article: The Death of backpacking

[wayno]

http://www.hcn.org/issues/46.12/the-dea ... ackpacking

I keep hearing that the art of backpacking is dying. Usually the messenger is an older person with the tone of the gentle curmudgeon who can't understand why the damn kids aren't interested in hauling 40 pounds into wilderness on a forced march day after day over rough earth, under rain and sun, in order to drink unbottled water of unknown provenance, with a slimy helping of beaver *&^%$#! and dirt, eat gruel at dusk, be attacked from ankle to earlobe by insects, be watched by carnivores with eyes gleaming in the dark and by mice scheming for gorp, only to crash exhausted to the ground in a sleeping bag that quickly transforms (as the ornery desert scribe Ed Abbey observed) into a greasy fart-sack, and be woken far too early, with the cruel lash of sun-up and the birdsong bouncing on your tympanum like a pogo stick.

[GPSGuided]

Can't say I can agree with the article. Whilst the absolute number may have reduced by the alternate outdoor activities available these days, but there's still more than enough youth involved in the activity. The article is too pessimistic. Maybe one can get a skewed view in certain hiking clubs or organizations, but just take a look on Youtube. Youth is well represented.

[wayno]

Can't say I can agree with the article. Whilst the absolute number may have reduced by the alternate outdoor activities available these days, but there's still more than enough youth involved in the activity. The article is too pessimistic. Maybe one can get a skewed view in certain hiking clubs or organizations, but just take a look on Youtube. Youth is well represented.

it's america!

[GPSGuided]

it's america!

Noted. But were you referring American are pessimistic or there's a reduction of young backpackers there? As said, Youtube postings suggest young outdoor type are plenty there.

[Gadgetgeek]

I think its probably a shift from the off-track stuff to UL through hiking for younger people. I think people my age and generation are far more risk adverse than previous generations, and also don't understand the risks as well, so they seem greater, therefor they are less willing to go into off-track areas. I think that on the other hand, youtube is going to be over-representative of the younger crowd as they are more likely to bother with posting and boasting. And more younger people live vicariously through the internet. Why get bug-bitten and cold when you can read a blog about someone else's inner growth on a trail? We live in a Yelp world where even adventures are not meant to hold any real surprises. So people want to know what they are getting. And in the case of lowest common denominator recreation, a weekend BBQ is going to get more people together than five or six days out on the trail.
finally in regards to the author directly, I think that older folks tend to not let as much time slip away from them as younger people. I know I've planned more trips than I've taken, and over time its hard to really remember how far apart the trips were actually spread. The 50 year old who wants to grab every opportunity can and will, whereas most 20somethings have opportunities sliding past so fast we miss most of them in the rush.

[GPSGuided]

Not convinced about the risk adverse point. Just look at all the young people who are into extreme sports. Don't see the more senior generation doing it. As for grey beards on Youtube. They are surprisingly prevalent on outdoor channels.

[Orion]

Anecdotal evidence, I know, but it's reinforced by the experts who compile outdoor recreation statistics. Chris Doyle, executive director of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, describes "a well-known trend" in outdoor gear sales, wherein day packs take an increasing share of the pack market while technical overnight packs are a declining percentage of total sales. "The same is true for heavy, extended-trip boots versus light boots," says Doyle. "This is all part of a trend towards 'Done in a day' that reflects consumers' continued interest in outdoor adventures, but they prefer to be in their own bed or another comfortable spot (hotel or lodge) at night."

I don't see evidence of it here in the California Sierra. The backcountry is stuffed full of people. And it isn't all retired codgers either. During the summer when school is out, loads of younger people, toting mini guitars or ukuleles, descend on prime camping areas at dusk like locusts. I've had to pack up everything and move multiple times because of this and as a result greatly prefer the mosquitos. At least they respond to DEET.

It's hard to get a permit on a popular route in the summer. You practically need a lawyer to obtain one.

The trade association guy is probably right about big packs and boots though. Not as many backpackers use those as in the past. With ultralight gear now available as consumer items there's not as much need for the bigger stuff. I only use my boots for spring snow... or Tasmania.

[GPSGuided]

It's hard to get a permit on a popular route in the summer. You practically need a lawyer to obtain one.

A very interesting feature of US's NP management. So many places has visiting pass on a lottery. Weird but can understand how it came to be.

[wayno]

Anecdotal evidence, I know, but it's reinforced by the experts who compile outdoor recreation statistics. Chris Doyle, executive director of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, describes "a well-known trend" in outdoor gear sales, wherein day packs take an increasing share of the pack market while technical overnight packs are a declining percentage of total sales. "The same is true for heavy, extended-trip boots versus light boots," says Doyle. "This is all part of a trend towards 'Done in a day' that reflects consumers' continued interest in outdoor adventures, but they prefer to be in their own bed or another comfortable spot (hotel or lodge) at night."

