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I recently visited six national parks in California and Utah: Yosemite, Sequoia, King's Canyon, Zion, Bryce, and the Arches. During the trip, I received quite a few longhair complements, comments, and of course, overheard remarks. It seems that my hair has gotten to the point of being jaw-droppingly long.
Hotel receptionist (50-ish woman with very nice hair): "How long is your hair?"
Ed: "Knee-length".
Hotel receptionist: "Turn around"
Ed: Turns around and chuckles.
Hotel receptionist to other receptionist: "His hair is longer than mine."
At a different hotel, the receptionist (35-ish woman) complemented me on my hair and asked how long it took to grow. I received complements from a customer ("your hair caught my attention when you walked in") and another hotel employee (both women).
I sat next to a 35-ish woman on a tour bus. She offered me the use of her scrunchie.
Park restaurant employee (teenage woman): "Love your hair!"
Ed: "Thanks!"
A 50-ish man on a trail in Sequoia National Park asked if I was a photographer or naturalist. I must have looked the part.
On a trail in Zion canyon, a 65-ish man stopped, looked closely at my hair, and then gave me a complement. I stopped at a viewpoint where an old man stared at me continuously without saying anything. Apparently I was more interesting to look at than the canyon.
Little kids can be amusing. I walk past two little girls and their mom on a trail. For the next five minutes, I overhear from behind me the two girls arguing "That's a boy. No, that's a girl". I suppose their mom had to do a bit of explanation. A similar thing happened with what appeared to be a first-grade field trip in Yosemite.
I walked past a group of three 20-ish women on a trail at the Arches National Park in Utah. Later in the parking lot, I overhear one of the women exclaim "California!" as they walked past my car. There were license plates from many different states. Apparently my being from California explained everything!
BTW, these parks are spectacular. I highly recommend visiting them.
Ed
I was at Zion and Arches, and I saw a few other longhairs (but not you!). I saw more longhairs than the east coast average in Santa Fe and in Durango, less at the Grand Canyon.
I second that!
Bruce
That's really cool Ed! It must've been fun to visit all those national parks, and of course hearing all the nice comments about your hair:)
By the way, are you of Native American descent?
Keep up the good work!
Simon
Thanks!
No, but I am asked that on occasion. I'm Polish-Chinese.
Ed
Polish-Chinese? What a combination :P
Do you speak Polish? or Chinese?
Hey Ed!
Great stories..made me chuckle. I had the good fortune to visit both Zion and Bryce many years ago on a camping trip with my family. They are both spectacular national parks and I have many fond memories of those places. Living in California, long hair on men is more common than a lot of other places, and I don't get much c**p about it here. Visiting family in the Midwest three years ago, my then 6-year old nephew, not used to longhaired men, said to me "Your hair looks like a wig!"
Stormy
Hey, that's better than what my sister's friend told me when I visited with them in Iowa. She said she could tell by its behavior that her dog thought I was another dog! She explained that the dog had never seen a man with a beard before.
Bill
...must have lived a very sheltered life.
That's awesomne :)
Good to hear that most of the comments were positive.
In any case, since you're from California you're lucky to be able to blame everything on that if it really comes to it, and people will leave you alone :P
Not all of us are this luckly lol.
Thanks for the update :)
It seems that my hair has gotten to the point of being jaw-droppingly long.
I go out in public. People will turn around and take a second look. When your hair is 18 inches past your waistline, people will notice. I get comments and reactions every time. My hair reaches the tops of my knees.
Ed, it would be cool if you could come to our next bay area long hair get together. We are a social club as well as a message board.
Absalom
I always think your hair is amazing, Ed, but I had no idea it was that long now!
I went to Yosemite and Bryce Canyon back in '79. That part of the world certainly is pretty amazing.
Ed, these are great accounts and really enjoyable to read. It's not as good as going up in a building in NYC to a floor that has a 4 foot high ceiling and falling down a chute to be you for 15 minutes but it's almost as good. this is free and after 15 minutes we don't wind up on the side of an expressway. I can now live vicariously the life of hair I'll probably never have. This even though my goal migrates downward as my hair grows out. (does this happen to anyone else?) Future accounts of hair experiences in your travels will be greatly appreciated.
At least the expressway is still open. I-10 through Tucson is going to be under construction, with all of the on-and-off ramps closed for the next 3 years! All I can say is that, when it's done, It better be awesome!
I'm taking it that it wasn't filmed along a New Jersey freeway then....
Guess that wasn't the only fiction; my cousin John M. is still bald! ;-)
Bill (thankful to be in a different branch of the family tree)
you could have fooled me. It really looked like N.J. expressway to me but I think everyone always landed at night so I guess it could have been anywhere. Anyway, I remember I-10 in Tucson. I remember the Triple T truck stop where I'd drink about 10 cups of coffee before driving home after Van Halen concerts etc. yeah, I think I'd rather be Ed G. than bald John M.
Derf26: Do you speak Polish? or Chinese?
No, I was raised on only American culture.
Absalom: I go out in public. People will turn around and take a second look. When your hair is 18 inches past your waistline, people will notice. I get comments and reactions every time. My hair reaches the tops of my knees.
Ed, it would be cool if you could come to our next bay area long hair get together. We are a social club as well as a message board.
Funny how that happens. I used to think "geez, these people act like they've never seen a long-haired man before." But now many people truly have never seen hair as long as mine.
Send me an email when the next get-together is planned.
Everyone, thanks for the complements!
Ed
What an enjoyable posting Ed. Thanks for sharing all of the comments (or a stare) that you received. Really fun to read. I can only imagine what it was like for you to be in the middle of all of this. Fun! :-)
LMAO! Cool comments! You had a real good vacation and the one with the girls is really interesting. I don't know but I always find it amusing when little girls see a guy with long hair.