Death of backpacking?

[rocketsocks]

a final thought...

how can any article that references Colin Fletcher, Edward Abbey, and john Muir be all that bad? we could pick apart syntax, grammer and the like, but the content is pointed, relevant, and has caused a very good discussion amongst enthusiasts...priceless.

The best action we can take to keep our kind of outdoor rec alive: Go backpacking. Demonstrate it and celebrate it, "not as a mere sport or plaything excursion," as John Muir advised, "but to find the law that governs the relations subsisting between humans and nature.

Or as Abbey wrote: "We are committed, my legs and I; there is no turning back. I shoulder the pack, resume the trek, the step-by-step progress into ... an infinite regress. ... I am the tortoise."


They also read Colin Fletcher's 1960s books celebrating his epic backpacking: The Thousand Mile Summer, The Man Who Walked Through Time – about hiking the length of the Grand Canyon – and The Complete Walker, which sold 500,000 copies, "still the how-to bible on backpacking," assures Allen. Maybe they even read Walt Whitman: "Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with the earth."




these titles no longer can be found on the current local main stream book shelves, sad really, give em as gifts when you can.
plant some seeds sow others may cut them later for you, and expose a trail of wonder.

man I really need to pony up so's I can edit my posts...

I think the provocative title did what Mr.Ketcham wanted it to do, excite an emotional response, and in that regard it worked. Indecently, the title does have a question mark at the end (?) suggesting.....well, questioning of.

The death of backpacking?

[soulrebel]

https://www.imba.com/resources/resea...ountain-biking

[soulrebel]

http://www.outdoorfoundation.org/pdf...014Topline.pdf

[rocketsocks]

man I really need to pony up so's I can edit my posts...

I think the provocative title did what Mr.Ketcham wanted it to do, excite and elicit an emotional response, and in that regard it worked. Indecently, the title does have a question mark at the end (?) suggesting.....well, questioning of.

The death of backpacking?

and elicit.

[SCRUB HIKER]

Indecently, the title does have a question mark at the end (?) suggesting.....well, questioning of.

The death of backpacking?

The question mark isn't *that* indecent. It is lazy, though. If the headline is going to be such a bold statement about a popular trend to draw in readers, and the article is going to do such a lazy job of bearing out the headline, it makes sense to tack on a question mark to cover for oneself and say, "Hey, I'm not actually going to discuss this issue in-depth, or in fact in any reliable rigorous way at all."

[Wülfgang]

In Colorado backpacking is alive and well. Thriving, to be sure.

I will say that MOST people I see on trail with full packs are either college-age or in their 50's. Some 30-something couple but usually you can tell the woman is not loving it. I think this is just a function of the incompatibility of backpacking with prime 'adult' life: full-time work, kids, mortgage, etc.

[rocketsocks]

The question mark isn't *that* indecent. It is lazy, though. If the headline is going to be such a bold statement about a popular trend to draw in readers, and the article is going to do such a lazy job of bearing out the headline, it makes sense to tack on a question mark to cover for oneself and say, "Hey, I'm not actually going to discuss this issue in-depth, or in fact in any reliable rigorous way at all."

Yes, the laziness is all mine, true.
But the article to my way of thinking is not about stats, it's more about a mindset. Not everything needs a place for everything and everything in it's place, how can one statistically describe a sunset or feeling of vigor...on second thought, I'm sure there are those that can. but is that what we really want, a reduction to the lowest common denominator? Naw, we just wanna hike.

[rocketsocks]

I don't think anyone can deny that the youth of today does not spend as much time outside as say the above 30 crowd did when they were younger. O'coarse that stat wouldn't apply to the folks here on this website as most here are outdoors enthusiasts, and have likely been for a long time, but in general I see less kids fishin', hikin', canoeing, and just being outside in the summer months.

[Sarcasm the elf]

I don't think anyone can deny that the youth of today does not spend as much time outside as say the above 30 crowd did when they were younger. O'coarse that stat wouldn't apply to the folks here on this website as most here are outdoors enthusiasts, and have likely been for a long time, but in general I see less kids fishin', hikin', canoeing, and just being outside in the summer months.

Sadly i think a lot of it has to do with this shift in our culture that thinks that just outside every locked door lurks a kidnapper and that every park is filled with child predators. There are just so many parents who are scared to let their children outside without direct supervision. I'm lucky that my parents had no fear of me walking to the park at the end of the road by myself when I was a kid.


"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

[rocketsocks]

Sadly i think a lot of it has to do with this shift in our culture that thinks that just outside every locked door lurks a kidnapper and that every park is filled with child predators. There are just so many parents who are scared to let their children outside without direct supervision. I'm lucky that my parents had no fear of me walking to the park at the end of the road by myself when I was a kid.


