Brace for Impact

[whrdafamI?]

The only uptick in backpackers here lately is the surge across the border........

[AlmostThere]

People have tried to commit suicide by wilderness for years - part of search and rescue is finding subjects who do not want to be found. I am reminded of the stockbroker who was laid off, flew to Yosemite, and jumped off the top of Yosemite Falls. Also of my first mutual aid search in the park looking for a man who told family he was going to jump off Half Dome.

"Finding yourself" or fixing yourself in the wilderness is not a new thing, either. I don't think the woman in Wild fixed a thing - she may have worked out a little angst, but she went on to being an advice columnist and continuing to act out her personal ills in the public eye, which is what a lot of people with a particular type of mental illness tend to do. I prefer to avoid association with people like that.

[TehipiteTom]

I tend to agree with Almostthere and Troutdog, but the thought of neurotics heading to the Sierra to find a "cure" is disturbing and I suspect will occur.

Of course, we're all perfectly sane.

[TahoeJeff]

The only uptick in backpackers here lately is the surge across the border........

Funny 'cause it's true!

[steelcup]

RE: The JMT -
Talking with Jen (Head Ranger Tuolumne) yesterday - 3,000+ Muir permits issued this year SoBo from YNP. Probably close to the same number NoBo.

PCT had over 1800 at the Kickoff.
Still, only 12 people Thursday in the YNP Valley backpacker site overnight and all hikers either JMT or Half Dome bound.

I was there Thursday night and there were far more than 12 people there, and the two groups I talked to were not JMT or HD bound. Were we in the same place? My 'site' alone had 6+ people Thursday night. I could have sworn I heard arguments at midnight about sharing/full bear boxes at another site.

[sekihiker]

I tend to agree with Almostthere and Troutdog, but the thought of neurotics heading to the Sierra to find a "cure" is disturbing and I suspect will occur.

Of course, we're all perfectly sane.

lol

[Pietro257]

I hope the movie is realistic with a scene like this:

Reese Witherspoon peals off her socks, first the wool outer socks and then the nylon inner ones. Her feet are red-raw with blisters starting to form in various places.

Close up of Witherspoon, a sock dangling before her nose. She sniffs.

"Ick!" she proclaims.

I doubt if this movie will do much to increase the number of backpackers. Surfing is for the beautiful people; backpacking is for the hardy and chapped-skin people with dirty hair.

I would actually welcome more backpackers. I was in the Emigrant Wilderness last week and didn't see many people. Will the Forest Service continue to maintain trails if hardly anyone uses them?

[LMBSGV]

Quite frankly I suspect, most of the wilderness footage will be second unit scenic footage. Most of the movie will be Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern (who is playing the mother and probably cost a lot of money). The Reese Witherspoon in the wilderness scenes will be almost entirely her against a blue screen of the second unit footage. And I doubt any interviewer will be willing to ask Witherspoon, "How many days did you actually spend in the wilderness?" (I'm guessing zero--if she ever went on location it was near a town with luxury accomadations and she, the director, and the crew went out for day to shoot shots of her striding along the PCT with a pack on her back, as in the photo on the Slate website.) This is a big dollar Hollywood feature. From the release date, producers are thinking Oscar nominations for Dern (supporting actress) and Witherspoon (actress). The movie won't lead to an influx of new people in the Sierra. It will lead to people who identify with Strayed (the neurotics referred to in previous posts) who will also subject others to their personal issues (but hopefully won't waste S&R people's valuable time dealing with the consequences).

[intrek38]

Any impact from this movie should only be temporary, but everything grows with the population.
Funny how a lot of us fall into this media driven society and are oblivious to it. I think these types of Hollywood movies / books will have an impact though only temporarily. REI should see a surge in sales along with a surge in returns. Maybe I'm wrong, but a lot of newbie backpackers try it once and say never again. However, with every ten that try it, at least one will return again a little smarter & lighter. Even some of our little techies will give it a try.
I don't read much, but I read “Strayed” because of backpacking. Also because of the drug part which unfortunately, strikes an old nerve in a lot of people, including me. The trail does have a way of helping to hash things out though that’s only part of it, but at least it's a step worth taking. As for her book, not what I expected but then that’s Hollywood, buyer beware.
There seems to be a lot more endeavors in PCT movies and the more that gets put into it, the more that gets taken out of it. You don't need a big production company to make an informative film, you need REAL people to splice it all together just right and you need to leave out all the profit motives. Documentary type films on you-tube are about the best I have seen and fortunately you have to be interested enough to search for it.. This one IMOP is the best one so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIvyuaz ... jw&index=2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sorry for getting off the subject..