Do "cool" route names cause crowding?

[giantbrookie]

I think the culture of today is for some folks to gravitate toward pre-planned routes and if the route name is interesting it may add another level of enticement. A small number of us like planning our own routes, but far more folks nowadays aim for one that is already written up. I am not so sure how much the snazzy name attracts folks so much as a pre-planned, well-publicized route does. The Sierra High Route is the best example.

I suppose this is one reason I am not too bummed about my backcountry fishing book failing to be published, even if at least one route has persisted by word and mouth all these years (the "Lunker Loop"). One thing is for sure, the "title track" wouldn't attract anybody nowadays because all the lakes are fishless now ("The Land of the Giant Brookies").

[rlown]

Publish your book as an historical piece. Most TR's and books are temporal anyway. Could even go with print on demand.

Off topic, but I have a really cool book from 1896 on the Civil war. It's interesting because the author had no Idea was was coming next.

[Wandering Daisy]

When I first moved to the Sierra, I researched guidebooks and did a lot of "pre-planned" routes. It does help when you move to an entirely new area. But after a year, I just figured out my own routes. I have a library of guidebooks and I still refer to a lot. To me they are jumping off ideas for my own.

I started mountaineering in the days before most guidebooks were written. I was a member of a climbing club and a lot of climbers in those days learned by going with others who had done the routes. Word or mouth has always been a source of routes, well before the internet. I believe that the surge in backpackers in the 1970's was more than we are seeing now, relative to the population. I remember when Fred Becky's guide came out for the North Cascades. I was absolutely thrilled! Climbers use guidebooks a lot, so when I backed off to just backpacking, it was just natural for me to also buy and read all the guidebooks.

Since I grew up with a climbing club, it does dismay me that young people today do not have that same opportunity. As a 16-year old I was well versed in being safe and being environmentally sound. Not named "leave no trace", we neverthness learned good environmental practices. Our bible was "Mountaineering Freedom of the HIlls". I did most of my early trips with 60-year old mountaineers who were willing to shepherd a new generation of climbers. I really appreciated that. Plus, my parents would not allow me to go with kids my own age, without adult supervision.

Last summer I did four trips, and on all, I rarely ran into anyone at all, once off the main trails. There still are plenty of places for solitude. I often go 5-8 days without seeing a single person. I did 3-4 trips in the Wind Rivers each year, for three years after I put out my guide, and honestly there was very little difference in use, other than the new "high routes" that are out on the internet with GPS tracks.

As I read our trip reports here on the forum, I also find that a lot of people follow someone else's route rather than figure out their own. By the way, our meet-up this summer is pretty obscure. I hope to make it, this time before everyone else leaves! I doubt it will become a popular route.