JMT bailout

“Whew! I'm glad I kept my hands in my pockets when we met ya for dinner last month!”

“Awwwww, I wasn't that hungry.”

“Wannabp - Sorry about your trip being cut short... If you need to bail.. you need to bail... No way do you need to be where you are more comfortable retreating to your tent... (If you need a trip to recover on with awesome views and good company.. Oldtimer and I are hiking the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood over Labor Day.. You're welcome to join us! 9/3 - 9/7)”

“I'm sorry you had to bail on the trip Wannabp. Backpacking is supposed to be enjoyable. If you're not comfortable or not having fun with the others you are out with, then it's best to head off in your own direction. I've never been on a backpacking trip longer than 6 days, so I don't know what it's like to be out there with people for longer than that. All of my experiences have been great so far - I am greatful for that.

On Saturday I'm headed out on a 5-day backpacking trip with someone new. We'll be carrying all our own gear, so if we don't get along we can just head off in our own directions and enjoy the trip separately. I've never shared gear because I'm always worried that I'll end up off on my own - sometimes my independent spirit forces me to drift off alone, which is good and bad.”

“I've been backpacking half a dozen times with Prosecutor and never had a problem with him, in fact we have some good conversations. He's got all kinds of grat stories and I hear new ones everytime we're out. Sorry to hear that you guys didn't get along, sometimes that happens. Sometimes people are nice but just more than a certain type of person can handle. RE: Oscar. He was fairly nice but annoying and ignorant and I just can't tolerate that type of person too much and thus we had a disaster. I think it would take a special type of person to deal with Oscar. But he just happened to be the one person I couldn't get along with. I'm sure you'll meet a lot more people who you can get along with and you'll have a good time.”

“"On Saturday I'm headed out on a 5-day backpacking trip with someone new"
wingding0
10:14:45 AM

You're not hiking with Bagboy are you? LOL!”

“We'll be carrying all our own gear, so if we don't get along we can just head off in our own directions and enjoy the trip separately.

wingding0

Haha! That's just like how BowlderGal secretly carried her bus pass with her the first 6 months we were dating - just in case!”

“I'm not trying to start a fight. I'm sharing my experience, a trip report highlighting what it was like for me. And saying, "hello, I'm back."

Of course, it would be different for someone else. When someone announces up front that fun is baiting others with different beliefs, it's a turn-off to me. Being baited is not my idea of fun, so we were a poor match. What offended me most does not bear repeating on a public forum. Suffice it to say that I am sensitive and I bailed because I was uncomfortable.

I thought about finishing on my own, but I had lost my enthusiasm for the trip. I'm just glad this is an isolated experience. It's never happened before, and I'm pretty confident it will never happen again. I could tell from reading the various threads that we were a poor match, but I took a chance. Sometimes, taking a chance doesn't work out.

Wanderer, thanks for your generous offer, but I've been backpacking most of the summer and need to revert to 'responsible homeowner' mode and catch up on some deferred maintenance.”

“wannabp - you already covered from Kearsarge Lakes to Whitney this year, so now you'll just have to start planning a trip to fill in the missing section.

Windwalker - no i'm not hiking with bagboy - bagboy lost interest in me - not sure why, but maybe he doesn't size up anyway
last edited: 8/17/05 5:20:24 PM”

“What offended me most does not bear repeating on a public forum. Suffice it to say that I am sensitive and I bailed because I was uncomfortable.


wannabp
3:11:49 PM
8/17/05


HE WAS TALKING ABOUT ME RIGHT???


I am sorry you had to deal with that. i have hiked with people where I just did not like them. but went on another hike and ended up becoming pretty good friends.
chin up, there will be other great trips!”

“wannabp, did you ask prosecutor to stop baiting you and being so crude? prosecutor is a decent guy and i believe he wouldve stopped had he known he was making you uncomfortable. if im wrong about that, then i guess im a poor judge of character”

“Hey wannabp - Sorry to hear you didn't get to finish the hike. It's never easy to end a trip early for any reason. You'll get it next time for sure”

“I have to step in and tell you about my experiences with Prosecutor.
I have hiked and paddled with him many times now. I have also found him to not talk about politics unless it's brought up in conversation, which usually is not the case with all the recaps of amazing trips he takes and the cool places he's been. He also is a good listener. We've shared some Yukon Jack around quite a few campfires and I have always admired his integrity, knowledge and love of the outdoors.
He would give you the shirt off his back and more.

