Just for Laughs, Most Annoying Hiking Partner Behaviors

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Back in 1984, I was on an Appalachian Mountain Club hike of the Morgan and Percival loop. Coming back down to the road, some guy behind me dropped his Thermos bottle. It went shooka-shooka-shooka when he shook it, so he inexplicably removed the cap and dumped the broken glass out onto the trail. The assistant leader came back and bawled him out, then ordered him to open his pack. When he did, she scooped up the glass — along with an overly generous helping of leaves and detritus — and dumped everything into his pack and told him to keep it in there until he could dispose of it properly.
 
Now that I think about it I should confess that I probably have to add myself to the list as "The Crinkler". Two summers ago on a very warm calm day on the summit of Lafayette I had forgot my cooler at home so I had stopped and bought bottled water for the hike. As I finished the bottle on the summit I instinctively crushed the flimsy plastic to reduce the size in my pack. I might as well have lit off some fireworks with how loud that crinkling noise was. Almost immediately the 50-60 people that were enjoying the views stopped talking and looked directly at me with contempt. Oops. I was "one of those guys" that day. Haven't brought bottled water since.
 
The screamer is not always a screamer. I've heard people a long way off on many occasions, and if they were my friends, I've sometimes asked them if they were yelling and they usually say no. Some topography just lends itself to sound carrying a long way.

The most amazing example of this was when I was standing on the summit of Baxter, and next to me a friend was on a walkie talkie, talking with our friends who were about 3/4 of a mile back down the trail. We could tell this because we could hear their voices carried up on the air about 3-4 seconds after we heard them on the walkie talkie! :eek:
 
sardog1 said:
Most annoying thing a hiking companion can do for me is show up. Second most is somehow making it back out of the woods and suggesting we do such a thing again … ;)
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I feel the same way! I much prefer going solo. I can set my own pace, take breaks whenever I want, stop and look at anything that catches my interest(geology, plants, etc.) without imposing on anyone else. That's why I won't join groups in the mountains....I would be the annoying guy! That said, I've recently joined a group to do short local day hikes and the annoying behavior I've come across is the person that always wants to change the hike itinerary half way through and go the route they want instead of what the group decided on at the start of the hike.
 
Worst thing my hiking partner ever did to me was bomb me (aka flatulence). He calls it altitude adjusting. You would think I would have learned after the first time and made him walk behind me... nope. It happened more than once. :rolleyes:
 
Poles that stick away out behind the hiker. I suppose, they help prevent "tailgating" but it is scary to see a pole suddenly come at you when their pace has changed and yours hasn't yet.

I am one of those who stops and turns to respond. Usually I am saying, "Sorry, but I'm hard of hearing" if it is a group that doesn't know me. When three of us who are friends and hard of hearing hike together we are L O U D E R than some would like, but mostly it is laughter that you'll hear. If you haven't found a compatible group of hiking friends yet, be patient and keep searching. It's worth it! "Huh?"

I don't like it when people bring better food than I have. I don't like it when people make the same complaints about their gear but don't do anything about it. I have had people join hikes who have a deadline as to when they must be home (dinner, date, concert).

The flatulence (HAFE) is part of altitude sickness, just as HAPE and HACE. It comes with the territory and I don't mine. If a person knows they are having a bad tummy day, they should stay at the back of the pack.
 
The music man - The person that thinks everyone near them that day that wants to listen to "their" choice of music played out loud on their phone/radio/etc (i prefer peace and quiet)

The narrow trail rest breaker - The person that takes a break in the narrowest or most difficult part of the trail. Usually they have their pack on the ground too making it even harder to get around them

In regards to people talking constantly... I have taken a completely different route than planned down Monadnock before because of the family that decided it was ok for their two kids to yell back and forth to each other constantly when they were only about 50 feet apart. Most of the time they were just repeating the same phrase too.
 
erugs said:
Poles that stick away out behind the hiker. I suppose, they help prevent "tailgating" but it is scary to see a pole suddenly come at you when their pace has changed and yours hasn't yet.
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This reminded me of another one. I have gotten slowed down behind people that put so much time into finding the right spot for their poles on the ground while walking that they easily could have already been past the obstacle or section by the time they even start it. I do realize some people with worse knees or other ailments might need to take it slow though.

I also remembered another one being the people that are going slow, but don't move over to let you by (sometimes even after looking at you). Being solo almost all the time, I don't really talk on the trail and don't normally use poles in the warmer months either, so I can sometimes sneak up behind people pretty easily without making much/any noise.
 
I once heard a guy on Welch-Dickey yelling out obscenities. When he and his friends caught up, I saw that I knew him from school (college, where I work and he was a student) and said, "Jason, what kind of language is that?" He looked embarrassed.

Sometimes I find myself annoying when I hike alone. I get the same song stuck in my head and it won't leave.
 
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erugs said:
Sometimes I find myself annoying when I hike alone. I get the same song stuck in my head and it won't leave.
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True! And it is never a song you like. It is always some horrible jingle from a radio commercial or some similarly annoying song by a band you can't stand.
 
I annoyed our leader while on a Sierra Club backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park. I got too close to him while we were struggling up a pass and he turned around with his palm held out and told me to ‘‘back off, please.’’
 
Raymond said:
I annoyed our leader while on a Sierra Club backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park. I got too close to him while we were struggling up a pass and he turned around with his palm held out and told me to ‘‘back off, please.’’
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I annoyed a hiker in a group once by following too close going down (because he and some others had a BBQ to get to) and he turned around and asked if I would like him to let me pass. (I was the designated sweep.)

I now sometimes will hold my poles in front of me to remind myself to stay a distance back. (But if you turned around and saw me, you might think I was silently threatening you!)
 
I will reveal my own annoying hiking behaviour - I'm late. Yup, it's chronic. About 10 to 15 minutes every time. Rarely later than that, but, also, never earlier. So sorry to anyone who has waited for me at a park and ride or a trailhead.
 
SherpaWill said:
I like to call them the "play by play" guy.
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I do the guessing game at least. I do it more for myself though, and usually at geological markers, such as tree line or a view. I find it helps me remember the hike. I also use it when I am tired to gague effort required to get back!
 
Undershaft said:
I feel the same way! I much prefer going solo. I can set my own pace, take breaks whenever I want, stop and look at anything that catches my interest(geology, plants, etc.) without imposing on anyone else. That's why I won't join groups in the mountains....I would be the annoying guy! That said, I've recently joined a group to do short local day hikes and the annoying behavior I've come across is the person that always wants to change the hike itinerary half way through and go the route they want instead of what the group decided on at the start of the hike.
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Or even worse, the 'Surprise Deadline Hiker'. Oh btw, I have to be back for a party at noon.
 
I’m surprised no one mentioned this, the group that stops for a break and completely blocks the trail and then gets upset if you walk near their gear. Or the group of boy scouts who take a dump three feet from the trail or insist that bananas will be eaten by animals and do not need to be carried out.
 
The group of people taking a break and you walk through them, say hi...and get nothing back. From any of them. Kind of creepy, everyone looking and saying nothing. That happened on Lafayette this past summer along with the most disgusting amount of trash on the trail I have seen.
 
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