High Sierra Topix

While visiting my daughter last month in Washington D.C., we went west into Virginia and West Virginia to do some day hiking amidst the fall colors. We ran into a large group (about a dozen) of South Korean backpackers, young adults up to about age 60. A couple spoke excellent English and I talked to them a bit. Seems like they were US residents (immigrants? diplomats? H1-B visa? - I didn't ask), taking friends? relatives? from S. Korea on a weekend backpack trip and they did this quite a bit. Also some some local African-Americans day-hiking on another trail, but still, mostly Caucasians.
-Phil

I think it would be very interesting toe see a survey of backpackers to find out where the average backpacker sits on the socioeconomic spectrum. My gut level guess is that we are on the whole mostly urban/suburban middle and upper middle class. That's who I meet out there, anyway. You can't be dirt poor - you wouldn't have the time, or the money for gear. But you don't have to be wealthy - basic gear is not tremendously expensive and once you have gear you don't have to spend a lot to take a trip, as long as you have a secure enough job that you get time off from work. But If I'm right about the socioeconomic status, then due to the fact that African-Americans are on the average lower on that scale than caucasians, that might explain part of it, Plus it seems like most of the backpackers I have known were introduced to the outdoors by their parents or even grandparents - so it's a generational thing, and since African- Americans were historically much worse off than they are today (on average), they have had less chance of that happening. And probably there are subtler cutural forces that I am not aware of.
As for Asians, I've seen a fair number of Asian backpackers, and even more day hikers. Hiking is very popular in Japan, and I believe in Korea as well. I wonder if the proportion of Asian backpackers to all backpackers is much off the ratio of Asians in the total US population? For African-Americans I would guess it definitely is.
Certainly seems like an interesting subject for some sociologists to study. Backpackers in general - and by that I mean folks who do it year after year, rather than people who have gone once or twice but don't really catch the bug - are a fairly small slice of the population I would think. It certainly does not appeal to everyone.

Bay Area Wilderness Training (BAWT) Gets Youth of Color and Low Income Youth Outdoors into California's Wild Areas

- 85% of youth who participated in BAWT-supported programs in 2015 were youth of color
- In contrast, the Outdoor Industry Association reports that in 2015 just 29% of young people, aged 6–24 who participated in outdoor activities, were youth of color.

Each year, thousands of youth experience the outdoors through Bay Area Wilderness Training’s programs. This work would not be possible without the help of our community of supporters.

Come to a Discovery Session and Volunteer night in Oakland and find out more about the organization and how you can Help Get Youth Outdoors!
If you are not in Oakland and want to get involved, reach out to me directly.
http://www.bawt.org/programs/community/ ... eer-night/

http://www.bawt.org

david, thanks for sharing your work. it's much needed and greatly appreciated!

david, thanks for sharing your work. it's much needed and greatly appreciated!

What he said.

Cool story: https://www.outsideonline.com/2170266/s ... 37788b728a

That was a nice read - she's a good writer.

My one observation is that people who might feel excluded many times erroneously assume it's about them. In my experience, however, it's usually about the group; you're either part of it or you're not.

This isn't meant to imply anything malicious - group dynamics are typically very fluid & flexible. Accept for real hard cases, groups are usually accommodating & inclusive as long as you are **one of them**. You want to be a black member of the NRA? No problem. You want to be a white activist in BLM? Same result.

Ultimately, it comes down to the classic "he's just not that into you". People outside of the group simply don't register - it's not personal. Could be bikers, surfers, climbers, hikers, even born & bred NYers who view the country in this manner:

maverick wrote:Cool story: https://www.outsideonline.com/2170266/s ... 37788b728a

Wow, that article is a real eye-opener.

Thru-hikers go to towns a lot so have to put up with all the off-trail riff-raff. I find the same thing- lots of jerks within a few miles of the trailhead, less so as you get into the wilderness, few if any once you step off the trail. Does not surprise me that she got all that negativity while in town. People stereotype; I do not take it personally. Plenty of men have offered me tons of unsolistated advise on the trail, even though they are the ones on the brink of exhaustion and I am doing just fine. They mean well; just oblivious of the fact that there really are competent women backpackers.

Non-whites are more concentrated in urban areas, and it is logical that they embrace the more urban persuits. Going into a city scares the XXX out of me; being alone in the wilderness does not. I do not function well in urban environments. Residents of urban areas, particulary low-income people, just do not have the access to outdoor experiences. I actually grew up in the burbs of a smaller city, but we had tons of huge city parks to roam around in. My family was big on visiting National Parks (in the day before they cost anything to use and gas was dirt cheap). Camping was considered poor folks recreation. We could not afford using motels when we traveled. Not so anymore. Ask people nowadays about "camping" and they think RV's and campsites now are $20-40 per night. Fees here, fees there, fees everywhere! The average low-income family cannot even afford to go camping anymore.

There are also plenty of white folks who do not backpack. Everyone, regardless of race, is becoming more urbanized. In fact, most people think backpacking is some form of torture. Day-hiking is more accepted, but not to go home to a "real meal" and shower is beyond most people's tolerance of "hardship".

Wandering Daisy wrote:Going into a city scares the XXX out of me; being alone in the wilderness does not. I do not function well in urban environments. Residents of urban areas, particulary low-income people, just do not have the access to outdoor experiences. I actually grew up in the burbs of a smaller city, but we had tons of huge city parks to roam around in. My family was big on visiting National Parks (in the day before they cost anything to use and gas was dirt cheap). Camping was considered poor folks recreation. We could not afford using motels when we traveled. Not so anymore. Ask people nowadays about "camping" and they think RV's and campsites now are $20-40 per night. Fees here, fees there, fees everywhere! The average low-income family cannot even afford to go camping anymore.

There are also plenty of white folks who do not backpack. Everyone, regardless of race, is becoming more urbanized. In fact, most people think backpacking is some form of torture. Day-hiking is more accepted, but not to go home to a "real meal" and shower is beyond most people's tolerance of "hardship".

Couldn't agree more... +1