Appalachian Trail Community and Etiquette (Trail Names, Trail Magic, Shelters, Drugs, Tramily, etc.)

hey y'all dixie here to continue the everything you need to know to hack the at series today i want to talk about the appalachian trail culture community and hacker etiquette the appalachian trail culture is very unique to begin with it's very supportive when i started my through hike of the at i thought that i wanted to be alone and that i wanted to think and in hindsight i'm so glad that it didn't actually work out like that at the beginning i did spend more time alone towards the end and it and it was a good thing but at the beginning there are so many people around because thousands of people attempt to through hike the appalachian trail each year most of them going northbound but there still is a significant amount going southbound but if you want to be around people and you don't want to be alone all you've got to do is camp at night near one of the shelters that kind of seems to be the hub where everybody gathers up whether they stay in the shelter or whether they camp nearby but there's typically a privy and also a water source if you're the type of person that wants a little bit more quiet time then just choose not to camp at a shelter and you can camp alone if you prefer to but having other hackers around me who were so supportive and encouraging and to sit around a campfire at night and talk about how challenging the day was we were going through the same struggles it's really bonding to have those experiences with people who are doing something so crazy with you like through hiking the appalachian trail and writing in the log books at the shelters is kind of like hiker social media you can leave notes to one another make funny jokes i mean people talk about their bowel movements all sorts of stuff in those shelter log books but that's another cool part of the culture and something that was fun to share with other hikers but one of my favorite things is that everyone was willing to help each other out if a fellow hacker needed something i never once heard somebody say oh wait a second where do you stand in politics like who did you vote for in the last election because those things just don't matter when you're out there literally trying to meet those basic needs of food water and shelter so it's the first time in my life that people were so united coming from different backgrounds versus seeing families break apart because they're arguing about ridiculous stuff on social media many hackers end up forming lifetime friendships because they end up forming what is known as a trammily a tramly in hacker terms is just a trail family it's people that you end up bonding with you click with for whatever reason and you all kind of travel down the trail together whether that's hiking together during the day or just making plans to camp together to go into town together it's normal sometimes for people to have multiple trammelees while they're on trail because maybe you start off with one group and it kind of eventually busts up and you form up with another group but having a tramly was one of my favorite things about being on the at it's just like you're a little group of people that you can talk to about anything and you share all sorts of cool experiences with another aspect of at culture that i enjoyed and it's actually long distance hiking culture is trail names trail names are just nicknames that are given to hackers you can give yourself a trail name but most of the time it's given by somebody else that you meet on trail and it can be given because of something that you say or that you do many of y'all are familiar with my family member perk who also did the pacific crest trail and continental divide trail the same year that i did but his name is perk because he carried a percolator with him on the appalachian trail to make coffee but what's cool is to see people get trail names and at first you wonder well what happened to kelly well my friend kelly on the at became riga and so if you stop seeing a name of a person that you knew by what perk would call their civilian name then you wonder like well who did they become anyway not only are fellow hikers very supportive on the trail but a lot of the trail communities the towns surrounding the trail they have a lot of trail enthusiasts who love to go out and help hikers in fact of all of the trails that i've hiked i think the at really does have the best trail enthusiast community and we like to call these people who do random acts of kindness for hikers trail angels and what trail angels provide in random acts of kindness to hikers is known as trail magic now trail magic can take several forms it might be a trail angel offering a hiker a ride to and from town it could also be a trail angel leaving a cooler at a road crossing or somewhere along the trail that has beer or coca-colas and snacks in it there are even trail angels who travel from other states to come set up tents where they feed hackers for different weekends out of the year i even had a lady who offered me and a couple of my family members to stay the night at her house and she cooked us dinner washed our clothes let us dry out our gear so it was just a very mind-blowing experience to have complete strangers be so kind and giving to me you know at first it's like wait a second what string is attached to this but i think people are drawn to those who are willing to go out and chase their dreams and maybe it's like vicariously living through them or maybe it's because they admire that so much they actually just want to help people succeed in their goals and and it's it's incredible it's something that really can't be explained you just have to experience it if you're planning to hack the at you should also be aware of one of the big celebrations around the trail that happens every year in the small trail town of damascus virginia and the event is trail days so if you're familiar with at you've probably heard about this but it's just a big celebration