Just wondering if anyone else has noticed how lacking in trail manners people are these days. Is it just me? We're in the Zion area right now and I've never seen such a lack of consideration for other hikers, not paying attention if someone is coming up faster and might want to pass, uphill / downhill passing almost knocking other hikers off the trail, walking 2 or 3 abreast and pretending no one could want to pass going the other direction, selfie sticks galore and blocking the entire trail to get just the right show, etc. etc. Kids standing in the middle of the trail when told to wait for a parent, blocking the trail in both directions, others stopping to rest or get a drink of water in the middle of the trail instead of stepping to the side, kids running down the trail not caring if they are endangering others, watched a much older woman almost fall when a kid came running around the corner yelling "watch out". Sheesh.
It's driving me nuts, so either I'm getting old and don't recall it always being like this and my memory is very selective or wow, have things changed a LOT in the past few years. We've been mostly visiting the lesser visited National Parks the past few years, with the exception of the Grand Canyon, but it's really making hiking in crowded national parks a lot less fun than I remember it being.
Dave and Denise said
08:52 AM Apr 11, 2017
I can't even begin to tell you what we experienced hiking in the Catskills last summer near Monticello, NY. It is a summer home area for a certain group of folks that live in NYC. Some of you will know what I am talking about. Trash everywhere and hiking groups of 20 - 30. All we could do is smile and be amused, otherwise we would have gone insane.
Neil and Connie said
11:17 AM Apr 11, 2017
We see a lot more trash than we used to see…and a lot more unruly children who aren't being supervised (this one is a millennial parenting idea thing rather than a hiking thing)…but popular NPs have always had too many people on the trails. Folks who hike a lot generally are courteous but too many of them are amateurs who don't know about the rules, don't care to know about the rules, wouldn't follow them anyway, and think that rules are for everybody else.
I can't tell you the number of stupid people I've seen out past the "don't walk past here, you can fall off the cliff or waterfall or into the hot pool" signs…but we saw them back in the 70s too…although if memory serves correctly the percentage of self centered idiots has gone up along with the overall numbers.
On a broader basis…common courtesy these days isn't too common. Millennials (mostly) have no manners because they were brought up that way. Millennials parents…well, some of them taught courtesy and some didn't.
LarryW21 said
12:41 PM Apr 11, 2017
Nothing new about bad walking/hiking manners. I once almost knocked a famous actress down when she and her group wanted the whole sidewalk. I moved to the curb, stopped and let her bang into me. Apparently she and her four wide group expected me to step into the gutter. One of her male escorts/friends decided he didn't want to tangle with my hard sided briefcase...or my bad attitude.
JanKen said
01:52 PM Apr 11, 2017
Folks like that have karma coming to them..... Karma, spelled K-A-R-M-A and it's pronounced "ha ha dumb @ss! - Bet you can't do it again"
Hdrider said
05:36 PM Apr 11, 2017
We had our worst experiences at Bryce and Zion and as bad as I hate to say it most of the offenders we non American's, not all but most (go ahead and bash me I don't care it's true). If you look at our blog and search Bryce & Zion you will see that Diane and I wanted to design a new tee-shirt showing how to share a trail in different languages LOL! I bet it would sell.
-- Edited by Hdrider on Tuesday 11th of April 2017 05:42:11 PM
Taildragger said
11:59 AM Apr 12, 2017
Presently, we live less than a mile,from the AT in Georgia about 6 miles north of Springer so we have been on the trail a lot. This area is the most used part of the Southern end of the trail. We find most people courteous and considerate. However, being remote and away from large tourist areas most of our hikers are local college students or Atlanta area AT enthusiasts. The trail is well-maintained here and the people who use it are mostly experienced hikers.
I have been on more than one search and rescue, as a local volunteer firefighter. People are very grateful when we find them, treat their medical condition and take them off the mountain. Many have sent donations to our department in gratitude.
I am especially encouraged by the courtesy and respect shown by the trail users. While there are always idiots out there, most avid hikers are intelligent and appreciative of all the effort and expense through the years to make the Appalachian Trail what it is: America's Trail.
I guess it is all about location. Here in the rural South people are generally courteous and respectful; even those who migrated here from other places.
