Why so many conditions requests?

[zacjust32]

I've only been an active contributor on this site for about a year and a half, so I don't know the yearly posting cycles yet, but I have noticed that this year seems to have a lot of people requesting conditions information and for us to proofread their itineraries before they head out. Is this normal for this time of the year or are there other variables that make this more regular this year, maybe (probably) the large snowpack?

So my next question in response to this is are we really helping them? Our are we seeing a precedent of holding their hand the entire way except for the actual hike. There have been people asking things like which side of the lake to camp on, and then which site to use! I think that by providing this level of detail we kinda ruin the wilderness experience. I know Mav doesn't like to give out detailed x-country types and I suggest we try to do the same.
Just one guys opinion.

[rlown]

The participation in the site kind of dies off after September, and then peaks in June/July. The weather is a big factor, and this year has been huge. Roads and trees down. Some just don't know, so they ask which is great. The phone numbers relative to a certain trailhead are very easy to find with a simple google search, but the modus operandi is instant gratification by asking others on a great site such as this. All that is asked is that they return in kind with a TR and subsequent contribution on topics they know or have learned.

and always camp on "that" side of the lake that you like.. Finding it is part of the fun!! You don't have to tell them where the sweet spot is. Just hint at it.

[balzaccom]

The other explanation, of course, is that this is a highly unusual year, with a massive snowpack and consequent high runoff. A lot of people made plans based on previous years, and are now having second thoughts or search for a plan B.

Seems fair enough to me.

[AlmostThere]

Another piece of the puzzle is likely how useless it is to call the ranger station. I knew more about the road conditions because I have SAR, four wheel drivers, and plenty of outdoorsy locals in my facebook, than the ranger who answered the phone when I called. We think the rangers have the latest news, sometimes they don't. Probably a reflection of changes in the staffing and budgeting -- lots of changes in the past few years, and more to come thanks to the gutting of the national parks budget on top of the slow degradation of the forest service.

I think there is also an unprecedented uptick in social groups doing trips. HUGE groups of people getting together over social media are slamming the wilderness in a multiplicity of ways. They see a picture of something, they want to go see it themselves.

I'll happily help people who ask for it -- it is saving tax dollars in the end, if it prevents a SAR operation to give good information to people who are asking. Some people need hand holding, or even warning away from something, because they don't get it. Too many gung ho cheerleaders egging them on in their social groups.

People who ask for specific campsites aren't backpackers yet. They'll figure it out. Or they'll figure out they aren't really backpackers and not go again... lots of people do that too.

[Vaca Russ]

Another piece of the puzzle is likely how useless it is to call the ranger station. We think the rangers have the latest news, sometimes they don't.

This has been my experience as well. I rarely get good information from these government representatives.

Fortunately I have found he best source for information for up to date back country conditions. It is a web site called "HST". I would post a link but you should work to find this place and then save it in your Favorites.

JMHO,

-Russ

[Jimr]

Hey gnarly dude, I see you moved.

[SSSdave]

Obviously because they don't know what conditions are nor how to find out. Now for some people, yeah they ought to have figured out some of these questions on their own without our help, or by searching our threads and information sub-forums, or by searching on the web. But then there are others.

In this era there are certainly significant numbers of people using computers and smartphones that have very limited computer skills much less WWW search skills. And many of them also have difficulty reading the simplest instructions. Thus they might open a thread where we have explained things and added links but to them it is like they are permanently in deer in headlights mode. Well except when the subject is about some inane celebrity, tv show, or movie. It is not that such people are necessarily stupid but rather their brains have developed poor independent processing and learning skills. The type that entering some department store, never buy anything without immediately looking around for a sales person in order to be guided, even if it is something basic like underwear. Or out on the trail, the type I regularly make fun on web boards because if tasked to look at a topo there is a 50% chance I will see them look at their map upsidedown without being able to recognize things much less where they are.

Are such people so hopeless that they ought to continue going through life so? No. Sometimes they just need to be woken up by learning from pain or public embarrassment of their mistakes. For instance the person wearing inadequate protective clothing on a backpacking trip during mosquito season will in the future take the initiative to understand how not be tortured by bites. Or the person that takes a week off from work to go backpacking at some favorite place a group took them to a decade earlier. Except on a year like this after getting a wilderness permit they find a mile up their trail that landscapes are mostly snow covered and the lakes they had fantasies of fishing each day are all ice covered. They learn by pain to do some homework or at least ask questions on a forum like this.

David
http://www.davidsenesac.com/2017_Trip_C ... les-0.html

[Bigmo61]

I just want to know if the trail is passable before I drive 5 hours. Personally, I don't seek or offer XC route info. I'm in the "XC should be an adventure" camp. On trail is a different matter. It's widely available so why not discuss it here?


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[Wandering Daisy]

My only gripe is that there are questions asked in the "conditions" sub forum. It is my understanding that the "conditions" sub-forum is NOT for trip reports or questions, only for a targeted synopsis of actual conditions based on being there recently or other information based on measured data (such as CDEC) or reports on authority's (such as FS or Park Service) websites. If you have questions to ask about conditions, do it in the "backpack" sub-forum. Is this correct?

Our answers for "what is next week, or next month going to be like?", although better than nothing, are nonetheless, just speculation. Even if you read a one-day-old trip report, conditions will change the next day. I suspect our speculations may be little better than 50/50 correct. I am not sure the new members realize this.

[ERIC]

My only gripe is that there are questions asked in the "conditions" sub forum. It is my understanding that the "conditions" sub-forum is NOT for trip reports or questions, only for a targeted synopsis of actual conditions based on being there recently or other information based on measured data (such as CDEC) or reports on authority's (such as FS or Park Service) websites. If you have questions to ask about conditions, do it in the "backpack" sub-forum. Is this correct?

No, not entirely correct. Perhaps I should revise the description for that forum.