of the appalachian trail and the hackers it's usually held a week after mother's day on that particular weekend in may and it's just a huge event where hackers of the current year and through hikers from past years or trail enthusiasts all gather up and folks will camp out in what is known as tent city it's just this big field and this area back in the woods where i mean hundreds of tents are put up there are different things that you can enjoy at trail days a lot of vendors come and set up booths they'll have gear for sale or even gear repair there are a lot of giveaways that happen they usually have some kind of music in the park area but they'll have food trucks and there are typically speakers that come to trail days they've had all sorts of trail legends and people who have held fkt's fastest known times one of my favorite parts of trail days is the hacker parade and all of the hikers line up with the current year starting the parade and then it goes back from there and you'll see people holding up a poll of some kind with the year on it and all of the people from that year gather up but in this parade there's this tradition where all of the people of the town of damascus or people who come to spectate and aren't through hikers they'll watch everybody come through but because hikers are known for being so stinky and needing a shower they like to hose off the hikers as they walk by and it could be with water guns that they're shooting hikers with or actual hose pipes that they're spraying but it's just a lot of fun and for the people of the current year through hiking a lot of hikers try to walk into damascus at the time of trail days that's usually a pretty good pace if you start you know end of march beginning of april you can hit damascus at a pretty good time but even if you're ahead on trail or behind damascus on trail trail angels often shuttle hikers or you can hitchhike into there but usually most hikers try to make it there one way or another and it's often a big reunion for even the current year hikers who haven't seen people that they first met on trail you know several weeks back and then there's usually a huge bonfire each night for folks to just hang out and talk and there's a lot of dancing that goes on around the fire they just kind of go around in a circle so don't miss out on that if you're somebody who's like i don't dance like you cannot miss out if you are through hiking that year on going around the fire just trust me and at least make one lap around because i promise for most people at least you've never felt that free in your entire life so to get out there and just act like a fool around the fire it's it's very freeing and now for etiquette aka how not to be a jerk etiquette is one of those words that you probably don't think of when you're considering being a wild animal out on the trail or at least trying to rewild yourself to some extent but each of us isn't the only individual out on the trail trying to enjoy nature so it's obviously nice when we can be considerate of one another and while some of this stuff might be common sense when you're tired or you've had a tough day it's easy for things to slip our minds so i'm not trying to be preachy but i do want to go over etiquette for different scenarios shelter etiquette obviously we want to be thoughtful of the people that we are sharing a tight space with sometimes you might be the only person in a shelter other times it can be a full house so when you first get to the shelter and you start setting up keep in mind that other people may be coming along so it's good to not have all of your stuff spread out all over the shelter taking up a lot of space also consider your hygiene when you're in a shelter obviously everybody's going to stink and that's just part of it but sitting next to a person in a really tight space that's cutting their toenails and they're clipping off and bouncing everywhere that's really disgusting if i get somebody's broken off toenail on me i'm i'm going to be upset hikers are generally kind of gross but you don't have to go the extra mile next eating in shelters and cooking is generally frowned upon because you're not supposed to do things that attract wild animals to the space that you're going to be sleeping if you're a smoker the most polite thing that you can do is step outside of the shelter before you smoke and make sure that wherever you're smoking at the wind is not blowing into the shelter and dragging your smoke over there anyway the way we use technology and shelters should be considered for example if you want to watch a movie or a video on your phone while you're lying in your sleeping bag in the shelter that's perfectly fine but you should do so with earbuds on and at a reasonable volume so you're not disrupting other people who are trying to relax or sleep also if you're having a phone conversation you should step away from the shelter so that not everybody has to be a part of whatever is going on with you and your phone snoring if you are a person who snores and you're aware of that and you know that you're going to keep other hikers up at night if you sleep in the shelter then it's really not fair of you to do so so make sure you've got a tent or a hammock and if it's possible for you to use that shelter system and set up separately instead of sleeping in the three-sided structure shelters then i think that's the kindest thing that you can do for those of you who will be sleeping in shelters i recommend bringing some earplugs just in case because unfortunately not everybody who snores is considerate that they might keep people up in the shelters and shelter areas be mindful of hiker midnight i tend to be a night owl so if there was a fire ring with a fire going then i was over there by that fire enjoying conversation and hanging out with people and hiker midnight is roughly 9 p.m that's when a lot of people are in the bed trying to sleep so anything after that time try to keep it down and disruptions to a minimum now for you early risers