to face, and placed their Trail Talk name to their personality, everything made sense! LOL! Crazy Mike, IS crazy! (hehe!) And for everyone else..... they usually have a story related to their name, one that they LOVE to share. Some of us get renamed after hiking! But if there's one thing I learned.... is it's all about friendship.

How many of your "REAL" friends are willing to go on a hike or go camping on a days notice? Heck, how many would be willing to go at all? Or would they rather be sitting on the couch, munching potatoe chips, watching the BOOB TUBE?!? Take a hike, even a day hike with a group from here, and you'll discover just how fun these people are!

Oh, and like blahchool said... if your sig. other is worried about you "knocking boots" with someone that just sweated their way to the top of a hill or mountain, and stink to the high heavens..... then yeah.... you DO have other problems to consider first... :-/

But as my grandma used to say: Don't KNOCK it, until you TRY it! So, ........try hiking with us!”

“Thank you 13 you are so pimp!

8)”

“Just like you!

You're the pimpmeister! LOL!”

“Just lace up the boots and go, Jiminy..... you'll have a great time.”

“Get a room you pimps!”

“Jiminy-let me know when your going and I'll join you and add you to me and Evergreens hiking club. Your picture will be on both of my websites. It's so PIMP!!”

“My wife thought that for sure I would be dead after hiking with folks from this page, then I met Wanderer, SnowNymph, and Nadedape. They only tried to kill me once while I was sleeping. As for knocking boots with Wanderer or Nekkid, that is out of the question!!”

“Well everyone I've met is a total wackO and I'm lucky to be alive....Just kidding!

I have had great experiences thus far and I'm planning to visit with some of the same folks this weekend and also meet some new faces too!

This will be the 3rd time I've hiked with Snow Nymph and WLD... and the 2nd time I've hiked with WingDing and Hikin' Mike.

My wife was a bit concerned about me camping with a Snow Nymph because she didn't understand the meaning of her name....LOL!

I think the in-laws think I'm nutz though ;) They don't even understand why I like backpacking let alone hiking with strangers.

I must say that most if not all of the folks I've hiked with were not really strangers at all...because I have read countless posts to threads on this forum and already had a feel for what they were like.”

“Here's the way it works Jiminy:

We're all certifiably insane already. You should have figured that out by now. Our friends just shrug their shoulders when we tell them we're going hiking with complete strangers. They secretly hope we will be cut up by chainsaw murderers, but wish us well so we don't attack them.

Spouses of TTers are either in on the game or glad to get rid of their spouse for a quiet weekend. Who knows, maybe they knock boots too? It could happen.

We get along fine because we all carry our own packs, gear, food, and drinking potions. Nobody has to depend on somebody else for something that was left at home unless somebody did leave something at home, in which case everybody pitches in to make up for the loss on the assumption it might be them next trip.

We already know one another from the website. We have hurled the vilest of insults, deprecations, curses, and incantations at one another and nobody gets upset. So we don't have to be on our best behavior out there; we just be ourselves and that's good enough.

Nobody worries about making or hearing bodily sounds at night because almost everybody is making some kind of bodily sound. No big thing.

We go home friends because it's great to spend a weekend being accepted for being a whack job and not having to live up to impossible expectations, like the spouses office party trying to make an impression on the boss.

And we all laugh at ourselves first and everybody else second. That is the most important part of being certifiably crazy. Once you get the hang of that, you are on your way.

I missed at least two, and probably three, TT trips this fall because of my broken leg. I am not a happy camper. I fear the recovery will drive me sane. As soon as I can I will make another trip.

That about covers it.”

“and like i said. once you get up the balls to go on one trip, you can find out about just about anyone from the people you meet. chances are they know or know someone who knows the people on your next trip. does that make any sense?
i don't really consider anyone i meet strangers, just friends i haven't met yet. now i know im not making any sense.”

“I've had nothing but good experiences with the TT crowd. Most of the people I've hiked with from here are remarkably naiive and compliant. They don't even know what's coming until the stick cracks over their thick skull or my "trail" knife ends their stupid existence.

I'd recommend the Trail Talk crowd to any psycho looking for a hiking partner.”

“Ever notice how many "regulars" tend to disappear?”

“We camped at Psycho's shelter once and nothing bad happ...urk!”

“geobeet, are you going to be around this sunday? i might be in your neck of the woods”

“My "real" friends already think I'm crazy for backpacking... so it doesn't surprise them that I do it w/ people I've met on internet.

Everyone that I've met from this site so far (somewher around 30 people) has been amazing and I would gladly hike w/ them again. Several have become good friends with whom I spend non-backpacking time.

It's a win-win situation!”

“I've met better people and more of them to hike with on the internet than I could any other way. All the people I've hiked with here were great.”

“It's fun, sometimes you get to eat bacon rings!”

“I will be enjoying (gak) my final weekend in a cast somewhere in these parts. I actually attended an event Friday night, got out shopping last Saturday and down to the Cirque du Soleil Sunday evening. I'm becoming a social fly!

But should be home Sunday. Where are you headed?”

“tarabull, Thanks for hiking with your internet friends”

“Tara Snacks, you are the pimp with the limp baby!

8)”

“Im heading to Lansdale I might take my daughter and her boyfriend home. im just not sure just yet”

“I've meet over 70 people from this site over the past 4 years. Everyone has been Great! Show up on a trip sometime and you'll see.
Also since this site has people in it Nation wide, It's very easy to hook up with people on the other side of the country (even Canada). If you live in New York and you want to backpack in Arizona, Somebody there can hook you up with all the info you could ever want to know about the area.”

“Okay, keep me posted.”

“Tara Snacks? That's a new one...”

“Bet there good!”

“heidi..Pamela Andeson,tarastud,tarapig,tarasnack”

“No comment!

8|”

“Geobeet..... (sniff).... that was soooooo touching......!



Seriously, your summary does this place justice.... :-) We actually sound a lot like the humans we claim to be! LOL!”

“tHESE DARN TROLLS!!!!!”

“i'm just a psycho as everyone that i've met, from this site. just don't actually go to sleep, and you'll be ok."
radagast
04:56:49 PM
10/22/02

I would have to agree with Rad, he is pretty sick........hehehe but some people, yeah some people are just sicker than others....

My wife is hoping I'll go on one of these trips and never come back. She even told Walkindude that iffin I was to acidentally die out there to mail her home some DNA of some kind to prove I was indeed dead so she could at least collect on my benefits...”

“stikmon's dog tried to hump my dog though.........”

“at least it didn't try to hump you................”

“Everyone I've met has been totally cool. Can't wait until TC2!!!!”

“LOL My first TT trip, I brought two of my three kids. One was almost two and the other was five years old. The very first time I hiked with someone I met on the internet, my sister ran a police check on him. LOL He still doesn't know. Well, not unless he reads this. LOL

When I went to TN, Cockroach picked me up from the airport and let me stay at his place. We drove to Fiery Gizzard where we met a bunch more TT people. I had never met any of them before hand. I don't think cockroach and I had even spoken on the phone. Great people!”