The trip's over and it is what it is now. Nothing can change that, but knowing Prosecutor pretty well, I could bet that it was avoidable. Sorry it did not go well for you.”

“The JMT is such an amazing trail, and such an incredible experience. As for me, I make sure I can experience this beauty, and its trials and tribulations, with great friends because taking 3 weeks out of your life for such an endeavor is not to be taken lightly. I don't say this in judgment whatsoever, but it's just me. It's too risky for me to just join up with others I may not know well on such a big trip. Much of the trip is bonding you experience with others. We hooked up with a couple guys we met on the trail fairly early on and I still remain in contact with them to this day, but if we didn't like their company there would be no hard feelings to part ways.

I'm sorry to hear you experience with a "personality" made you bail but the trail is still there. I'm sure you'll hike it again. But you better hurry up because G.W. Bush has other plans for the JMT. :^D

Did you take many photos of the section you did? I like looking at photos.

Also, when you do hike it again, you gotta start from the beginning and not where you left off. It's much more satisfying doing it all at once. Yaaa, baby.”

“But you better hurry up because G.W. Bush has other plans for the JMT. :^D

buck said something untoward towards our fearless leader? buck, why do you hate america so?”

“bucks a dirty lib!”

“America sucks. My house is up for sale and I'm moving to China where all the jobs are. I prefer Libya but they're in bed with Bush now.”

“I have not seen a post from prosecutor in a while,it would be good to hear his take on this situation-”

“prosecutor should still be on the jmt. he'll be back in another week”

“Oh wow...what a trash thread! So many comments from people who don't even know Prosecutor imagining all sorts of things from your rather vague post...I think I am as diametrically opposite, politically, from Prosecutor as you can get. However, sexual innuendos make me laugh and I do not respond negatively to the word "bait"..it just makes me laugh if someone tells me they like to bait this or that..actually, I am pretty earthy as is Prosecutor.

He not only does not attack those frailer than himself, he helps them..I should know..I've been on many trips with him and had to ask him for help...it was always forthcoming. He is one of my favorite people, generous, a great cook, funny and thoughtful.

CrashBang asked, "“wannabp, did you ask prosecutor to stop baiting you and being so crude? prosecutor is a decent guy and i believe he wouldve stopped had he known he was making you uncomfortable. if im wrong about that, then i guess im a poor judge of character”

I am very interested in your answer to this question. Did you share your discomfort with him? Tell him you were uncomfortable with crude (to you) jokes? Or expect him to know it by your body language.

Prosecutor is one of those I've met whom I trust implicitly and whose company I enjoy...I've found him to be an excellant listener...he is very conservative but so's the man I've shared my life with the last +10 years. I am not.

I'm sorry you felt you had to bail on your trip but I'm not sure how much that really had to do with Prosecutor...sometimes, it's just bad chemistry..no blame...”

“Buck is a dirty lib and is going to H-ll. SINNER FOR HATING AMERICA!”

“Ok fake sarge. Real funny. We get it. It's real ironic and stuff and will probably still be funny a year from now. Nobody will get tired of the sarge bashing. It's a bundle of fun. Crash, if that's you I'm disappointed. Nigal, if that's you, I'd expect as much from a wimp. SC, I don't expect anything from you, so carry on.”

“Yes Mata, this should have never been aired here. Even the people who I dislike the most get nothing bad said about them when they aren't around.”

“ITS ALL ABOUT ME!”

“Fake sarge, as usual, somebody ELSE (you) made this about me. I wasn't even participating in this thread. Get a life.”

“Mataharihiker, yes, I told him I was uncomfortable with what he did -- very clearly and very specifically. It didn't happen again.

As for baiting, he didn't bait me. It's my own discomfort being around someone who says he enjoys that. You're so right. It was bad chemistry. No blame. I was uncomfortable. I left. Someone else might have found the experience the best of his/her lifetime. We're all different.

Yeah, Buck, I'll start from the beginning and do the whole thing again.”

“I told him I was uncomfortable with what he did -- very clearly and very specifically. It didn't happen again...As for baiting, he didn't bait me. It's my own discomfort being around someone who says he enjoys that.

conclusion: this was defineitely not prosecutors fault.”