remember if the night owls were quiet for you the night before when you're packing up the next morning because not everybody is going to be on the same schedule out there so if you're up before the sun make sure you're packing up quietly as possible not stomping around and throwing your gear down and all of that when you're getting ready to go because that's just also not fair i know some people think the early bird gets the worm but for the rest of us we feel like the second mouse gets the cheese now i want to talk about shelter etiquette specifically in the smoky mountain national park and not so much etiquette is i just want to say be sweet to one another y'all because smoky mountain national park is where i first saw any kind of friction between section hikers and through hikers and there's really no reason for it it's not the section hiker's fault or the through hiker's fault it's the way the system is set up and i don't know that i have the perfect answer but the situation is as a through hacker you will fill out a permit saying that you're going to enter the smokey mountain national park you'll be there for approximately x amount of days and they might have you approximate where you might camp but you're free to camp at any of the shelters throughout that stretch of trail now you can sleep in a shelter if there is space but you must either sleep in the shelter or camp near the shelter as a section hiker going through smoky mountain national park on the at you are required ahead of time in advance to reserve what shelter you're going to sleep in and list your exact itinerary and as a section hiker you are only permitted to sleep in the shelters on the a.t where you make your reservation you're not allowed to stay in a personal shelter near the three-sided structure now when you're planning this out ahead of time and you're all excited about your vacation you're not worried about how many through hikers are going to be coming through at that time this is the time you can get off to go section hike the smoky mountain national park on the at and that's exciting so there can be an issue for through hikers because for example if i'm the last one to get to a shelter in the smoky mountain national park and it's cold it's been raining all day and i'm all set up i've got my dry and warm sleeping bag on me i've got my wet clothes off some of these shelters even have a tarp to cover the front to help keep the heat in and some of them also have fireplaces in the shelter so they can be really cozy next thing i know here comes a section hiker who is soggy and looking for some shelter space well if i'm the last through hiker in the shelter this section hiker has reserved a place in the shelter for the night and they can only sleep in the shelters along the a.t they're not allowed to camp in a tent or hammock so i have to get up and pack all of my stuff up and move out to the rain and the cold and set up my personal shelter so that sucks it sucks for the thru-hikers it sucks for the section hiker that has to say hey you know i have no choice but to get in here for the night so somebody's gonna have to go so just be considerate as a through hiker don't take it personally that you have to leave the shelter if you do it's just the way that things are and keep in mind that any given time shelters can be closed for people to sleep in so make sure you respect those closures now for trail magic etiquette i know it seems like what could somebody do at trail magic that would be rude but unfortunately i have seen it happen so i just want to touch on this when you're at trail magic be mindful of the situation and how much the trail angel that is giving trail magic has so if they have several tents set up with all the food that you can eat then sure go to town and be appreciative and and fill your belly but if you see that this is kind of a a quick pop-up stand and this person has one pack of hot dogs and you know that there are other hikers coming behind you then don't sit there and eat for hot dogs you know as excited as you are to get a hot dog the hiker coming right behind you will be too so make sure in those situations you are considerate of your fellow hacker and only taken a reasonable share and obviously as a through hiker you should show gratitude towards the person that is offering you trail magic i've never seen a hiker be ungrateful for something that they were given so this is kind of a no-brainer but there are little things that i think as through hikers you might not realize are very special to a trail angel for example they may have a little journal that they want you to sign so that they can log all of the through hikers they were able to meet that year and to you might be like i don't feel like signing that because you know you signed the shelter log books and sometimes there will be registers at trailheads or different things like that so i know sometimes it can seem monotonous but to this person who came out there to do this act of kindness for you it's a really big deal potentially with trail magic most of the time the trail angels know that hikers don't want to carry the trash that they used with them when this person obviously has a vehicle or access to town so they usually will have some sort of garbage area that you can put your stuff but if you come up to a cooler and there are just cans there if it doesn't have a bag that says leave your trash or something like that then if you drink one of those cans that trash is yours and you should take it with you and unfortunately another thing that i've seen is people taking their personal trash bags and dumping them in coolers so that whoever comes and get the cooler now has to deal with this garbage or other through hikers now have to sift through garbage to get out a canned drink so that's really not cool and you have to know that that's not okay but don't just assume that trail angels want to deal with your trash if they're there and present and they offer that's great but if not assume this is your trash that you