NWescapee said
04:28 PM Apr 13, 2017
There's an amazing difference hiking trails in the lesser visited national parks and monuments, or even the state parks, vs. the really popular parks. I think it just got to us this week when we were trying to hike Zion National Park, so we abandoned the hiking trails and rode our bike on the road that only the shuttle is allowed to drive on. Wow, what a difference! Much more peaceful way to see the park and yes, I could stop where and when I wanted for picture taking opportunities, vs. the shuttle stops!
The Bear II said
04:42 PM Apr 13, 2017
Same people who:
Roll through stop signs
Stop in doorways to visit with friends
Don't pick up after their pets
Change lanes without signalling
Let their kids run around in a restaurant
Clip their toe nails on the plane
Use the 10 items or less checkout register with 15 items
Stop at the first pump instead of pulling forward to the last pump at the gas station
And many more....
It's their world and we live in it.
lonesomerider said
05:47 AM Mar 29, 2019
I was in Yosemite at the beginning of September and it was absolutely a zoo, more than I ever remember the Valley being. Maybe it was cause it was post-holiday weekend, or maybe because there are simply more people in California (especially rich tourists - now that Silicon Valley has taken over the world) than when I was there as a kid. It was pretty terrible though. I will stay out of the Valley next time I'm there, at least during high season.
PrairieRV said
09:32 AM Mar 29, 2019
As I get older, either people are just more rude . . . Or I've become one of those "get off my lawn" people!
PIEERE said
07:07 AM Apr 2, 2019
PrairieRV wrote:
As I get older, either people are just more rude . . . Or I've become one of those "get off my lawn" people!
Agree Totally! I seen it the same way in Campgrounds! In the services industry we are told to be courteous to our customers no matter what they say or do. I think it is this way in most sectors in the last 25-30 years! I had personally been told: Rules are made to be broken.; I don't have to listen to your rules.; Etc.
The days of etiquette have vanished! I don't even think a 2X4 up aside their head would help! JMHO!
vannchan said
03:52 PM Apr 4, 2019
PIEERE wrote:
PrairieRV wrote:
As I get older, either people are just more rude . . . Or I've become one of those "get off my lawn" people!
Agree Totally! I seen it the same way in Campgrounds! In the services industry we are told to be courteous to our customers no matter what they say or do. I think it is this way in most sectors in the last 25-30 years! I had personally been told: Rules are made to be broken.; I don't have to listen to your rules.; Etc.
The days of etiquette have vanished! I don't even think a 2X4 up aside their head would help! JMHO!
It might help relieve stress.
Team Murc said
10:04 AM Apr 5, 2019
The one I hate the most is dog owners who pick up their dog wast in a plastic bag then drop it on the side of the trail with the intent to pick it up on their way out. Of coarse they NEVER do. And they wonder why more and more trails are being closed to dogs. Sheesh.
Rant over thank you!
Mike
TawannaPatee said
02:04 PM Sep 8, 2019
I didn't visit Bryce and Zion national park for the last 6 years but before 6 years when I was there, the experience was outstanding. Especially I loved to spend sunset time there. I didn't follow any news about this national park after the visit.
Sushidog said
08:26 PM Sep 11, 2019
Hdrider wrote:
We had our worst experiences at Bryce and Zion and as bad as I hate to say it most of the offenders we non American's, not all but most (go ahead and bash me I don't care it's true). If you look at our blog and search Bryce & Zion you will see that Diane and I wanted to design a new tee-shirt showing how to share a trail in different languages LOL! I bet it would sell.
-- Edited by Hdrider on Tuesday 11th of April 2017 05:42:11 PM
I just experienced the exact same thing at Bryce and Zion - and at the Grand Canyon too! I'm at Capitol Reef now and it's the same here. I think these foreign visitors don't know to walk on the right side of the trail, as I see them walking against traffic more than not, bumping people out of their way when those with the right of way are slow to yield - very rude! They will sneak up on a slower moving senior and pass on both sides at once, startling the senior (myself included) and they never yield to uphill traffic on a narrow trail, as one should, but instead try to physically intimidate the smaller, slower or older hiker.
I'd definitely buy one of those shirts! I don't know if it would do any good, as I suspect it's not entirely a knowledge issue, but a matter of manners as well.