I don't see evidence of it here in the California Sierra. The backcountry is stuffed full of people. And it isn't all retired codgers either. During the summer when school is out, loads of younger people, toting mini guitars or ukuleles, descend on prime camping areas at dusk like locusts. I've had to pack up everything and move multiple times because of this and as a result greatly prefer the mosquitos. At least they respond to DEET.

It's hard to get a permit on a popular route in the summer. You practically need a lawyer to obtain one.

The trade association guy is probably right about big packs and boots though. Not as many backpackers use those as in the past. With ultralight gear now available as consumer items there's not as much need for the bigger stuff. I only use my boots for spring snow... or Tasmania.

yeah but don't people come from all over the world to walk in the Sierra's? , they are pretty world reknown for the scenery there... it may be the lesser known trails are getting less and less people on them.. NZ tracks can be crammed full of people, but damned if i can find other new zealanders on them at times... it maybe modern media are getting people to flock to the best tracks and forget about the rest...

[GPSGuided]

Californian are outdoor mad, especially those in Silicon Valley. As for those less known trails, there were less in the first place. Plenty of Preppers go and hunt those down.

[Gadgetgeek]

GPS I think the extreme sports guys are the outliers. I'm thinking more of sports that are somewhat in the middle for actual risk, but people don't really understand the risk profile. Like has been mentioned here often, people going out unprepared for the environment, it cuts the other way too, people feeling that something is more dangerous than it really is. But you could be right, its hard to know really. Its hard to really figure out how representative a certain sample of the population is. My hunch is that if there are the same number of representatives on youtube, then there are far more older guys in the wild, as it where, since they are far less likely to be online as much. Blatant age-ism there but less a techophobe angle and more a cultural one. But thats all just a guess and assumption. On the other hand, are places or activities becoming more popular in relation to population size and density? or is that having any sort of impact? I think that older folks would tend to have more resources available for travel, be it funds or excuses, so they might be hitting spots farther from home, where younger guys who need to be back into the office monday are crowding spots closer to home, which would explain the crush in California.
Realisticly though, I don't see backpacking dying out, the tougher it becomes, the more the die-hards will enjoy it really. especially if places get limits and LNT requirements, then the people who enjoy that are really going to have a good time, instead of having to put up with other people. Its like music, the narrower the fanbase, the stronger the support.

[wayno]

i think a lot of younger die hards have gone into mountain running, multisport and adventure racing... the ultra fit endurance trampers that used to proliferate , just arent around bushwalking in anywhere near the numbers they used to be....

[perfectlydark]

Havnt noticed a lack of young people myself tbh. If anything I feel that bushwalking is undergoing some sort of revival here

[Hallu]

America has a strong culture of road trips and car camping : in the 20s, Stephen Mather built a huge number of road in National Parks, which means you didn't have to walk miles to reach wilderness any more. You could enjoy a National Park solely by camping next to your car.

In Australia road trips and car camping are also strong, but but there was less investment in big scenic roads, so people tend to walk more (in my opinion). In Europe, whilst there are scenic roads, there is no "road trip" per se. Lookouts for cars are rarely shown on maps, and in Parks the roads lead to ski stations or farms, there is no dedicated scenic road inside a park. There are young people who perform road trips in Europe, but it's mostly with cities in mind, like Barcelona, Prague, Paris, Berlin, etc... Hence the other young people who go to parks bushwalk. But I agree with Wayno, in the Alps you see plenty of crazy youth, doing paragliding, extreme skiing, speed climbing and so on, and that may have replaced bushwalking in some young people's minds. The only Alpine country that suits car tourism is Switzerland. Plenty of lookouts and little trains, glacier viewpoints not far from the road etc... In the French Alps, there's Chamonix and that's it. For truely enjoying the rest, you need plenty of guidebooks and maps to tell you where to walk.

[durks]

http://www.hcn.org/issues/46.12/the-death-of-backpacking

... and be woken far too early, with ... the birdsong bouncing on your tympanum like a pogo stick.

What a weird thing to consider complaining about! The sound of birdsong is one of the things I look forward to when I'm out and about in the countryside.

