non-hiking significant others

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:02 pm

If you have a non-hiking significant other, how does he/she cope with your absence? Do you put a positive spin on the time you spend outdoors, such as, "Honey, when I'm hiking, it's YOUR TIME to do what you want. Go on a shopping spree, take a bubble bath, and eat chocolate for lunch and dinner. (BTW, if I don't phone you by 9 p.m., please contact the County Sheriff.)"?

simonov · Post by **simonov** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:32 pm

As my wife is a grown adult, she manages to find other ways to occupy her time that don't require my presence.

Right now she is in France.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:47 pm

I am no longer married because she didn't like hiking and when I did hike, she resented it. Well, maybe the marriage didn't end because of hiking, but it was an area of major disagreement.
Funny thing is that when we first met, I would tell her about my hiking adventures and she would be very interested and talked about how she would love to hike. Once she hiked a couple of times, the lack of a mirror and make-up on the hikes doomed any further outdoor activities.
NO, I'm not bitter!!!!!!

Post by **Taco** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:55 pm

I solve these problems by constantly remaining single.
She would have to like hitting things with a hammer and having rocks and pieces of ice go flying past her head. And drinking at altitude. 8)

Gotta be able to hang with my crew, pun intended.

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Fri May 16, 2008 4:31 pm

This is an interesting thread already! 8)

My wife likes to hike but not at the fanatical level (in her view) that I often like to practice. My son happens to love to hike and is a fanatic. So, my excuse is often that I am spending time with my son. "Quality time" if you're into that. Of course, this isn't all of life for any of us, so we have managed to stay happy together without undue difficulty. For example, when I called her from the top of Mt. Whitney on our 32nd anniversary to say we had finished the JMT and could use a ride home, she was at the Portal before we were. And I spent a lot of the next few weeks making it up to her.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:17 pm

My wife? She prays. Doesn't like hearing these articles about lions and tigers and bears. And snakes.

brian90620 · Post by **brian90620** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:24 pm

Luckily I don't have this problem, my girl loves to hike

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:40 pm

I'm quite lucky, not only does my gf like to hike, she was dissapointed when we almost couldn't do Iron Mountain. Then she made it up in 3.5 hrs!!!

Post by **Taco** » Fri May 16, 2008 6:52 pm

Joe, your girlfriend is awesome.

Lucky find dude!

Tim · Post by **Tim** » Fri May 16, 2008 7:15 pm

I've gone on a couple of group hikes with JM and his GF. Her nickname is "Little Machine," probably because she is a little hiking machine! Very strong hiker.

Funyan005 · Post by **Funyan005** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:17 am

My girlfriend doesnt see the joy of hiking as much as I do, and so when she goes I try to make it as fun as I can for her. However, when I go off alone she worries way too much but I call her as much as I can hah.

Sad times, if only she'd come all the time!

friendowl · Post by **friendowl** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:39 am

i like to hike alone so when my girl goes i torture her
so she will want to stay home next time....

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 5:07 pm

My wife wants me to stay in touch with her at all times and HATES it when cell phones and pagers don't work in the mountains.

Poor thing is very delicate. She can handle a few easy miles, but anything more than that, and she stops enjoying it. I go out with the guys, so that's fine, but when just she and I travel together, it kind of sucks. I want to do a "real hike," and she wants to go to a museum or something. Argh.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:21 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote: HATES it when cell phones and pagers don't work in the mountains.

Fathers day commin up. She could get you one of those new fandangle satellite telephones.

HEY! It's the thought that counts, right?

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 11:38 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote:My wife wants me to stay in touch with her at all times . . . cell phones and pagers don't work in the mountains.

So far, my wife has no interest in getting a Ham radio license and monitoring a home base station while I'm hiking. In the meantime, I added a small Ham transceiver to my list of essentials.

To keep my wife fully informed (and also to annoy her), during my commute to/from a hike I use jott.com (FREE) to send her progress reports via email as I drive. On my cell phone I hit speed dial and dictate a message (e.g., "passing through Temecula"). Jott.com transcribes the message and sends her an email. Every time I think of something I want to discuss later, I send her an email. Of course, this system does not work in the mountains, but it does fill up her inbox.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 2:26 pm

[quote="Rob]To keep my wife fully informed (and also to annoy her), during my commute to/from a hike I use jott.com (FREE) to send her progress reports via email as I drive. On my cell phone I hit speed dial and dictate a message (e.g., "passing through Temecula"). Jott.com transcribes the message and sends her an email. Every time I think of something I want to discuss later, I send her an email. Of course, this system does not work in the mountains, but it does fill up her inbox.[/quote]
lol. I'm sure she appreciates that.

