2010 AT Thruhike - Hyway

“That's what she said!”

“He's a hikin' muh-sheen!!”

“Hiway is heading outa Hot Springs, did it this morning. Up to that point has completed 265 miles of the AT. Way to go Hiway! Me and the kids just met a group of thru-hikers at the Fontana Hilton, and hiked across the dam, today. Nobody needed a ride by the time we got there, but I tolt them all that they "picked" the perfect week to go thru the Smokies! We just picked up a one-yr old gal Blue Heeler near there, so popped in for a small hike and a little bit of trail angeling.”

“GO HYWAY!!!

Apeman I am doing well, thanks for asking! Haven't been out on the trail for the last two months. I've been busy with my band but I'm hittin within the next couple weeks iffin nutton don hapiin'!!!”

“You be sure to let me know iffin you come up Shining Rock way!”

“saw 5 skinny bearded dudes at roan mtn subway.I asked if they new a fella called Hyway and they said yes and spoke good of him.the fella I talked to started march 8th and made it to dennis cove april 11th.also the laurel fork lodge is closed and all mail for thruhikers is being held at hampton post office.kinkora is open and bob is shuttling to town.if anyone wants a hostel and rental cabin business the laurel fork lodge is for sale.
last edited: 4/12/10 3:37:26 AM”

“Go, Hyway!”

“Hyway is a bad ass.”

“There seems to be a fair number of people who think commenting on the type of hike this is is somehow trying to rain on somebody's parade. That's absurd. If you want to live your life pretending that something is different than it really is just so that you can enjoy it, then you're really missing out on a lot of life. You can enjoy the very REAL nature of the events in your life without making up a fanciful scenario.

The AT is known as a party trail. It has all the qualities I listed above (most hikers use hotels, shuttles, restaurants, etc...) Why people assume that is a bad thing and try to silence that aspect of it is beyond me. In fact, I would argue that it adds to the experience. Let's face it, as fun as backpacking is, it gets very monotonous over certain terrains. I've section hiked portions of it in a few states and aside from a few vistas and streams (which I love), the majority of the trek is monotonous. Especially when you're surrounded by woods. To meet new people and go to new places is a great thing. To take 6 months off and experience all of that is a wonderful.

Should you then pretend that it's a test of human endurance? a feat of unmatched proportions!? Of course not. Why try to turn it into something it's not? It certainly is challenging for people if they get lonely, or miss their family, and I'm sure that's a major reason people drop out. Earlier I said I'd be surprised if Hyway made it simply because of missing his family. That came from reading his journal. He obviously loves his family and has a lot back home to look forward to reuniting with. If he can endure that disconnect, it WILL be an amazing feat on his part, a true test of his mental strength - and he should be commended for doing so.

If people interpreted my comments as an attempt to "rain on Hyway's parade", then you simply have a different way of looking at the world than I do. I am sorry that some people thought that (especially Hyway), but it doesn't change what I feel about it and I'm not going to take any of it back. It's a perspective thing, and I make no apologies for mine. Especially to those of you who felt it in everybody's best interest to turn this into a bash-Sarge event. Get a life, seriously. If you sincerely take offense to my comments (which I doubt), then you'd put me on ignore. Otherwise, you're just contributing to the problem that you claim to want to resolve.

Hyway, you may not believe this - You kept up the charade for several years that I said something about mentally challenged kids, but you and I both know that never happened, so you've been known to hold a grudge over nothing before - but the fact is I hope you make it and I am on your side routing for you. I'm not going to pretend like you're an amazing athlete or a pioneer of some sort - but I will gladly acknowledge your mental stamina and your accomplishment of doing what you enjoy doing. Best of luck to you.”

“I don't recall hyway claiming he was an amazing athlete or pioneer of some sort.”

“I don't recall me saying that he did, dayhiker. Did you read my post? "context" ... look it up.
last edited: 4/12/10 5:44:19 AM”

“You can enjoy the very REAL nature of the events in your life without making up a fanciful scenario.

Ha ha ha ha ha!

you simply have a different way of looking at the world than I do

And the hits just keep on coming!”

“ka-ching!”

“If you don�t like someone�s posts, don�t read them. There is an ignore feature. No one makes you read what you don�t want nor do they make you reply to it.

Keep fuego where it belongs. If you don�t, you�ll hear about it.

Unless T.O.P. are violated, fuego is pretty much what you want to make it---within reason. If you�re squeamish, stay away from it.

Pay close attention to how you classify new threads.

Keep fuego where it belongs. If you have any doubts about what you�re about to post, it�s probably fuego. Take it there or don�t post it.

Use the �Report this message� feature. You can always email the Demand/Backpacker address that can be found somewhere around here. As a last resort you can email me with legitimate issues (that cannot be solved thru the ignore feature) but if I get deluged with nonsense I�ll ignore them all and change my email address.

Torlls will not be tolerated.

Users can be warned, jailed (figuratively) or banned.

Keep fuego where it belongs.�

Also:

http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/55209,3.php”

“This is actually a rather fascinating manifestation of two major Sociological perspectives. Think back to Sociology 101 for a minute. On one side, Noncon is trying to emphasize Structural-Functional mores and folkways; that there are structured rules to be followed and punishments to be avoided for the harmonious operation of the forum. The social actors contributing to this are the forum "regulars" who are all patting Hyway on the back and encouraging him in accordance with what can be defined as a "classic" perspective on what it means to hike the AT.