"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

I agree and can identify with the idea of movies like "Stand by me" where the four boys take off seeking adventure...not the dead body part, that would have been a little creepy. But when I was a kid, we were never home, each day was an adventure. I had a large area to explore with a big lake...it's just what we did. An old WWII vet taught us to trap muskrats, and we fished every day, and turned over logs all along the way to see what we could find. good stuff.

[Odd Man Out]

Also, the article spends much time comparing backpacking to other outdoor activities. That is misleading. It's a bit like concluding that motorcycle riding is dying because when I drive down the road, I see a lot more cars than motorcycles. The backpacking numbers will always be small in comparison. What's the biggest gathering of backpackers? A few hundred? Compare that to the number of runners you see at any major marathon/25K/etc...

[Teacher & Snacktime]

My apologies to Lady Liberty, but......


Give me your mountain-view dazed,
your heavy backpacked yearning to hike free,
The wretched refuse of your nature-crazed,
Send these, trail-homeless, AT tossed to me,
I lift my headlamp beside the trailhead blaze.


I suspect that any talk of a decrease in backpacking interest will abruptly cease with the wave of hiking immigration brought about by the anticipated "A Walk in the Woods" movie famine!

[RED-DOG]

In my oppinion it takes experienced hikers to teach the inexperienced, they can make all the movies they want but if the experienced hikers don't step up and let the inexperienced follow their lead then yes backpacking will be on a decline.

[Mags]

My response to this article and the various comments based on here, other forums and FB. I'm lazy, so I copied and pasted some of my other posts.
http://www.pmags.com/death-of-backpacking-a-response

[Del Q]

Just my 3 cents, my 22 year old son is on the Colorado Trail right now..........he and my other son (cancer survivor) have also been on the AT.

They both share a love for the outdoors.............and of course, spend a lot of time online, etc.

I think that in time outdoor recreation will continue to expa

[Sarcasm the elf]

The more I ponder this subject the more I wonder how much of the decline in backpacking is caused by people's avoidance of the outdoors due to irrational fears. I recently started reading posts in a couple of the facebook appalachian trail groups and the questions seem to be a revolving door of: Bears, venomous (or incorrectly poisonous) snakes, guns, and giardia. I think that the many news cycles we're had in recent decades have given a lot of people a grossly inflated view of the dangers of backcountry camping.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

Just my 3 cents, my 22 year old son is on the Colorado Trail right now..........he and my other son (cancer survivor) have also been on the AT.

They both share a love for the outdoors.............and of course, spend a lot of time online, etc.

I think that in time outdoor recreation will continue to expa

Congrats on the survival of your son, and I'm happy for you, and for them, that they have the trails with which to celebrate life.

[rocketsocks]

The more I ponder this subject the more I wonder how much of the decline in backpacking is caused by people's avoidance of the outdoors due to irrational fears. I recently started reading posts in a couple of the facebook appalachian trail groups and the questions seem to be a revolving door of: Bears, venomous (or incorrectly poisonous) snakes, guns, and giardia. I think that the many news cycles we're had in recent decades have given a lot of people a grossly inflated view of the dangers of backcountry camping.

...and don't forget the lowly hiker trash monsters out there just waiting to brainwash the kids into a life of tattoos, bad hygiene, long hair, and junk food parties.

[RockDoc]

Hiking is cyclical. I was lucky to join in during the early 1970's when it was coming back for a while. We even wore our mountaineering boots to high school class… These were the classic days of Fletcher, Abbey, and several other famous outdoorsmen. I spent my spare time reading Muir and Thoreau, who waxed eloquently about walking. I wonder what they read today; NOT Muir and Thoreau certainly.

Currently, the age of hikers on the AT is highly bimodal. The peaks are 18-25 yo and 50's-60's yo. There are large numbers of both. I think that a lot of people want to hike but these are the only populations that are able to get out in numbers. The youngsters lack attachments, and the oldsters finally have the time, money, and empty nests to get out. The 25 to 50 generation is buried under family, jobs, payments, responsibility, with very few exceptions.

Where else do you find 20 year olds mixing with 60 year olds on a daily basis? I find it sort of interesting.

[rocketsocks]

My response to this article and the various comments based on here, other forums and FB. I'm lazy, so I copied and pasted some of my other posts.
http://www.pmags.com/death-of-backpacking-a-response

Now that's a well written article...and fair.

My local EMS is moving into a much larger section once occupied by the B&N which moved into a smaller section of the mall. Asking one of the sales people what the plans for the store was, he replied "I think they'er going to be expanding the bicycle, climbing and kayak sections...more clothes too"

Backpacking dying??? maybe not dying, just sifting gears a little to the more extreme. Me, I'm all about slow and steady these days...moseying if you will, though this has come more out of necessity....see ya on the trail.