Portrait 27: Boomerang

"We, as men, have to start saying something." - Boomerang, a hiker

On one of the last nights of their section hike, Flame and Boomerang shared a shelter with me. We talked about a lot of things from their month on the AT, but the subject eventually turned to the amount of sexual aggression on the trail. One story came out about a middle aged man in the Smokeys who stripped every time he spoke to a specific young woman. In the morning, she gently deflected his (mostly naked) attempts at conversation until he walked away.

I was simultaneously shocked at the guy taking off his clothes when he approached her, and also at her efficient response. The normality and ease of her reaction made me think that similar things have happened often enough that she has a measured, practiced response.

The Appalachian Trail has severe problems with predators and racism, especially in the crowded first several hundred miles. It's so prevalent that I had already become somewhat numbed within the first week or two of my hike. It's easy to become numb when I'm not the current victim. Boomerang's simple statement brought me back to a place of normalcy, and I've thought about it every day since. It's not a perfect solution, but it is every hiker's responsibility to help keep the trails safe. And it is beyond time that we, as bystanders, must start to say something.