One good thing to come out of this is that Ken can probably get hiking partners more easily due to his 15 minutes of fame. Ken is ALWAYS trying to find hiking partners but at 41 all of his peers are working, married etc. Ken cannot drive so either he has to use public transportation or find someone near enough to pick him up. Backpackers are an independent bunch and like me plan trips on the spur of the moment so arranging to drive 100 miles out of my way to pick up someone is not going to happen a lot. Besides if you were in his position would you care to be semi forced to hike with someone you really did not care for just to get a ride?