To the residents that live in the places we vacation, for the most part hikers are respected more than tourists. Even the very people whose livelyhood depends on tourists have given the not so loving nickname to tourists- touron. This word is a combination of tourist and moron, if you needed me to explain that to you, you are the latter. At this point if you are still reading, I assume you may want to know the difference.
First off, if you only go to scenic overlooks and snap pictures you are a tourist. As any park ranger will tell you, the best views are not from the scenic overlook. They are in the back country. Also any view that you have "earned" by walking is worth five times as much any looking out your car door. This may be a "duh" thing to say because hikers hike. But it is not just the fact hikers walk and by definition makes them hikers. Its a state of mind, if a hiker is limited by time and doesn't have time to explore, it will eat at him. Sometimes hikers can't get out onto every trail and they have to do the " scenic overlook thing" and be a tourist for the day. It will kill him to know that just behind the mountain he is looking at is a valley he can't see. If you come to an overlook and you see a person sitting off to the side away from everybody else eating a granola bar, he/she is most likely a hiker.
This brings me to my second point. Tourist can hike and still be tourists, not hikers. If you have ever been to Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire on a Saturday during the summer, the parking lot is full with a couple hundred cars. Mostly it is people hiking Mt Washington. Mount Washington is the highest point in New England so naturally everyone wants to climb it. So for the " tourist" he climbs Mt Washington so he can say he climbed the highest peak or the one with the worst weather in the world or any other superlative that comes with Mt Washington. Of course hikers climb Washington too. The day I climbed it, it was a beautiful Friday afternoon in August. DJ was 5 years old and we waited until we got a perfect day for the hike. There were so many people going up the mountain I felt like a lemming. It looked like Route 128 during rush hour down to a single lane. It was crowded to the point of being uncomfortable to me.The view was awesome but with the hikers, Cog Railroad guests, and all the people who buy the " This vehicle climbed Mt. Washington bumper stickers we did not stay to long at the top. To be fair to everyone, hikers and tourists, it is a tough climb. Over 8 miles and 4000 feet of elevation gain. Although I delight in making fun of tourists, anyone who climbs Washington gets a free pass from me for the day.
Tourists will have the attitude that they hiked the biggest mountain so no need to hike the rest. Or they may hike up Cannon Mountain because its one of the easier mountains to hike and if they get tired they can take the tram down. Ask a tourist if they have hiked the Bonds and they will give you a blank look. Ask a hiker in New Hampshire if they hiked the Bonds and they will tell you it was the best hike they have ever done. Another tourist attitude- A hypothetical trail leads to three waterfalls, the first waterfall on the trail is the largest. This will be the turnaround point for most tourists. They figure they have seen the biggest, why go any further. Hikers will go on for two reasons. They want to see the other two falls and they know the other two falls won't be crowded.
So how can you tell a tourist from a hiker on a popular trail? It is easier than you would think. Hikers never litter. We live by the " Leave no trace code" if you have ever littered on a trail- touron.
No matter how rocky the trail hikers will always look up to make eye contact and say hello.I used to say hello to everyone I passed until I got jaded by all the stuck up tourons. Now I look up to see if they will be friendy, if they make eye contact someone is sure to say hello. It is just good trail etiquette to be friendly. If you walk by another group on the trail and don't acknowledge there presece-touron.
Anyone that uses this phrase " Have a great hike" is surely a hiker because they know the hike is as enjoyable as the destination.
Tourists are much more likely to ask questions like this : How much farther to the waterfall? Is it worth the trip?
One thing hikers make fun of is what I have coined as the " collard shirt crowd" If you don't want to be snickered at behind your back do not wear a polo shirt into the backcountry. Sweat and collard shirts don't mix, and for God's sake don't wear a salmon colored one ( see photo).
Respect- Hikers respect other hikers ( and tourists that live by the above codes- be friendly, don't litter). The reason for this is hiking is really an equal oppurtunity recreation. No matter how rich or poor you are. No matter if your wearing 200 dollar gortex or flannel, wether your 5 years old or 75. To get to the top of a mountain, we are all on equal footing ( pun intended) No amount of money or better equipment will make it any easier for you then for me or vice versa. Theres only one way to the top and thats to put one foot in front of the other.
Lastly, when it comes to wildlife, if you try to get a picture of a wild animal you can be either tourist or hiker. Don't we all want to see animals when we go off into the woods? Now if you try to get a family member in the same picture as the animal you are most definately a tourist. If you try to get a picture of a dangerous animal and put one of your children way to close to the animal for the sake of a picture you are the ultimate touron.
Disclaimer number 2- . In the same way that I am jealous of black men ( because they have big hands... thats it... hands ) I am told not all black men have big... hands. Not everyone will fit into the above catagories of hiker and tourist. I hope that a tourist will pick up a water bottle they see on the way to the first waterfall. Once in a while, I come across hikers who don't seem to have the time to say hello. I am sticking to my guns on my generalizations ( about hikers and tourist ) based on my time in the field. I have had a few of conversations with park rangers about tourists. Although they don't have a lot of respect for them in general, they know for the most part they are harmless little lemmings that don't know any better.
In part two, I will explain how not to be a touron. I have a bunch of pictures of tourons doing stupid things including idiots taking pictures of buffalo from about 15 feet away, I will show in my next post.
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