Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

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Jimr
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Jimr »

The "go in hard and fast, go out, clean up, party up" etc. and trail magic was what was most intriguing to me regarding the culture. Also the least desirable to my taste. Leaving trash behind is just un-excusable.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

On another backpack forum, we have a triple crown hiker (completed all three long trails, PCT, CDT and AT). I read his journals - he is a 50-something and does his trails pretty "pure". He however did explain that the strategy of 3-5 hard long days then one day out to rest gives you the most probability of success. That has nothing to do with "partying". It simply is a matter of light packs make longer distances tolerable - and if you doing this for three-four months straight, you do not burn out with this strategy. Additionally, the calorie requirement to do the distance makes carrying enough food on the trail difficult. Most are simply making up calorie deficiency when they hit town.

The young PCT hikers do tend to be quite "social" in that they hike alone but most often camp in groups. I think 20-somethings are in general more social than we old boomers. They grew up with technology of constant communications. I simply grew up in an era where outdoor kids spent more time alone in the woods.

No matter what your methods, those who successfully finish the PCT in one season are to be admired. Even though they may emphasize their socializing and "zero-day" eating, it still takes a lot of perserverance, physical fitness and some outdoor skill to finish the PCT. I really do not think that most who step over the line in Canada have done excessive partying - if they actually make it there, they have become pretty hardened outdoorsmen.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Hobbes »

WD, I think we're talking about two different classes of PCT hiker and the concomitant trends in each respective category.

Anecdotal examples suggest something in the range of a 50% success rate for the PCT. Younger, 'trail athletes' & older, boomer thru-hikers, both of whom use re-supply points to break up the trek into more manageable pieces, are certainly to be admired.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm the one who has been posting links to Carrot's blog. Here's a photo of what I consider an incredibly fit 'trail athlete' (ironically, off trail):

Image

However, is the growth in the number of permits being issued each year being driven by interest from these groups, or from other, less serious participants who may have different motives & expectations? I think that's the orientation on this thread of any criticism being leveled towards the "rolling party". Here's an excerpt from another blog:

Because I’m a PCT vet, it’s very important to remain casual about these things. So I help myself to a modest portion.

Meanwhile, one of the guys who’s been there for a fvcking week decides to chime in about my taco salad etiquette. He turns to me with his beady stoner eyes and says that I have to put my plate over the table or else I’ll get it all over the driveway. But I wasn’t, my plate was modest.

So let’s throw the I’m -a-casual – vet **** out the door because I’m feeling very cantankerous. I pause for a moment to think about what I’m going to say to this guy; this guy who’s been mooching off the taco salad for a fvcking week.


http://asthetrailturns.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For those interested in reading further tales of disenchantment and push-back from the support community, here's a note from the water report:

The Scissors Crossing cache will no longer be maintained starting 4/28/14.

Here is a note from Trail Angel Larry: "Scissor's Crossing creek has been dry for 4 years. The water cache under the bridge is again at HIGH RISK! Six bags of trash, about 90% of which is made up of empty beer/soda cans, wine bottles, HAVE BEEN REMOVED. This total was amassed by so called hikers and associated 'camp followers' in less than FIVE DAYS. Locals in my nearby community have reported sightings of backpackers actually hitching from Julian while carrying packages of beer. This note should be considered... notice that Scissor's Angel Larry will no longer provide water beyond AZD weekend.

On Monday, all wooden containers which house up to 90 gallons of water will be removed. Hikers can then access water from Julian, 12 miles off trail, or from a campground 4 miles south of Scissor's on highway S-2.

Far more than a 'mere few' have contributed to this mess, ruining a formerly clean & well located cache. Maintaining the cache year around has been mostly a genuine pleasure. This soon to be 'former' angel never intended for an ugly trashed out scene to result.

The truly resourceful trail hikers will find a way to carry forward on their journey of discovery. Carry on, and keep safe out there."


