Who Here Embelishes Thier TrailTales To Nonhikers?

“Usually when I write up my trail reports they are not that much embellished if at all, but I find each time I tell the tale, particularly to some worried looking non-hiker, I find myself adding things...little stretches of the truth here and there untill it sounds like some grand andventure to frighten them to death.....Does anyone else admit to such a practice? Usually for me it gets worse in conjunction with how much beer has been consumened...”

“No, if I embellish I get confused about my story. To protect the purity of my memories and experiences, I just make up stuff to tell my non hiking friends. Besides, I'd never want to BS my friends at TT.

Hey did I tell you about the Yeti I had to wrestle when I soloed K2 on my Himmalayan snowshoeing trip? It was a good thing he attacked, after all, because I had to live the Yeti meat for 8 days, after the week long snow storm hit.”

““No, if I embellish I get confused about my story."

Thats exactly why I am acurate in my trail reports and my own journal.....

but heck, it sure is fun to make your co-workers think your a lunatic!”

“My non-hiking friends don't want to hear my stories. They think backpackers are hippy, treehuggers and I'm weird for wanting to backpack. They think I'm even crazier for hiking with people I meet on the internet.”

“"but heck, it sure is fun to make your co-workers think your a lunatic!”

Somehow, I dont think you have much of a problem with that :>)”

“yeah, your right about that...

when I show them a snake bite or a huge blister they are ready to send me to the psych wing! LOL!”

“Nope, I dont embellish. As sunny said they think its weird enough on its own.”

“Yep, no reason to embellish anything---no one can make up stuff this good anyway.”

“LMBO@mtnsteve.”

“No need for hyperbole. Just tell them you poop in the wild and have to dig a hole.”

“I once caught a HUGE fish on the trail. It was thhhissss Big :) It was hell carrin' that thing up to camp.
last edited: 1/08/06 11:45:07 PM”

“Don't need to embellish anything! I mostly send them the links to my webshots albums...that does it.”

“the truth is usually enough to make the people i work with think im crazy. they can't believe i'd go into the woods to do anything besides drink beer beside a fire and a boombox.”

“Yes, the truth needs no embelishment. Most non-hikers think a person who ventures into the woods for days on end with no comforts of civilization are nuts. If you ask around with the simple question, "Have you ever spent a night alone in the woods?" you will be confronted with with looks of utter terror and unbelief. Backpacking is sort of a unique club, like being a marine. Not for the timid at all.”

“What kind of question is that?

Do you lie?

No”

“I've found that I don't need to embellish my tails. My non-hiking friends think I'm nuts anyway. There is no need to further strengthen that opinion.”

“…Like this one time I hiked 38 miles in one day with a 85 pound pack on and gained 8000 feet in elevation. When I got to camp I made a shelter out of sticks, leaves, and my own poo cause even though I was carrying a 85 pound pack there wasn’t a tent in it. After that I took down a bear using a spear I fashioned from an Oak branch. I skinned him using a rock I found in the creek that I sharpened on the side of a boulder cause, again, 85 pound pack but now knife. After dinner I made a sleeping bag from the bears hide. Wow, what the hell is actually in my 85 pound pack??!! The next day I woke up, gathered some quail eggs for breakfast and hiked the 42 miles back.

True story, I swear”

“And, it was uphill, both ways!!”

“i find that talking to people about backpacking is just like talking to them about anything else...you're gonna get some that are real close minded about it and some that think that sounds cool, whether they would actually want to do it or not...i've even got a few coworkers interested”

“I usually end up minimizing my hiking experiences because people are so afraid. I've been trying to recruit some new hikers and they seem pretty much scared of anything. Ever since I killed the last T-Rex there's not much to be afraid of around here.”

“I killed two bears with a piece of parachute cord.......of course it was attached to a claymore mine at the time but who cares.
last edited: 1/09/06 7:34:46 AM”

“SC...How could I embelish on the things that have happened? I seem to always have weird stuff happen, on very freaking trip ;-P There was the time I buried Ford's underpants in an old marmot tunnel-I had 2 days left, and dang it, I couldne't bear to pack poo soiled underpants in my Ursack. You tell people that kind of story and they think you are nuts...out in the middle of an avy chute, digging into marmot tunnels.
Tell them stories how the first time I glissaded I went around and around as I went down..out of control.
Or how I dropped my own child into a stream on his head.
Or how I have a thing for taking photos of open air privies and posting them online...lol!
Most people just see photos of us and ask: "you sleep in a tent? In the outdoors?"
Or the story of the randy ranger we met years ago, who spent days with us being fed cocktails, homemade brownies and chocolate instead of doing his job....how can you emblish on that?
Or the time I took Ford snowshoeing and he fell-and his tether stopped his fall-and he ended up head first in the snow. You tell people that, and you see them backing away slowly....lol.
Or when on the Wonderland Trail, when our friends met us, and packed in 3 kegs of freaking beer, chips, party cups and we had a backcountry party.
How could I embelish...lol! My friends are pervs and wierdos...especially that Dicentra! heehee”

““I've found that I don't need to embellish my tails. My non-hiking friends think I'm nuts anyway. There is no need to further strengthen that opinion.”
lumberzac
7:09:06 AM
1/09/06

You could wear a top hat and maybe a cumberbund.”

“Thanks MarkO, I'll have to try that.


































Damn dictionary nazi. ”

“Somebody stop me!!!!”

“Who needs to embellish?

I just tell them the story of the time I was in my sleeping bag and the weather dropped to about ten above and I had to pee at around three am. Couldn't find my pee bottle but I found a ziplock that I thought would work. I blew it up with air and sealed it to make sure it was airtight. I didn't check well enough. While doing my business I started to get a warm wet sensation on my leg. Started screaming obscenities as I opened the tent to throw it out. When the bag crossed my headlight beam I actually checked the color to see how hydrated I was, forgetting what was happening. Then when I threw it out it started running back toward my tent.... Who needs to embellish? I know, gross embarrassing story, but pee happens....”

“I don't embellish to non-hikers. The truth is generally interesting enough.”

“I don't talk to non-hikers about hiking. They don't get it.”

“The unbelievable looks. The overwhelming "I am worried for you" stares... The best was. . . Keep warm. I"ll pray for you.
You got that right: "Most people just see photos of us and ask: "you sleep in a tent? In the outdoors?" Does it have a nite lite?
Better yet. . tell them about the mountain”

“oops. hit submit too soon.
the mountain guy who lumbers into my camp on my land and asks me if i saw that thing fall out of the sky last night?
you know;;; those satelites and space ships have nuts and bolts and hammers and pliers in them and sometimes they get dropped. I found some by a rock in the middle of a burned patch of weeds last summer.... oh my

i did not go with him on his quest for meteorites or hardware.

I ziplocked my tent in case he came by while I was sleeping. lol”

“I don't need to embellish. I have a lot of good stories that are absolutely true.”

“LOL.....I agree...I don't have to embellish...some of my friends can't wait to hear the stories....like drinking orange juice last Jan. in Missouri and it freezing in the cup as I was drinking....wading thru knee high water...sleeping in the rain....jumping over snakes...sharing my space with spiders as big as my hand...peeing in the woods.......and then those who said I would be killed in my sleep by hikers I met on the internet...
...ok.....so I am crazy : ) and they all know it!!”