“and it wasn't wannabp's fault either.”

“Crash is a master at baiting.”

“I can see an out of context post”

“i dont think "fault" is the right word, anyway. just bad chemistry. however, wannabp's original post made it seem like it was prosecutors fault, big bad mean prosecutor. she should have just alluded to bad personal chemistry and not named names. but im sure she meant no harm, just like prosecutor meant no harm.”

“That's all for tonight class. Tomorrow we're going to learn which fork to use with your salad and which spoon to use with your soup.”

“hmmmm i just realized. she said "did" and not "said" hmmmmm. i wonder what prosecutor did. did he walk around naked? did he fling poo? did he hump a mule deer? bored minds wannaknow”

“Masters of baiting want to know.”

“OK, I'll retract my #&%!$ slap comment.”

“For now ;-)
last edited: 8/17/05 9:21:20 PM”

“what happened to the fake sarge? I like him”

“Look I too have backpacked with prosecutor and he is a nice guy.If you have a problem with someone you have to open your mouth and say something too them about it.I am shure if you would have done so there would have been a better end result.

I don't post much anymore but I had to say something about this.

8|”

“Hello Karen
So very sorry to read about this...I have been wondering how you were doing out there with all this weather we have had in the mountains...and thinking about your resupply at Charlotte Lake that would have been this weekend that I wanted so much to help you with..but could not do it.

The JMT will always be there waiting for you :)”

“You're so right. It was bad chemistry. No blame. I was uncomfortable. I left.

wannabp
8:57:36 PM
8/17/05

That was my problem with this thread. In the initial post, Prosecutor was named as the lone reason wannabp quit the hike (I believe it was said that everything was going along wonderfully otherwise). That is certainly blame.

I'm glad to see you are backing off from that. Blaming someone in a public forum is not cool. There could be any number of perhaps small, seemingly insignificant reasons that lie below the surface as to why you quit... And that all got blamed on one person when you got on the computer and had to explain to all your friends why you quit.

I know nothing about you, if you do long hikes, if you're a "cool" person, if you're overly sensitive, if you normally blame others, if we would hit it off and be best friends... But since you were quick to throw Prosecutor's character in question, I feel maybe I should ask. Because I know him... and not you.

I also thought it was nuts the way everyone just jumped on Prosecutor right away. There are certainly two sides to every story. And as mentioned, I certainly like the Prosecutor I've backpacked and canoed with. As do a lot of other people.

wannabp, you quit the JMT. It was your decision. I'm sure it was a decision you hated to make, but nonetheless YOUR decision. Please, in addition to feeling it was "bad chemistry," look very deep within yourself as to why that happened.

Things will get better. It will be especially sweet to do the whole JMT in the future.”

“Way to go Lizs I could not have said that bettter then you did.

We are missing something??????

Too much finger pointing don't ya think he is a great guy and I would like with him anytime.

Just my 2 cents.

8)”

“Lizs, the truth is that Prosecutor was the lone reason I quit. I'm sorry that looks like blame to you. I don't blame him for how I feel around him. It wasn't a hard decision at all. It was a relief.”

“oh oh a catfight! this is gonna be so hot.

~fantasizes about lizs brandishing a BOB like a lightsaber~”

“Are you baiting again crash? You're a master at that.”

“I wonder how much unsolicited political baiting Prosecuter has had to endure on previous trips?

I don't have time and energy to make a difference in the political landscape of this fair country in my regular life (if I thought that was even possible) so I'm certainly not worrying about it on backpacking trips.

We all ought to try to enjoy each other's company because none of us have the answer politically and none of you slackers will ever be president (except maybe Sarge cause he's psycho enough)”

“Thanks toejam. That's sweet.”

“See lee?

We have sown the seeds of discontent and now we have people choosing up sides. By the time Prosecutor gets back it'll be brother against brother all over again.”

“I knew I had a reason why I am not reading the political hissy fits you all have...at least this way I won't judge anyone by his/he political opinion.”

“That's it! I call dibs on Gem when the fightin' starts!

Your ass is GRASS chicky!”

“hahahahahaha!!!! See...but I still like you, despite your political preference. [I have no clue what your preference is btw]”