now have to deal with etiquette obviously isn't just a trail thing it should also fall over into town stops there are a lot of trail angels along the way that you might not see specifically on the trail but they will be in towns willing to help you out giving you a free place to stay shuttling you around to do your errands but just like in normal life there aren't always good people in the world the same is true of the trail and the people you might find out there i would say by far the majority are good people but there are bad ones who will try to take advantage of situations who will feel entitled to certain services there was a place called the palmerton jail in pennsylvania and before i could get there during my thru-hike there was a group of hikers who partied like rock stars and got it shut down also during the year i threw hike there was a guy in dalton massachusetts that was allowing people to camp in his yard and you could get water out of his spigots and charge your electronics and it was all for free but he had some simple rules like keep your voices down because i have neighbors don't go onto my neighbor's property and some hikers who just refused to follow some simple rules got that place shut down for the rest of the year and possibly thereafter because they were being rude but hopefully none of y'all watching this video will be like that so things don't continue to get shut down for hackers who are really excited about being there and experiencing those offerings and there are some additional things with towns in general first if you're staying somewhere like a hostel where you know they're going to be a lot of hikers staying there and maybe a small amount of bathrooms make sure you're reasonable with your shower time that way other people get warm water and they don't have to wait hours at a time to finally get a shower toilet paper you'll actually see signs around that say please don't rob our toilet paper from different businesses that hikers might go to or hostels because a lot of times folks will just ball up what toilet paper they need off of a roll of toilet paper and put it in their pack and hit the trail but a lot of these places will have toilet paper for sale by the individual roll or you know you and your tramley can split up a four pack or something like that and obviously if you're in a bunk room observing the things that i was mentioning about sleeping in shelters earlier like if you are a snorer then maybe ask if all the stores can kind of be bunked together or if they have private rooms that might be something that you can look into but also realizing that some people might want to hit the hay around hacker midnight and not stay up all night i've heard concern over the years specifically with the appalachian trail and people thinking that if they go out to through hike it they're going to be dragged into a 2 000 plus mile party now if you're into that sort of thing then it can be a 2 000 plus mile party but if you're not then it certainly doesn't have to be just like in your hometown right now there are people who use and abuse things like alcohol tobacco and recreational drugs so the same is true of the appalachian trail pretty much anything that you could get in town with humans you can also get out on the trail but is it easy to avoid if that's not your cup of tea absolutely most of the time you're not going to have somebody that's sitting in the middle of a shelter with a cigarette or a joint blowing smoke right in your face and if they are then just like you would in any other situation in normal life you can say hey do you mind stepping out of the shelter you know i really don't want to be a part of your cigarette or your joint and most people will be like oh my gosh i'm sorry i didn't even realize what i was doing absolutely i'll step aside when i was through hiking at i met a family of two parents and five children who ranged from 10 into their early 20s and the parents said yeah our kids saw people doing things from time to time that they wouldn't have at home but the same is true of pretty much anywhere that you'll go in the world and there were only a couple of times that they were called anyone being so blatant or you know any kind of rude about it so use those communication skills and if something is bothering you just let somebody know politely and i'm sure they'll be willing to switch that up for you now if you're planning to quit something like drinking smoking drugging while you are on your through hike of the a.t then i definitely commend you for that but i just don't want you going out there thinking that those substances that are available at home won't be out on the trail because chances are they will be and if you're trying to quit smoking cigarettes and you think well i'm going to be in the woods more days than not so i won't have access to it you're going to see somebody smoking a cigarette and you will likely be tempted to bum one from them also with town stops happening anywhere from three to seven days you're gonna have access to those things pretty regularly so all i'm saying is it's not a foolproof plan know that before you go and prepare for that all right y'all well hopefully this has given you an idea of what to expect from the appalachian trail in the way of culture community and also how not to be a jerk to your fellow hacker thank you all so much for watching if you found this video useful don't forget to subscribe before you go and we will see you all next time [Music]

Channel: Homemade Wanderlust

Views: 104,028

Keywords: travel, hiking, backpacking, hike, gear, adventure, fun, story, Appalachian, Trail, PCT, CDT, thru-hike, Auburn, Alabama, epic, climbing, canyon, national, nature, mountains, update, park, lake, trail, tents, camping, summer, University, Aubie, River, stream, Mountains, National, Scenic, Dixie, Camino, Florida Trail, Pinhoti Trail, Foothills Trail, Tetons, Grandma Gatewood

Id: kBIIZMmTEew

Length: 25min 8sec (1508 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 24 2022