High Sierra Topix

I do not blame any class of people or geographic origin. I have seen Sierra Club groups leave a campsite trashed, with human waste on the ground and a fire left smoldering.

There is a certain amount of bad element in every strata of visitor use. Popular areas get more trashed because they get more use. If you want clean and pristine you must get off trail into the unknown areas. There is a certain mindset among many backpackers that if it is not a Wilderness or National Park it is not worth going there, driving by some excellent backcountry opportunities because it is 'merely' general multi-use forest.

Even in the popular Wilderness and NPs, hike more than 1-2 miles in and you see decreasing impact. Get 10 miles in and human sign gets hard to find. Turn 90 degrees and hike 100 yards off trail and you are transported back in time to 3 centuries ago. Surveys of back country users show use is declining, and the average age is increasing. You see very few 20-somethings anymore. Far enough in and all you see us us old farts who, as a group, tend to be more conscious about our impacts and traces.

On a semi-related note: Ethnically, back country users tend to be white, with western and northern European ancestry. Rarely see a black, Hispanic, or Asian more than 5 miles in. Or even eastern European. Forest Service and NPS have repeatedly tried to get more minorities interested in backcountry recreation, with poor results. Cultural thing, I guess.

You could almost put the usage and misuse rates in terms of the "Broken Window Theory", which states that vandalism and lawlessness propagate when left unchecked. This means that when people see trash and others camping near water, they are much more likely to do so and after a while may see this as the norm. We can put a direct stop to this by ending the cycle using techniques already mentioned: pick up trash, tell others not to cut switchbacks, be a kind yet firm voice advocating for the conservation of nature.

On the note of usage declining within the younger generation, I think that topic has been well discussed HERE

dave54 wrote: On a semi-related note: Ethnically, back country users tend to be white, with western and northern European ancestry. Rarely see a black, Hispanic, or Asian more than 5 miles in. Or even eastern European. Forest Service and NPS have repeatedly tried to get more minorities interested in backcountry recreation, with poor results. Cultural thing, I guess.

The NYTimes had a recent article about this fact. I spend most of my time in the Desolation Wilderness and I've seen a few asians out on the mountains but never any other "minorities."

Compare this experience to a day at any of the Tahoe ski resorts. It's a MUCH more diverse mix and in particular I see a lot of Asians. It's much more representative of the demographics of the SF metro area. I suppose maybe it's because one activity is considered cool/hip (skiing, snowboarding) while the other is not... though Wild could change that.