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Collective Wisdom
Your favorite question: What other folks on and off the trail asked you about.

Steve "Switchback" Fuquay: People who do not hike are always concerned about how, where, and why. How: I explain, as someone else has said, that I hike mostly alone because then I only have to put up with one arrogant and ignorant person, plus the hiking freedom. Also, folks want to know how much the pack weighs. Mine without food/ water is around 20 pounds. Where: Mostly the Sierras and any part of the Pacific Crest Trail. Why: Exercise, health, act like my mountainman heros, love of nature, challenge, and adventure. Planning/dreaming is half the fun.

Roberta Cobb: From absolute non-hikers, "Where do you go to the bathroom?" as if there should be a flush toilet every two hours of hiking. Unfortunately I don't have a snappy comeback. I just tell them the truth: that I find a bush or dig a hole if necessary.

Dr. J (Jay Powell): Actually, the most common question that I was asked (though certainly not my favorite) during and after the PCT hike was, "Would you do it again?" I always answered, "Why would I want to do it again? I've already done that. There are lots of other trails out there: the Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, the Compostela Pilgrimage, the Cross-England hike...in fact, the Great Wall of China is 2100 miles long. Why would I want to do something twice?

Jonathan Ley: Favorite questions: "Would you like something to eat?"; "Would you like to take a shower?"; "Do you need a ride to/from the trail?"; "Do you need a place to stay?"; "Want a beer?" Favorite answer: "Yes!"

Marshall "The Hippie" Dunlap (PCT 80 F Troop, CDT 82 Stormockers): What follows is an edited excerpt from the book I wrote about our hike along the Continental Divide Trail:

Stephen Taylor and I were hiking the Continental Divide Trail in 1982 when he needed to get off the trail in Wyoming to see a doctor. Steve hitched into Lander while I waited for him overnight in a little town park in Jeffery. There were some local kids around eight years old or so that came to visit me often. They were intrigued with our trip and they asked a lot of questions, several of which I have been asked many times before.

Do you carry all your food with you? That would be a neat trick. How much volume and weight would you imagine five months worth of food to be?

Do you ever get lost? This was my favorite question and I gave two stock answers, both quotes from famous people. The first was from Kit Carson who, whenever he was asked this simply said, "Well, here I am!" The second was from Davy Crockett who said, "A Woodsman is never lost but sometimes bewildered."

Where do you go to the bathroom? I didn't mind telling them that we dug a whole in the ground and squatted over that, burying the results, but I avoided mentioning what I was doing while camped in their park. There was no bathroom in the park and no gas station in town and the land all around was flat and open for miles. At one place about 75 yards down the road from us there was a low underpass for drainage under railroad tracks that ran next to the highway. We walked bent over through the underpass and used the "facilities" on the other side where the townspeople couldn't see us.

Do you carry a weapon? This was one of the most frequent questions asked of me. What would I do with a weapon? Why would I need one? "You might run into a bear," I am told, "so you should have a gun." How much do you think a gun would weigh? "Well, a .22 pistol wouldn't weigh much." You're not going to stop a bear with a .22 pistol. "Well, you could shoot him between the eyes." Let me see if I've got this straight. I'm walking along and suddenly a bear charges me. I take off my pack and dig into it for my pistol. Maybe it's unloaded so I have to load it. Then I take careful aim and shoot the bear right between the eyes before he can get to me. Even if I had a loaded .44 magnum readily available in a holster at my side the chances of my stopping a bear with it was nil. The chances of a bear actually attacking me were not a whole lot greater. Even if it were possible I doubt that I would shoot a bear. There are much better ways to handle the dangers of bears. I wanted to enjoy the wildlife, not to kill it. The bears belonged in the wilderness. I was the intruder. If a bear broke into my home maybe I'd feel justified in killing it so if I chose to invade the bears home I did so with the knowledge that the bears might kill me. No, I did not carry a weapon, and in six months of hiking on the Pacific Crest Trail I was never in danger of any of the wildlife I saw there. Yet within weeks of completing that trip I was mugged in San Francisco. The only animal I needed to fear was man.

Joe Moon: This question usually arises around the time my beard hair has surpassed the volume of hair atop my head: "Are you thru-hiking?" My response depends on my social capabilities at the time of the inquiry. If it's late in the day and I'm physically drained my answer is a flippant, "No, not til 8:30", and I keep walking. I remember answering this way on the Appalachian Trail when I was asked this question in rapid succession by a group of teenagers. But usually, I'm glad that somebody is asking that question because it usually means my beard has reached dramatic proportions.

Marmot: The only question I can remember is "Where are your skis? heh, heh, heh!" That is because I use two hiking poles. It is always a question that only guys ask and they seem to think it is a funny thing to say -- go figure. After the, oh, maybe hundredth time on the Appalachian Trail, it got irritating. After the thousandth time Pacific Crest Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, West Coast Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, steam comes out my ears and I want to hit them with the hiking poles. Off trail people ask me how I carry all that food for thousands of miles of trail. That is fun to explain and it starts a whole conversation about how doing a long trail is possible for almost anyone.

Stephen Taylor: I'm certain we've all been asked if we are (a) walking the whole way, (b) taking rides, (c) carrying a gun, (d) worried about bears, (e) afraid of getting lost, (f) how we are able to afford this (g) carrying all our food. With our old packs it surely looked like we had five months of grub on our backs! But my most outrageous question came from a lady who wanted to know if I would have access to power and services every night as if every campsite along the way would have an electric socket! I don't recall my exact reply but I have met several people who wouldn't dream of going into the wilds with out electric lights, hot showers and a way to plug their hair dryers in. The most fun I had with questions was a bus load of Japanese tourists at Devil's Postpile who all had their pictures taken with me once they realized I was out on a month long trek in the wilderness alone!

Peter C. Haskell: You hiked alone? How long did it take you? What did you eat? Did you carry a knife? A gun? Are you nuts?