On the other side, HPD - intentionally or not - is demonstrating the force with which conflict acts upon social structure and the status quo. In its classic refutation of Functionalism, conflict is shown to shape the social landscape far more than Structural-Functionalism. The interactions between HPD and his detractors demonstrate that social power is inherently stratified in this forum, and this inequality sparks competetion for social power through social conflict.

In this thread's case, HPD is competing to make his perspective on the AT a socially recognized alternative to the classic perspective. This is producing cognitive dissonance in the Structural-Functional actors, and they seek to ameliorate this by protecting their classic perspective of the AT through the use of their social power levers (from gentle reprimands to castigation) to force HPD's perspective to the sideline. This is a classic example of a group of people engaging in pattern maintenance; socially reinforcing boundaries to protect their social reality and underlying social power advantage by alienating non-normative behaviors and actors. The problem with this behavior for the structural-functionalists is that it tends to lead to social ossification, which in turn increases cognitive dissonance in the have-nots. This would predict ongoing conflict, particularly since HPD is apparently fighting solo against the combined forces of the structural functionalists and unable to implement change. Without the status-quo changing, further conflict is fairly guaranteed to arise. And of course this prediction is well supported by the historical levels of ongoing conflict in this forum.

Now that I think about it, it's really kind of like in Star Wars when Princess Leia tells Tarkin that the more he tightens his grip, the more star systems will slip through his fingers. Applied here, Sarge (Princess Leia) is telling everyone that the more you (The Evil Empire) try to alienate him, the more he's going to fight back to change an unjust status quo in future sequels of the battle...”

“Wow Mutt, where did you copy that from?”

“Mutt FTW, lol.”

“Can I be the sexy Princess Leia?

”

“heyullfire, the edit feature still don't work

edit: LOL, I cannot ever recall being called that before HPD. You ain't gonna find one single person here that will agree with you, but I shore do like your creativity (if not you personally).”

“Can I be the sexy Princess Leia?

is there any other kind?”

“naked ape - Have I ever given you the impression that I will be swayed simply because of what other people think? I mean, obviously that's important to you ... but, not everyone is that gullible.”

“.
last edited: 4/12/10 7:53:11 AM”

“You guys could F**K up a Happy Birthday thread.”

“naked, if there are any apostrophes in your post, the edit feature wont work unless you put double apostrophes in place of all the single apostrophes

i aint even kidding”

“""whut thu....

Aiight CB I again just tried an edit test and failed. When I hit my edit thingy, there are no apostrophes in the old message. So I just tried using an extra set(only one pair in my edit message). Do I actually need 2 sets ovem?

let me try an edit one mo time""
last edited: 4/12/10 8:04:18 AM”

“if your original post had any apostrophes, and you want to edit it, you have to go back and put double apostrophes in every occurrence of a single apostrophe, otherwise it will revert to your original post”

“for example

the word "don't" is going to have to look like "don''t" when you make your edit

i hope i did this right”

“'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''”

“""Yeehaw, thank you a bunch CB, now if I can only remember that ewscrayed rule!

LOL, when you said "I ain"t even kidding", I know"d I was in for something goofed up.

edit test following excellent teacher CB""
last edited: 4/12/10 8:11:23 AM”

“Dangit, you ain't kidding about the 'one-thingy, as well as the "two-thingy. I'ma try again.”

“I thank I got it now, oh most excellent teacher! Thankie.”

“Can I be the sexy Princess Leia?
Sarge

Sure, a minor sex change operation can take care of that.”

“I think a MAJOR operation is needed for that transformation!!!”

“Maybe a head transplant and a minor adjustment below the waist!”

“What Stovie said.”

“There he goes, trying to be dominatrix again.”

“there YOU go”

“Take it easy, Princess.”

“The solution is not to decide whether to ignore it or fight it. I'm taking the only real solution, as many others have done.

Obviously your choice was not to "ignore it".”

“Is nowslimmer saying we never had moderators/web support, only a TT'er smart enough about programming to go in a backdoor and fix small errors and perhaps delete errant threads? curious....very curious”

“Will one of the moderators please ban opie just to show him you are real?”

“Yeah...what Chili36 said!”

““Is nowslimmer saying we never had moderators/web support, only a TT'er smart enough about programming to go in a backdoor and fix small errors and perhaps delete errant threads? curious....very curious”
OPIE
4:36:39 PM
4/12/10

*snicker*”

“@ Dper”

“chili, who will goto hooters with you then?!”

“Man you wanna read something funny, check out Tintin's TrailJournal. He's a little behind on his posts (hopefully he'll catch up). But he tells it like he sees it. Thanx Hiway! Congrats on yur 300 mile mark!”

“Go Hyway!”

“Nice! Way to go Hyway!”

“Go, man, go!

There's a lot of positive mental energy being directed your way, hope you are encouraged by it. There's a lot of people ridin' on your back. I mean, in a good way: there's a lot of us that long in our hearts to do, someday, what you're doing right now, that really respect you and even, yes, admire you for, among other things, having the courage to say, "Aw hell, I'm just gonna do this thing before I run out of chances!". Then there are those Thru-hikers out there who have actually gone before you. They know exactly what it's like to be in your shoes, and I'm betting that most of them are pullin' for ya too, bringing their specific knowledge to those positive vibes.

That being said, you gotta hike for you! Whatever inspired you to get out there in the first place has to sustain you thru the sucky times you'll inevitably experience. Whatever insights you gain, or 'truths' you discover as you trudge (or bound!) along, hopefully will add to your resolution to keep going, one day at a time, enjoying the journey as best you can.

Take it easy, and keep on truckin'...
(hope to see you @ TrailDaze)”