After reading all the gun threads on here I have come up with a simple solution.

To decrease the venomous, mean spirited posts about carry guns, shooting small prey, shooting tentmates, eating meat, etc. Why don't we all hike together? Knowing someone makes you less inclined to play internet tough guy. You see, I as well as many here have hiked togther at our annual BPL hike. When you get to know someone, you tend to be more civil towards one another. Just a thought. If you are a vegetarian cool, if you love meat, cool too. Hunters and non hunters...come along and have a fun time. You see, we are bound by the love of backpacking and being in the mountains....






as well as our sickness of buying gear......(there I said it! I am addicted to gear!)

Edited by kennyhel77 on 10/01/2011 10:50:30 MDT.

The GGG is an amazing experience. A wide range of backgrounds and age groups all bound together by their love of backpacking. And everyone gets along great. Very cool. Thanks Ken.

and Ken, it leads to many more hikes with others too, as we both have seen. I am thrilled that many of us here have had the fortune to branch off and travel the mountains together!

Would you be mad if I brought a gun? Lol, this is a joke.

I'd love to go hiking with y'all! I just wish they had events out this way. The Rockies and AT are both at least 12 hours off.


I don't think Jen was talking to me, but Ken is such an awesome name, I couldn't mind piping in here. Jen, I wouldn't mind at all if you were packing, so long as you were proficient with whatever you're packing (and yes, I understand that many folks aren't). We could even make you an honorary Ken! Ken... Jen... Maybe Kjen? Sounds Nordic!

Ken - the other, other one.

P.S. Go Cardinals!

As long as you pack out your brass I don't mind. I'm sure you won't be the only one.

All we are saying.....is give peace a chance


Sound lyrics

Unfortunately, Mark David Chapman didn't get the message...

Ouch Travis

Hey Ken, A book you may enjoy reading by John McPhee is exactly what you describe above. John McPhee is a superb story teller and his character development is unbiased and accurate. I especially like David Brower and Floyd Dominy rafting the Colorado River. We can all learn from each other.

Encounters with the Archdruid
1971
The Archdruid of the title is David Brower, the first executive director of the Sierra Club, and a founder of Friends of the Earth and Earth Island Institute. McPhee went on three different wilderness journeys with Brower, each one including a man representing the pro-development side of the debate on the environment. They hike in the Cascades of Washington with Charles Park, a geologist and mining engineer who, McPhee relates, would want the White House moved if copper were to be found under it. They visit Hilton Head Island on the coast of South Carolina with Charles Fraser, who seeks to develop the island. In the final section, they join Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Floyd Dominy in a rafting trip down the Colorado River. Dominy is an ardent proponent of dams, Brower is equally ardent in his opposition to them. McPhee skillfully weaves the stories of the journeys with the stories of the four men's lives.

Great book. I really enjoy most of McPhee's stuff...

Ken -

I am all for it! Even if we can't all agree on much, we can agree that hiking is a great way to pass time between Internet debates.

Dirk

well said...

and isn't that why we're all here?

also, I got a line on UL brass and a bridge if you wanna have at... :D

I would really love to go hiking with a lot of people here... unfortunately living in Japan kind of puts a damper on that... but one day!!!

Count me in :-)

Ken,

What a great idea! I think you're right in your thinking that when you know someone you're less inclined to respond to a dissenting opinion with such vitriol. I'd love to go on a BPL hike, but my schedule almost never allows for it. I seem to only be able to hike solo, which is fine. I still enjoy it. However, back on point, your suggestion is a brilliant one. The love of backpacking is the one thing that everyone on this site has in common and that should be enough to get past some of the anger that occurs during these debates.

Agree.

I generally do not like hiking with other people. But the absolute best hiking partner I have ever gone with is Craig Wisner. We butt heads sometimes here on BPL and sometimes I upset and offend him (sorry, Craig). But on our hike we only talked about the things we hold in common. And although we do not agree on many things, Craig is a kind and good person, among the best I have ever met. We only discussed our common interests on our trip. Not to mention a generation gap as I am old enough to be his parent. I have no interest in changing Craig, and visa versa. I will hike anywhere with Craig in a heartbeat.

Thank you Nick, the sentiment is mutual.

It's for the reasons listed in this thread that I'm trying to stay out of (and actually not even read) the Chaff-related posts on this site these days.

There's enough going on in this world to pIss me off to no end as it is. Better I keep BPL a positive place to visit than drag in all that muck. If I want to argue...

...actually, I really don't want to argue anymore.

all comments have been great today! And yes, what others have written was exactly my point.

Ken. Great comments here. Ready to meet up with 2 dozen of us?