It would be much more interesting getting a total newbie and follow their learning curve.
Or multiple newbies. Collectively, the newbies I've hiked with have made for some interesting, sometimes hair-raising, episodes... that last one where the dude managed to have flames shooting out in all directions from the stove? Yeah, several lives flashed before my eyes....
I would have liked to have seen that....
From a good safe distance!
The fun part - we were sitting on a ledge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. If he hadn't been able to shut it down, my next move would have involved kicking it out of his hands into the water.
The easiest backpacks draw the crazy, I tellya. Point Reyes isn't even wilderness camping - assigned sites and restrooms, and water faucets.
I should start issuing a disclaimer based on every Dumb Newbie Trick I've seen.
On this trip, you will kindly refrain from the following: lighting the stove before you finish screwing it on the canister. Pitching your tent on the edge of anything. Not staking out your tent so no one has to chase it half a mile across the open alpine. Peeing under my hammock!!! Seriously!!! And, thou shalt not leave bear canisters unlatched! Also - please tell someone you are leaving the trail to pee, so we will wait for you instead of waiting at a trailhead for two hours while you unknowingly hike miles in the wrong direction because when you returned to the trail you went the WRONG WAY. Thanks, have a nice trip! 
Previous Topic
Index
