Overheard on the trail

[forester]

And if it's an overweight woman, make sure to compliment her on doing it while pregnant.

[Webfoot]

I suppose I guessed right despite my general social ineptitude. (I've been independently told I both look and act like Sheldon Cooper. )

I'll continue to keep my thoughts to myself even if well intentioned.

[Hagbard Celine]

No harm in asking Webfoot. I'm sure there are some people out there that would appreciate congratulations or whatever but yeah I think most people would misread the intention. Overweight people can so often be the target or snarkiness or ridicule that even nice comments can be suspect. It does take quite a bit of extra effort to hike like this though especially on gains of 2k+ EG but that becomes a prime motivator as the more weight I lose the easier and more fun it all is.

[texasbb]

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”
― Booker T. Washington

One of my favorite quotes.

[BigBear]

As a fellow "plus-sized" hiker to the comments "well done," I appreciate the encouragement to some degree. It is a better interaction than someone thinner and younger than I demanding that I step aside so they can pass, only to have to pass them a short distance further because they weren't pacing themselves and are now out of breath. This happened several times on the Dog Mtn. trail the last couple of times I hiked it.

I also recall on my last summit of Dog, a young woman of about 20 saying, "Sir, you're almost there." Eyeing the people eating their lunch on the west-facing meadow close enough I could tell what kind of meat they had in their sandwiches, replied, "I know, this is my 44th time to the top of Dog." As she stuttered, "Fo-fo-forty-four?!" I whispered, "can't you count that high, honey?" Yes, I was being a bit snide, but so was the comment that I was "almost there" when I was, in fact, "there."

The other bit of under-estimation I especially appreciated was the ascent from the Crater Lake Boat Dock to the parking lot 800 feet above (elev. 6000 to 6800). A half-dozen Latino twenty-somethings were walking ahead of a fellow hiker approaching 80 years and my heavy self. The reason I mention they were Latino descent was that at every switchback they had their hands on their knees, breathing heavily, muttering something in Spanish that I was fairy certain was "we can't let Grampa and that fat guy pass us." After a few switchbacks of the gap closing and the panting on their part becoming heavier, "Grampa and the fat guy" passed the much younger "men" without saying a word, just simply turning towards each other and sharing a smile.

So, when the statement is given in encouragement, I am not offended, but when it is given as an insult, I take particular enjoyment when that moment of enlightenment comes to bite them in the backpack.

[Hagbard Celine]

Mine too Texasbb

Well said BigBear, I too derive a little pleasure in some of these feats. Coming down from Silverstar once a man with a thick Australian accent was visibly shocked when he saw me and he said "oh! Hey, what's up chubs?" ...as a young man I would have handled this differently but hiking really brings me to peace with myself and the world so I just smiled and said, "oh just bagging peaks before you".

Or something similar, I don't remember for sure because shortly after that exchange I took the wrong path at an intersection and it was such a nice day I got most of the way to the grouse vista TH before I noticed. I climbed the mountain twice that day

[squidvicious]

I also recall on my last summit of Dog, a young woman of about 20 saying, "Sir, you're almost there."

Ugh, nothing kills the mood when you're cruising happily along on a hike you've done a hundred times before like some patronizing bozo letting you know how tough they assume it must be for you because you're older, or heavier, or more female than they are. You can chat pleasantly with someone about your respective experiences on a hike without making it sound like you're standing by with the defibrillator.

Once I was on the trail between Dry Creek Falls and Herman Creek Bridge, which was a regular Sunday thing for me at the time. I came out from the woods onto one of the talus slopes and encountered a younger guy stretched out on the rocks casually eating his lunch. He greets me with, "How's the world's toughest hiker?" I... huh? On a flat trail. Just a few miles out from the trailhead. That is apparently literally a picnic for him--but a barely survived death march for the likes of me? Wtf? I half expected him to go on and pat me on my widdle head and call me "young lady" or some such.

To this day I'm equal parts perplexed and annoyed when I remember that.

[Webfoot]

squidvicious, I seem to have found a hot button. Good thing I never said anything foolish to you out there. Appearing perpetually elated as Smith and her partner seem to would be a good defense against these comments that annoy you I think.

[Aimless]

I dunno. It's rather normal to be annoyed by annoying people saying annoying things. It happens to me. Probably to you, too.

[pcg]

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