12/08/2025
THE TOXIC TRUTH OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL-
PART 4
EVERYONE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND
You'd think everyone is as cool as this photo and that's the message we all know. The Hiking Community is full of amazing people who do amazing things. There's so many selfless people with hearts so big and everyone is so supportive...and that's true...kind of...
I've met thousands of amazing people and if you've followed the page, you've seen them. I've posted their photos. We've talked about their stories...but, that doesn't mean EVERYONE is your friend. That means those people are awesome...not the dregs who are looking for suckers...They’re never awesome.
Fact is that The Hiking "Community" eats it's own. Some of it is the Parasocial Disorder we talked about and alot of it just piggybacks off of the Scammers from Part 3 of this series. Money still talks and Bu****it stops...Don't believe you're new friend that you met on the trail is looking out for your best interests. They are looking out for theirs and if your interests align that's great...and it's perfect...and that's the way it usually is...but not with the scammers.
These folks love to see Newbs. People who don't have the experience and are just coming out with Rose Colored Glasses and the naivety of a baby...You saved up for months and sometimes years for this adventure on The Appalachian Trail...and there's a whole crew of people waiting for you in Georgia...especially in March... See, we told you in Part 3, there's dozens of people showing up on the trail without any money...If they want to make it to Damascus at least for Trail Days, they need pigeons to help...especially since they are sandbagging the journey for their own nefarious reasons.
They'll befriend you quickly...especially, they will be so helpful with advice...they can even score the Ma*****na or the shrooms for you or whatever else you want....ofcourse you are paying for theirs too...and their friends...you just don't know it...because they are muling for someone else and it was probably your shuttle driver from the airport who told you to look them up. After a bit, you find out that your new friend is just waiting on a "check"..a check that never comes. But, you don't know that so, you help them out here and there, and there and so on...It's all money that never gets paid back and maybe they ditch you if you are too adamant about getting your cash back...
But, everyone on the trail is great right? That's what we're told so, you'll stick around them. They have all the connections, you're meeting people, it's a good time and amazing experience...until you realize that all that money you saved up for this dream is all gone...spent not on your hike but on a "hike" for people who never came with anything to start with....and that's how the "friend" hustle works...They aren't your friend and they were never your friend. You were their pigeon....and you got plucked...and when you have to go home because you ran out of money, they're going to keep going on...because they have other scams running that paying their way just far enough to get where they can go and get the next scam....
And there's a whole lot of enabling this behavior every year...We all know it, We all see it...and nobody stops it...We just let it keep it going on and on and on and on...because of the next Toxic subject we'll talk about along The Appalachian Trail... The One About Who Controls The Narrative....
Be Careful Newbs...Not Everyone is Your Friend....Pay for no one but yourself or expect your hike to end early. Even if you could afford to pay for others, sooner or later, the mental affects of that will break you down.
