High Sierra Topix

Dictionaries description of Adventure:


noun

1. an exciting or very unusual experience.

2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure.

3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

4. a commercial or financial speculation of any kind; venture.



verb (used with object), adventured, adventuring.

5. to risk or hazard.

6. to take the chance of; dare.

7. to venture to say or utter:
to adventure an opinion.



verb (used without object), adventured, adventuring.

8. to take the risk involved.

9. to venture; hazard.



Has modern civilization, and the technical advancements in communications, become a detriment, or even hindrance, to our experiencing the true adventure spirit? Have we just become soft compared to previous generations? We used to go out as children and play for hours, till sundown many times, play multiple sports, be in a boy/girl scout troop, that would go to the Sierra for several trips each season, now many do not even play sports, only play stations or x-boxes, why?


Web, gps, google earth, guide books, and maps, does it not seem like their is just an information overload? Seem like more, and more of us, going to the back country, bring our front country thinking or ways, and apply it to our back country experience, kind of a buffer, or layer of security, that prevents us front just letting go, and being able to be free, and uninhibited in the wild.


I understand that their are some people who enjoy plotting out their routes, but some plot their route down to every foot, and some even get
perturbed, if they get from point A to point B, 10 sec later then had they calculated.


Do we really need to have every inch of a class 2 pass described, down to the minute detail, with photo's included from every angle, again, to me, this seems like information overload, and dampens what the spirit of adventure means. If there is a difficult section, a cliff for example, on a class 2 or 3 route that one could experience, if accidentally going off-route, then bringing this section to ones attention is definitely warranted for safety reason, but that is it, let them learn and experience the thrill of the wild. (Also is recommended, if someone is doing their first or second x-country pass)


Have we become risk averse? Do we need a road, sign, detailed map, google map, google earth , and the most up to date tech gear available for everything? Where is the thrill in all that? Are all the comforts of the front country keeping us from experiencing the true wilderness experience, where one feels as part of the wild?


Please do not misunderstand, I am in no way advocating senseless, or mindless undertakings of back country travel here, but once we have learned, and gained, a good foundation of the essentials of outdoor travel and survival, why not let go, experience the thrill, the excitement that our wonderful and thrilling outdoor recreation activity offers?

I could not agree more. Used to be a friend, a book or two to learn from, and a map and compass. that was fine with me.

The internet has replaced the book, which in most cases is fine, but asking for every inch or plot on a "trail" is taking the fun out of it.

Heck, I have trouble finding trailheads After that, Map and orientation pretty much do it for me.

This is very true and even true of backpackers. I'll relate an experience I had which was tipicle. Gregg K and I were at the lip out of Kings Canyon towards Granit Lake. We met a man hiking solo. He said he'd like to go to a place with at least pretty good fishing. He also said he had always wanted to go cross country but lacked the expertise. I told him that that day was his lucky day. Gregg and I were about to go cross country to Grouse Lake were there was good fishing. I knew this from 2 years before. It was everything he wanted and more. He had an on trail trip planned. I told him he should come with us. He was very comfortable talking to us but just couldn't get himself to try the slightest adventure. I had explained that our cross country route was only 45 minutes walking (it's written about in Ropers book). He stuck to his plan and we went our seperate ways. I encountered this many times while backpaking and a few (very few) went with us to a more adventuresome trip.

You pretty much nailed it,plenty of adventure out there, its the spirit that is lacking

Do we really need to have every inch of a class 2 pass described, down to the minute detail, with photo's included from every angle, again, to me, this seems like information overload, and dampens what the spirit of adventure means.

Bingo!

Yvon Chouinard says it's not an adventure until something goes wrong...

And yet, here we are.

maverick wrote:Do we really need to have every inch of a class 2 pass described, down to the minute detail, with photo's included from every angle, again, to me, this seems like information overload, and dampens what the spirit of adventure means.

We should also be gone with that pesky alternative rating system that someone posted here not too long ago. Who was that anyway?

We live in a modern society with technology all around us. It's no surprise it finds its way to the trails too. Personally, I only take my iPhone with me outdoors. Even though I still carry a paper map and compass, I like the tracking of my trip on the phone. I use it periodically to take pictures, but not every 5 minutes like some. I also like having emergency resources on my phone without the additional weight or space. But once at camp I tend to simply enjoy my surroundings and find mindless activities to do. I enjoy that break for the tech world we live in.

I had a guy get upset with a long segment of the thru we did a few weeks ago. he had printed and brought with him a description of the trip. the day was "too long for me" - well, if you can't read or look at the map to understand whether or not the trip suits your style, as I articulated in advance that you should do, don't bother whining at me and don't even try to sign up for trips where we use a compass and map extensively. which I had to re-iterate after we returned and he tried to tell me he wanted to come out on the four day cross country adventure i've planned for September.

ignorant and lazy need to do less adventurous trips. If it isn't going to be fun for them they should not. especially if it's my trip and all you're going to do is whine and moan and b**** the whole way about how hard it is.

there are people who have the adventure in them, there are people who don't, and there are people who want to and shouldn't. my experiences with meetup have helped me a lot in finding hiking partners who not only say they can do but can do what would like to try. attempting to do trips with people who are all talk and no clue is not fun.


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The adventure spirit died with Donkey Kong