Do I Look Like An Idiot?

[NewHampshire]

I have been the recipient of unsolicited advice from time to time. It all depends on my frame of mind at that moment how I take it. Sometimes I laugh it off with a joke, or at the very worse I acknowledge the person and spend the rest of the hike visualizing said person in any number of painful tourture devices . I have humerously said I am old enough to know better, but still young enough to enjoy youthful abandon, so sometimes I get a bit caorse where playing politics should be done. Sometimes I am none the wiser. I mean seriously, if I had known that woman on Moroe had lectured BOTH Poison Ivy AND SilentCal I would have told her to shut her f'n mouth and mid her own business. But instead I joked that Amy is the more experienced hiker and she is fine. Heck, sometimes the advice an be damn funny. I remember going up Kearsarge North with a group in which MichaelJ was a part of. It was the day after some nasty fall rain and cold temps so there was a bit of icing. We met this woman coming down and MichaelJ asked "What are the conditions like up top?" This woman then commenced to tell him the best way to walk on ice, how to avoid slipping, yadda yadda. The funny thing is that all you needed to do was LOOK at the guy to know he KNOWS his shite. From the ratty, duct taped gaiters to the old, beat up pack. It was rather funny. Some times it is even rediculous like when I was heading into Tuckerman Ravine one summer day. I had my map out during a rest stop because I was trying to decide between one of 3 possible descent routes for the day. This woman comes wizzing by, stops suddenly and asks "are you lost?" Ummmm, why, just because I have my map out I am lost???? I blew it off, but seriously, if I WAS lost ya THINK I might have asked "where am I?"

Unfortunatly there will always be those kind of people. Nothing much we can do about it, and hopefuly for them I stay even tempered....

Brian

 

[Little Rickie]

Yup. Bingo.

Dave Metsky and Little Richie, you both have great points and I wish I shared your more casual attitude. I'll work on becoming more zen-like about this issue. Right now, it just pisses me off.

Well I can't speak for Dave and quite honestly I'm surprised we're mentioned in the same sentence , but it's just old age for me.

I don't have the energy to fuss about some things anymore and some annoyance just sort of drift off if I don't give them energy.

Leave the fools to themselves and never, never argue with a fool.

Have you ever wondered if it's an attempt to hit on you?

 

[skiguy]

Unfortunatly there will always be those kind of people. Nothing much we can do about it, and hopefuly for them I stay even tempered....

So do you look like an idiot or are you an idiot. Most of us are at one point or another in the mountains or not...myself included. Its real easy to compare and contrast sitting here and responding to this thread; but for me when I hit the trail I am in a different mode. I have found that I have actually been surprised what I have learned from those kind of people when I am out. I think that most here would agree we become hyper sensitive to our own minds and it's present environement when we hit the trail. So why judge and behold someone else's opinion just because you happen to be doing the same thing as them but perhaps in different style? Learn and teach grasshopper....your karma will be all the good for it.

 

[giggy]

I am rambozo the clown.

 

[Waumbek]

Most of what I get is the "you're almost there" on mountains I've been up 100 times.

Yup, I hear that one all the time. Sometimes I just nod and smile at the enthusiasm, other times I explain that I happen to live at the foot of this mountain. People always seem surprised to meet "locals" who hike their mountains. Why is that?

 

[Carmel]

i give unsolicited advice.

how bout this, "pick up your toilet paper and soda can you just left on the ground!!!" (sometimes i'll be more tactful and say, "excuse me, i think you accidently dropped this")
__________
or like in hawaii we saw tourists stepping off the trail and all over the area with the haleakala silversword which can only be found in maui on this mountain...no where else in the world. (if i'm wrong someone can correct me)

"did you know you aren't supposed to walk off the trail where there is rare vegitation such as the Haleakala Silversword because this is the only place in the world where it grows..and its endangered?"

_________

and for the dog owners (i do love dogs but...), i came across a guy on a trail today down my street who's leashed dog was barking at me so i stopped running. well, he said, "oh, he's fine, see" and took his WET dog OFF the leash and the dog jumped on me and scraped me and got me all wet." This guy unleashed his dog on a girl in the woods when we were the only ones out there. i gave him advice alright.

yes, some people are idiots who don't pay attention and need unsolicited advice...


__________
last time i bit my tongue on a trail and didn't give someone advice, i read about them calling 911 and getting walked off the mountain by a rescue team at 4AM. (true story)
_____________
also, my friend just went on her first winter backpack with her brother and she was saying how the snow was sooo deep and her foot kept on getting stuck two feet down into the snow...i informed her of the hiking communities views on post holing and snowshoes...she said, "what, there's a word for that? why didn't anyone tell me...not that i can afford them...but it would be nice to know..."

so advice isn't always bad, and like everyone said, take what you find useful and laugh at things that are stupid.. some people may appreciate the advice.

(I bet that woman from germany who thought polar bears were friendly would have appreciated a little unsolicited advice before she decided to swim with it.. ) idiot.

 

[NewHampshire]

So do you look like an idiot or are you an idiot.

Neither, I think, but thats just my personal opinion (and if this is a test of my temper your lucky....I am in a good mood right now .)

