This week’s “best and worst” of social media round up features just one story because it was so awesome.
“The Bachelor” saga took place on two different Facebook groups this past week and immediately garnered the attention of hundreds of fans. The story started out on the “Hiking in Alaska” group (which has over 35,000 members), but then moved over to the newer (and smaller) group “Alaska Hiking” for reasons that will soon become apparent.
NOTE: This is a long post, but it is worth it to read all the way through to find out who got the red rose!
It all started with this post by a gentleman with the very formal name of “Arthur Chester Dyer V.”
Arthur, who was soon outed as a bachelor, posted this selfie on the “Hiking in Alaska” group and asked: “Anyone free for Resurrection Pass tomorrow at 8 a.m. (Tuesday the 16th of June)? I can move it earlier or later. No goals or plans. I just want to hike with the pup.”
Arthur’s photo immediately garnered a lot of attention, especially from single ladies (and their friends and mothers). Soon, there were hundreds of comments.
At first, Arthur was confused:
Then, after he understood what all the fuss was about, he tried to explain why he posted a selfie. (He thought it would be creepier NOT to post a photo.)
Soon thereafter, a Mom promoted her 21 year old daughter as a candidate for the hike:
Things snowballed from there with people posting funny GIFS and comments and Arthur playing along.
He said he was an “Aries” who enjoyed long walks and dogs. He also started using the hashtag #hikesofourlives.
Despite all the hoopla, Arthur was not too hopeful about finding an appropriate hiking companion. At first, his only real offers were two ladies in their 50s, one of whom was still married, plus “a gentleman from the Valley with a sleeping bag ‘made for two.'” LOL.
A woman named Iris posted a picture of what she imagined the soon to be “hike” was going to be like:
One gal gave Arthur some advice – Maybe bring a Red Rose just in case you feel like holding a rose ceremony there at Resurrection Pass.
Note that many people were clearly checking out Arthur’s Facebook profile as they referenced the cool shots of a helicopter plus a photo featuring a lobster picnic feast.
Arthur joked that he wished he had known sooner that the Facebook Hiking in Alaska group was a de facto dating site.
Arthur shared a DM he received, which someone labeled SAVAGE:
Arthur posted a GIF of himself “sweating bullets.”
Anyhow, Arthur eventually found someone to hike with and promised he would reveal who it was later after the hike if he obtained her permission.
LOL about his comment: “(L)astly, to the hiker who found my bumble profile, I’m not even mad, I’m impressed.”
The next day, to the surprise & delight of the #hikesofourlives fans, Arthur’s hiking companion revealed herself and shared photos of their epic hike:
However, the administrator of the “Hiking in Alaska” group, who is no fun at all, declared that “This is not a dating site.” And she threatened to delete any future dating related posts.
So, then Joe Bellevance, the very nice administrator of another hiking group, “Alaska Hiking,” invited all the hikers from the big group over to his smaller, less strict, more fun group.
He also made an announcement that he had signed the Bachelor for five more episodes:
The Bachelor posted an update on the new group about how his hike with “Miss Avocado” went (he was still politely not giving out her real name.)
Postscript:
The Bachelorette commented on Joe’s post about the new episodes. She clearly was not going to give up the Bachelor without a fight.
Arthur then told everyone, including RUTH, about his encounter with a grizzly bear on a later hike:
