Naughty: every tourist who sends his three-year-old over to "stand by the cuddly bear so I can take your picture."
Nice: Andy Niekamp, who heads up the Dayton Hikers group and did, hands down, the most effective job of leading a beginner's backpacking trip that I've ever seen - and then, on the follow-up trip, was kind enough to do all the planning so I could just relax, follow, and rediscover the total joy I get from walking and sleeping in the woods for a couple of days. (I was an assistant leader on both trips - but thanks to his excellent planning, organization, and execution, there wasn't a lot of assisting needed.)
Here my naughty nomination: not a backpacking activity, but I was mountain biking at my local stomping ground and I came flying around a corner only to be greeted by a woman using the bathroom in middle of the trail. She couldn't go a couple yards off trail behind a bush? This was in August when there were plenty of vegetation to squat behind...
Nomination for nice: A woman I met while backpacking the other day. She was older lady telling me stories of her youthful hiking and camping trips. It was some interesting and fun conversation. I was hiking alone talking to myself until I ran into her party.
_________________________
It is one of the blessings of wilderness life that it shows us how few things we need in order to be perfectly happy.-- Horace Kephart
Nomination for nice: A woman I met while backpacking the other day. She was older lady telling me stories of her youthful hiking and camping trips. It was some interesting and fun conversation. I was hiking alone talking to myself until I ran into her party.
Oh yeah. We once met a group of three people on the trail in the high country of Yomemite. A young man, getting ready to leave home to go to college, his father, who was taking him on a last backpacking trip together. And his grandmother , who had done the same for his father 27 years before.
nice - I dropped my GPS on the trail in Dolly Sods Wilderness, WV last summer, and a hiker going the opposite direction picked it up and caught up with me to return it.
Our long-time Sponsor, BackcountryGear.com - The leading source for ultralite/lightweight outdoor gear:
Affiliate Disclaimer: This forum is an affiliate of BackcountryGear.com, Amazon.com, R.E.I. and others. The product links herein are linked to their sites. If you follow these links to make a purchase, we may get a small commission. This is our only source of support for these forums. Thanks.!