The !st installment of I HEARD IT ON --------

[BobP]

I heard it on Piestewa today.

We'll hike untill we either run out of water or make it to the top.

Mom to young son: Don't drink my water now that you've finished all yours.

Does that cute pink lizard bite?

At the .25 mark, we're halfway there and I'm not even sweating.

And me, I love it when it rains here. Oh your from Seattle.

So, what have you heard on hikes(not that we eavesdrop or anything)?

[azbackpackr]

Mostly I hike where there are no other people. SO, I will have to go back a ways in the past, because I heard something really funny one time at Havasupai. One tourist was saying to another, while observing quite a few hikers carrying and using Camelbaks, "Why is everyone using those BREATHING TUBES?"

[Sun_Ray]

On the Bright Angel Trail, within 3miles of the top, I wish I had a buck for each time someone asked me "how much further is it?"

[big_load]

"Are you guys carrying all your own stuff?"

[PaleoRob]

"Its just around the corner."
"As the crow flies, its only about a quarter mile."
"According to the map, we should be here, but this doesn't look right."
One of my all time favorites:
"Rob, I'm sinking!"

[sirena]

"Do you think these piles of rocks were made by ancient Indians?"

[Dschur]

Bet Rob has some questions from the tourists while he was chasing the condors....

[BobP]

Do you think these piles of rocks were made by ancient Indians

[joebartels]

Today's Squaw Morning Edition: One guy ten feet ahead of two others lagging... "hey don't you be throwing up on the trail". Lagger #1 "come on man be a friend and give us a break". Sport "If you want sympathy then go to church. I'm here to get your pumpkin up this mountain. Now let's go!"

The two most popular things over the years I hear are... (big drum roll please, with a clank at the end)
- Old timers telling newbies to keep at it as there's a Starbucks at the top.
- Somebody carrying a baby in a pack. Practically every other passer by comes up with the original comment "Hey that looks great, can I get a lift!"

[Jeffshadows]

- Somebody carrying a baby in a pack. Practically every other passer by comes up with the original comment "Hey that looks great, can I get a lift!"

This and people insisting on shoving their face in to look at your poor kid are the major reasons why the Kelty never really took off for me...

[dlbar2000]

I never thought it was Starbucks at the end of the trail - I always carry my own. But I do believe that it is Taco Bell thats at the end of the trail - nothing better than Mexican at the end of a long trek.

[PaleoRob]

Amen to Mexican.

[writelots]

On the Bright Angel Trail, just after the second resthouse, about ten am, a mom and four-year-old heading up at about the same pace I was (in my uber pokey days):
"Look mom, a rock. Look. A rock. Look mom, a rock. Look, look, look. Mom, a rock. Look mom, a rock. Mom I found a rock."

I finally stopped to let them get past me. I think that kid "found" every rock between there and Texas.

You always hear classics on the BA trail - it's just such a microcosm of American life.

"Look, he wants some of your granola bar" (usually followed by an offering to one of those squirrel devils)

"She looks tired" (I got this from a 10 year old one day on my way out...made me speed up a lot - at least for the next couple of switch backs!)

[desert spirit]

"Can I borrow some of your water?"

And a double amen and a hearty si! to Mexican.

[PaleoRob]

Bet Rob has some questions from the tourists while he was chasing the condors....

"Is that what a condor looks like?" - pointing to a hat from the Baltimore Oriels.
"Sssh, honey, don't move. He's tracking earthquakes!" - in relation to my Yagi antenna.
"You getting cell phone service with that thing?/You picking up the game?/You contacting aliens?" - all also referring to my antenna.
"Can you call in a condor?" Condors don't make noises.
"Are they radio controlled?" to which I would always respond, "I wish. It would make my job easier."

Some people got jealous when I told them I got paid to hike the Grand Canyon, but I don't remember anything special comment-wise (though that was the trip I saw that Mountain Biker out at Plateau Pt.).

[Jeffshadows]

A few of my favorites from over the years that fall into the category of "General Idiocy." Most of these were things I overheard being said authoritatively:

"There ain't no rattlers in Arizona [sic]"
"If you hike faster you need less water"
"It's better for your knees if you run downhill"
"If we run out of water we can get some from that cactus over there, I learned in the Marines." <-This was a fifty-something man pointing to a barrel cactus and he was serious.
"You should try carrying your pack a lot higher on your back like I do"
"When I'm hiking my arms always hurt before my legs do"
"I hate the fact that you have to go uphill to go up a mountain"
"It doesn't snow up here because the desert all around the mountain is too hot"
"You get out of breath because you are getting closer to Space the higher you hike so there's less oxygen"
"No, a cup of water weights like eight pounds, man!!" Some guy who was mad his buddy was telling him to carry more water.

Here's a few that fall into the "Trail-Specific" category:
"How much further is it to Kitt Peak??" I was asked while hiking the King Canyon trail in the Tucson Mountains.
"Your gun is making my group nervous; it's not like there are any dangerous animals here...any bears or anything!!" this was a sixty-something lady in the Santa Ritas and I was packing my truck up to leave after coming down from Wrightson. I wasn't even parked near her "Group." A few weeks later there was a bear incident on Josephine Saddle.
"Did you know this mountain is actually an active volcano?" -Some dingbat on the Sabino trail trying to impress high school girls.
"I've hiked a few 14ers; in fact, my first one was Mt. Humphreys" -Summit Hut employee who was off his meds.
"They named this mountain after all the trees that used to grow here before the big Aspen Fire." -Some lady near Wilderness of Rocks on Lemmon.
"They call this a sky island because you are higher than the clouds up here." -Some rocket scientist at the Palisades trailhead.
"How much further to the dam?!" -Always asked by some poor exhausted soul on any trip I've made to Pima Canyon. Preferred response: "Which one?"

Here's a few that I get all the time:
"You must be staying overnight," or "You must have stayed overnight." -A knee-jerk reaction I get to the size of my day pack or the length of the hike, etc.
"Why are you wearing long sleeves in this heat?!"

My newest favorite has to be this one from this weekend: I passed a few guys on the Madera trail and one took notice of my SPOT and says to his buddies: "Why does anyone waste their money on one of those?" His friend said something like: "It looks like he hiking alone" and genius replies with: "I know, that's what I'm saying - he's just wasting money to look cool like an idiot."

[RedRoxx44]

I don't see that many people and usually comments are directed to me. "what are you doing out here by yourself??" and "aren't you afraid??" ;)

[big_load]

I don't see that many people

I would have figured as much. You're doing something right.

[chumley]

I don't see that many people

I would have figured as much. You're doing something right.

Exactly. This whole thread should be titled "I heard it on ... the wrong trail"

I hear people say stupid sh*t everyday. That's why I go hiking. I don't want to see or HEAR anybody!

[azbackpackr]

I'm in the same boat. And it never ceases to amaze me how many Mt. Baldy questions I answer. Fine with me if everyone wants to come up from Phoenix and see everyone from Phoenix at Baldy and Escudilla, whose parking lots are often overfilled, with people (from Phoenix) parking down the road. More room for me elsewhere!
( Meow!)