Brian

 

[TrishandAlex]

Have you ever wondered if it's an attempt to hit on you?

Yes, I am oh so sexy in my bulky hiking clothes, sweaty hair and my young child in tow.

I will choose to look it like that in the future, however.

I'm....too sexy for this mountain, too sexy for this rock, too sexy for my geeeeaar...

 

[jrichard]

I try to be humble. After all, there's usually something I can pick up from others.

 

[Fisher Cat]

__________
or like in hawaii we saw tourists stepping off the trail and all over the area with the haleakala silversword which can only be found in maui on this mountain...no where else in the world. (if i'm wrong someone can correct me)

"did you know you aren't supposed to walk off the trail where there is rare vegitation such as the Haleakala Silversword because this is the only place in the world where it grows..and its endangered?"

_________

This is a good example that people will be people wherever there are people. Just as there are signs in the WMNF warning people of the precautions they should take and the reason why, there are similar signs in Hawai'i (and other states). After seeing personally the mass amount of signage and reminders about Silverswords and how fragile their existence is when we were there, it is somewhat baffling that they are still encroached upon. So we aren't baffled when we see it here in our own backyard.

You're right Carmel, Haleakala Crater is the only place they are found. Keep an eye out for the nene too! Although at that altitude we were also watching the both of us get our first ever 3rd degree burn. Forgot our sunblock in the car. DUH!

 

[BF]

Unsolicited Advice

Wow. What a great topic. Getting unsolicited advice is like hearing a fingernail on a chalkboard. While hiking in the Whites this winter, ascending, I was told by someone descending that I would need crampons when I got above treeline. I was dumbfounded. I pointed down at my boots w/crampons and said "What do these look like?" I walked away shaking my head in disbelief. Why do hikers do that?

 

[Amantio]

Bring it on

I guess I bring it on myself.

I greet anyone coming the other way, and almost always ask what the conditions are ahead. When solo this poses no problem. When accompanied by my spouse, this can cause concern, perhaps because she is not comfortable with the ease with which I expose myself as an idiot. Anyway, once the ice is broken, anything goes. Most of the info I get is good/useful. Sometimes I'll get a blank stare ("Well, it's a dirt trail, idiot"). Sometimes my solicited trail condition report is supplimented by an unsolicited bit of advice, and usually I take it in stride (no pun intended).
Virtually all trails I hike these days are new to me. I do marvel at the number of people who isist on telling you you're almost there, and the very wide variation at what "almost there" can mean.

 

[Woody]

I don't think I get much unsolicited advice. Maybe I do, but I just not paying any attention to what the other person is saying because I am thinking to myself - "Who does this idiot think they are!" Then again, it might be the
"&%$@ you" look on my face when they start to open their mouth.

 

[cbcbd]

I look like an idiot... this is usually followed by laughter after the accusing party passes me. Well, at least they try to hold their laughter until they pass me so I usually don't get laughed at my face unless they really can't hold it.

 

[The Lisa]

How do you all react when YOUR advice is solicited? Especially when you are gaily descending some steep gnarly trail and some sweaty gasping person asks you 'How far is it to the top?'
I myself think this is an act of weakness I would never display to anyone when I am the sweaty gasping person on the way up,. I would not judge the other person this way but I do not sugarcoat it either and usually give them the brutal truth, hoping that they will persevere. Although I will add words to the effect that 'the view is amazing' or 'the hard work is almost done.'
I have given and received advice in terms of 'rattlesnake/hornet's nest on the trail ahead', etc.

 

[The Hikers]

Revenge is always sweet. After the idiot comment I like to say, "Have you seen that bear that was reported on this trail?"

 

[smitty77]

What would the questions be if you had a shovel AND an ax?

"Are you Pete Hickey????"

 

[ryan207]

One of the reasons I hike is to get away from people telling me what to do. Nothing ruins a "wilderness experience" more than some idiot telling you how he knows everything about backpacking. There are times when it is obvious that someone's experience level is very minimal, and to be the guy/girl to say "you know what you should do.." or whatever is only making themselves look like the idiot. Exceptions are made when someone is destroying trees or plants, littering, making fires on inappropriate surfaces in inappropriate areas, peeing/washing dishes or themselves/dog in the water source, aka boyscouts. I think the only time when someone should step in and give their two cents is when there is an honest concern for their life or they are doing serious damage to something. Other than that, we just learn from our mistakes. Trial and error is the best way and nobody likes a "know it all".

 

[smitty77]

Most of what I get is the "you're almost there" on mountains I've been up 100 times. It does me no harm to hear it. I used to get irked, but I trained myself out of it. Next time you get the unwanted advice, pause and see if you can hear your ego getting ready to react...

I used to LOVE hearing this as I ascend the summit "cone" of Monadnock after toiling for hours down low doing trail work and am now looking rather tired and worn. I'd just greet them with a smile and say "Thanks".

And I agree, the "almost there" is a wide-ranging variable.

 

[Waumbek]

Revenge is always sweet. After the idiot comment I like to say, "Have you seen that bear that was reported on this trail?"

Yeah, he was right down by the coke machine/keg of beer where the trail forked. That cold one really tasted good. Did you get one?