Just wondering if anyone else has noticed how lacking in trail manners people are these days. Is it just me? We're in the Zion area right now and I've never seen such a lack of consideration for other hikers, not paying attention if someone is coming up faster and might want to pass, uphill / downhill passing almost knocking other hikers off the trail, walking 2 or 3 abreast and pretending no one could want to pass going the other direction, selfie sticks galore and blocking the entire trail to get just the right show, etc. etc. Kids standing in the middle of the trail when told to wait for a parent, blocking the trail in both directions, others stopping to rest or get a drink of water in the middle of the trail instead of stepping to the side, kids running down the trail not caring if they are endangering others, watched a much older woman almost fall when a kid came running around the corner yelling "watch out". Sheesh.
It's driving me nuts, so either I'm getting old and don't recall it always being like this and my memory is very selective or wow, have things changed a LOT in the past few years. We've been mostly visiting the lesser visited National Parks the past few years, with the exception of the Grand Canyon, but it's really making hiking in crowded national parks a lot less fun than I remember it being.
We see a lot more trash than we used to see…and a lot more unruly children who aren't being supervised (this one is a millennial parenting idea thing rather than a hiking thing)…but popular NPs have always had too many people on the trails. Folks who hike a lot generally are courteous but too many of them are amateurs who don't know about the rules, don't care to know about the rules, wouldn't follow them anyway, and think that rules are for everybody else.
I can't tell you the number of stupid people I've seen out past the "don't walk past here, you can fall off the cliff or waterfall or into the hot pool" signs…but we saw them back in the 70s too…although if memory serves correctly the percentage of self centered idiots has gone up along with the overall numbers.
On a broader basis…common courtesy these days isn't too common. Millennials (mostly) have no manners because they were brought up that way. Millennials parents…well, some of them taught courtesy and some didn't.
We had our worst experiences at Bryce and Zion and as bad as I hate to say it most of the offenders we non American's, not all but most (go ahead and bash me I don't care it's true). If you look at our blog and search Bryce & Zion you will see that Diane and I wanted to design a new tee-shirt showing how to share a trail in different languages LOL! I bet it would sell.
-- Edited by Hdrider on Tuesday 11th of April 2017 05:42:11 PM
I have been on more than one search and rescue, as a local volunteer firefighter. People are very grateful when we find them, treat their medical condition and take them off the mountain. Many have sent donations to our department in gratitude.
I am especially encouraged by the courtesy and respect shown by the trail users. While there are always idiots out there, most avid hikers are intelligent and appreciative of all the effort and expense through the years to make the Appalachian Trail what it is: America's Trail.
I guess it is all about location. Here in the rural South people are generally courteous and respectful; even those who migrated here from other places.
Roll through stop signs
Stop in doorways to visit with friends
Don't pick up after their pets
Change lanes without signalling
Let their kids run around in a restaurant
Clip their toe nails on the plane
Use the 10 items or less checkout register with 15 items
Stop at the first pump instead of pulling forward to the last pump at the gas station
And many more....
It's their world and we live in it.
I was in Yosemite at the beginning of September and it was absolutely a zoo, more than I ever remember the Valley being. Maybe it was cause it was post-holiday weekend, or maybe because there are simply more people in California (especially rich tourists - now that Silicon Valley has taken over the world) than when I was there as a kid. It was pretty terrible though. I will stay out of the Valley next time I'm there, at least during high season.
Agree Totally! I seen it the same way in Campgrounds! In the services industry we are told to be courteous to our customers no matter what they say or do. I think it is this way in most sectors in the last 25-30 years! I had personally been told: Rules are made to be broken.; I don't have to listen to your rules.; Etc.
The days of etiquette have vanished! I don't even think a 2X4 up aside their head would help! JMHO!
It might help relieve stress.
Rant over thank you!
Mike
I just experienced the exact same thing at Bryce and Zion - and at the Grand Canyon too! I'm at Capitol Reef now and it's the same here. I think these foreign visitors don't know to walk on the right side of the trail, as I see them walking against traffic more than not, bumping people out of their way when those with the right of way are slow to yield - very rude! They will sneak up on a slower moving senior and pass on both sides at once, startling the senior (myself included) and they never yield to uphill traffic on a narrow trail, as one should, but instead try to physically intimidate the smaller, slower or older hiker.
I'd definitely buy one of those shirts! I don't know if it would do any good, as I suspect it's not entirely a knowledge issue, but a matter of manners as well.
Chip