[wayno]

sometimes clubs should police their members better... one major club i was in had a sex pest, propositioning as many young women as he could. the women usually never came back on trips.. the sex pest was a long term member , nothing was done that i know of to stop him even though i made sure the committee knew... i wonder how many people there are like this who put a lot of people off bushwalking. apparently it was common knowledge about this guy's activities in the club, but the attitude was his victims should just grow a thick skin and deal with him themselves. he was just left to his own devices...
i'm not trying to write clubs off but i have seen a lot of insensitivity of established trampers in clubs to newcomers, its really sink or swim for them...
peoples spare time isnt as great as it once was. students who have to work jobs to pay for more expensive education, more expensive cost of living, means people work weekends more often. 7 day a week society. in nz the weekends everything used to close. so there was a bigger incentive to get into recreation and less digital and media distractions...
my mate who i tramped with in the eighties every fortnight has a teenage son who can't stand any form of bushwalking even day walks... cant live without his smartphone and computer games consoles....

[metastable]

Anecdotal evidence, I know, but it's reinforced by the experts who compile outdoor recreation statistics. Chris Doyle, executive director of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, describes "a well-known trend" in outdoor gear sales, wherein day packs take an increasing share of the pack market while technical overnight packs are a declining percentage of total sales. "The same is true for heavy, extended-trip boots versus light boots," says Doyle. "This is all part of a trend towards 'Done in a day' that reflects consumers' continued interest in outdoor adventures, but they prefer to be in their own bed or another comfortable spot (hotel or lodge) at night."

That sounds more like people are going lightweight, rather than not actually going?

[wayno]

Anecdotal evidence, I know, but it's reinforced by the experts who compile outdoor recreation statistics. Chris Doyle, executive director of the Adventure Travel Trade Association, describes "a well-known trend" in outdoor gear sales, wherein day packs take an increasing share of the pack market while technical overnight packs are a declining percentage of total sales. "The same is true for heavy, extended-trip boots versus light boots," says Doyle. "This is all part of a trend towards 'Done in a day' that reflects consumers' continued interest in outdoor adventures, but they prefer to be in their own bed or another comfortable spot (hotel or lodge) at night."

That sounds more like people are going lightweight, rather than not actually going?

probably to a certain extent, ultralighters have gained in numbers. it has a bigger presence in media and in gear available now... now that mainstrem brands have ranges in ultralight gear shows how much presence there is of ultralighters amongst bushwalkers.
but day walkers also only need light gear as well.

[Gadgetgeek]

Hallu, maybe its different in Canada than the US but I found that while RV camping is somewhat popular, hiking is far more so. There are actually lots of places to go (and several trail options from each trailhead), unlike most of Australia where 4x4 touring is the thing to do. I think the biggest difference is that in north america, people tend to go to one place for a weekend or holiday and take the RV or tent instead of a hotel room where Aussies tend to take that same time to cover more mileage. Aussie RVs, tent trailers and family tents are designed for a much faster set-up and take-down, where N.A stuff tends to be the kind of thing that you don't want to take down every day. But I think the US is more a destination culture, where as australia is more about the journey.
But thats a bit regional as well, BC and Alberta have lots of places to hike, but the prairies tend to have much less hiking, and people tend to spend long weekends at the lake instead, or outdoor recreation involves vehicles and/or hunting.

[GPSGuided]

I think that history, length of human habitation, terrain and population have a lot to do on the accessibility equation. No surprise we have relatively fewer access roads given our short history and tiny population for the size of land.

[wayno]

the americans really went for it developing roads right through the heart of their parks through some of the most scenic places, including a ring road around the crater lake, not the sort of development that would be easy to get approved or budgeted for today...

[GPSGuided]

Human history always come in phases. Just human nature. Most of us can only experience a portion of the arc of the pendulum swing through our lives.

[walkon]

http://www.hcn.org/issues/46.12/the-death-of-backpacking

I keep hearing that the art of backpacking is dying. Usually the messenger is an older person with the tone of the gentle curmudgeon who can't understand why the damn kids aren't interested in hauling 40 pounds into wilderness on a forced march day after day over rough earth, under rain and sun, in order to drink unbottled water of unknown provenance, with a slimy helping of beaver *&^%$#! and dirt, eat gruel at dusk, be attacked from ankle to earlobe by insects, be watched by carnivores with eyes gleaming in the dark and by mice scheming for gorp, only to crash exhausted to the ground in a sleeping bag that quickly transforms (as the ornery desert scribe Ed Abbey observed) into a greasy fart-sack, and be woken far too early, with the cruel lash of sun-up and the birdsong bouncing on your tympanum like a pogo stick.

I thought this was a summation of a good trip, what's not to like about it. There's nothing wrong with getting dirty and smelly in the outdoors! Maybe the problem is that society is turning into clean/germ freaks. I think it was NNW who recently stated she hated people who deoderized up, on a multi day walk recently the only person I could smell was the deoderized one and he did it so no one could tell he smelt .