I'm just hoping she doesn't find out about SPOT (which I don't have a lot of confidence in) and make me buy one -- particularly since I already have a PLB.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:54 pm

saw this guy today, with his motorcycle mama. They were going to go up the waterfalls at Eaton Canyon. Past the second one so they say. I asked if they had ropes but they said they didn't need any. I think the guy thinks he is bad with his motorcycle and armor and stuff. Think if he saw Taco in his jalopy he would have just revved up his mini bike and showed him who was king of East Fork Canyon Road. This guy is lookin right at you Taco. Got a carabiner too dude. Got the girl, the wheels, the climbing equipment. told him you would be waiting for him somewhere in azusa. So keep your eyes pealed.

Post by **Taco** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:36 pm

WTF?

Confused.

KathyW · Post by **KathyW** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:49 am

Interesting subject. It's really nice to hear about non-hiking partners that worry about their significant other when he/she is out hiking. Being single, I wonder more about how long it would take for anyone to realize that I had not come home.

Over the years I have hiked and backpacked with many married people with non-hiking spouses and it seems that the main concern the non-hiking spouses have is safety and they feel more at ease when the hiking spouse is out with others and not going solo.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:53 am

KathyW wrote:Interesting subject. It's really nice to hear about non-hiking partners that worry about their significant other when he/she is out hiking. Being single, I wonder more about how long it would take for anyone to realize that I had not come home.

Over the years I have hiked and backpacked with many married people with non-hiking spouses and it seems that the main concern the non-hiking spouses have is safety and they feel more at ease when the hiking spouse is out with others and not going solo.

If I wasn't married I would be sure to tell someone my trip plans. I always tell my wife verbally and in writing, signed (wet signature) notarized plans. Then I stick to them. Gotta tell somebody.

KathyW · Post by **KathyW** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 10:12 am

If I'm not sticking to the trail or out in the winter, I do leave my route info and expected time I should be home with my adult son. It's still not the same as having a concerned spouse/partner at home who is very aware of when you should be coming home.

I recently purchased one of those Spot devices - it's not a guarantee that I'll get help when I need it, but it does give me a better chance of being found if I'm hurt and still physically able to operate the device.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:36 am

KathyW wrote:If I'm not sticking to the trail or out in the winter, I do leave my route info and expected time I should be home with my adult son. It's still not the same as having a concerned spouse/partner at home who is very aware of when you should be coming home.

I recently purchased one of those Spot devices - it's not a guarantee that I'll get help when I need it, but it does give me a better chance of being found if I'm hurt and still physically able to operate the device.

I got a great idea! I never see you and rarely see anyone else leaving trip plans on these boards. Detailed ones. What if you in addition to your son you emailed your plans to your favorite SAR person. Or I don't know if SAR has an email that you could send it to and then when you get back email again to say you are ok. Especially the hikes that don't require permits. Maybe their should be a topic space just for that? Wouldn't hurt.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:04 pm

[quote="FIGHT ON I never see you and rarely see anyone else leaving trip plans on these boards. Detailed ones. What if you in addition to your son you emailed your plans to your favorite SAR person. Or I don't know if SAR has an email that you could send it to and then when you get back email again to say you are ok. Especially the hikes that don't require permits. Maybe their should be a topic space just for that? Wouldn't hurt.[/quote]

I would think it unwise for a single woman to post detailed plans on a public message board on where they are going to be in the backcountry, and when they plan to be there. In this day & age, there are just too many freaks out there to worry about.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 3:35 pm

Terry Morse wrote:I would think it unwise for a single woman to post detailed plans on a public message board on where they are going to be in the backcountry, and when they plan to be there. In this day & age, there are just too many freaks out there to worry about.

Maybe that's why there isn't one.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:41 pm

[quote="FIGHT ON Maybe that's why there isn't one.

[/quote]

Not that anybody on this board is a freak.......well, maybe a few.......but not the pervert type freak.

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:00 pm

on Whitney at 13,500 + ft my lips were blue and i was getting dizzy, the SO was just like 'come on! there's nothing wrong with you!'. and people thought i was the hard ass!

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:35 pm

JMunaretto wrote:on Whitney at 13,500 + ft my lips were blue and i was getting dizzy, the SO was just like 'come on! there's nothing wrong with you!'. and people thought i was the hard ass!

What? the SO? Taco!? I think J is drunk!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:38 pm

JMunaretto wrote:on Whitney at 13,500 + ft my lips were blue and i was getting dizzy, the SO was just like 'come on! there's nothing wrong with you!'. and people thought i was the hard ass!

Tough wife!