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub ... 2VXc&gid=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Yes, Julian - that is very near the start of the PCT. That poor trail angel has to deal with all the wana-be's. There are bad apples in any group. It is interesting if you read the trail journals. Many start out with a bang and then just wither away.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by rlown »

I wonder what Hetchy would think.. and, why would a movie change what "we" do?

It's just a movie, people.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by AlmostThere »

It won't change what we do. In fact, if anything, it's going to deter people. So far as I remember she was miserable during the actual hiking - and Reese Witherspoon thinks carrying a 40 lb pack was the hardest thing she's ever done?

Yeah, that backpacking stuff - hard as h*11. Yeah, I do it some. I'm tuff.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Cross Country »

When I went backpacking I went to soak up the ambiance. That's why I took up fishing. I only "bagged" one peak - Observation with Mike. We had almost nothing else to do and didn't want to leave a fantastic place like Dumbbell Lakes basin. We needed to stay there one and a half days. When the fishing is REALLY good like it was there in 1992 I don't have much to do. I caught fish to eat. Often to throw fish back damages them.
This being said, I never hike the JMT (not my thing) and the thought of hiking the PCT makes me think of REALLY hard work and almost no pleasure of enjoying the Sierra. I won't be watching the movie.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by sekihiker »

Don't worry about the movie "Wild" causing congestion on any trails. If anything, it might have the opposite affect. The movie was pretty true to the book, a woman wallowing in such self-pity that it leads her to several years of self-destructive behavior. The trail scenes were not what I would call spectacular or inviting.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by Vaca Russ »

We saw this movie last night. I didn’t read the book (reading is HARD) but apparently the movie does not follow the book. In the movie she starts out in the desert and hikes 100 miles to Kennedy Meadows. Once there she learns the trail is impassable at elevation (due to record snow levels) and many hikers are boarding busses to travel north to lower elevations to complete the trail.

Correct me if I’m wrong but one second she is in Kennedy Meadows and the next second she is getting off of a bus in Reno. The movie basically skips most of the Sierra (the best parts). She then hikes north to the Bridge of the Gods on the Columbia.

I assume they skipped the High Sierra backcountry because of all of the logistical problems with filming.

This film is NOT about the PCT. Don’t worry about it being glamourized to the extent many other newbies will join the hike. The film follows a traumatized, confused young woman who is struggling with many issues (primarily the untimely death of her Mother, played by Laura Dern). The PCT is only a minor character.

All in all it is a pretty good film. Witherspoon is too much of a “girl next door” type to pull off the “heroin skank” character, but it kinda works. There is also a scene with a filthy dirty hippy singing “Box of Rain” so… it is a decent film.

JMHO,

-Russ

BTW, this is a good review:
sekihiker wrote:Don't worry about the movie "Wild" causing congestion on any trails. If anything, it might have the opposite affect. The movie was pretty true to the book, a woman wallowing in such self-pity that it leads her to several years of self-destructive behavior. The trail scenes were not what I would call spectacular or inviting.
"...Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host and then a master?"

Kahil Gibran.
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Re: Think the new movie "Wild" will have any impact?

Post by balzaccom »

AlmostThere wrote:It won't change what we do. In fact, if anything, it's going to deter people. So far as I remember she was miserable during the actual hiking - and Reese Witherspoon thinks carrying a 40 lb pack was the hardest thing she's ever done?

Yeah, that backpacking stuff - hard as h*11. Yeah, I do it some. I'm tuff.
:unibrow:
To be fair, Witherspoon is a hair over five feet tall and probably weighs around 105...I don't think many of us carry 40% of our body weight. I know I couldn't carry a 75 pound pack very far--nor would I want to.

Haven't seen the movie, haven't read the book. But there is no reason we shouldn't let Hollywood HIOH just like everyone else. And if they made a movie about one of my hikes, nobody would go to see it: no car chases, no gunshots, no emotional meltdowns, no bad guys.

Just a lot of smiles and stunning scenery.
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