2022-01-22, 06:12 PM
Well, John, I have been aware of some of your angst on the issue (not sure if from this board or nwhikers) and indeed have followed your posts, both to enjoy your trips vicariously as we as to seek more interesting wild places to go myself. I have figured out, however, that you are a stronger scrambler, or less worried about exposure, than I am 
I have been particularly fond of the DV boards, In part, they are an example of what I consider to be a fascinating offshoot of social media, that is, location based media. (Usually when we say "location based" we mean "where I am now" but in this case, it is some fixed geographic area). Each of the areas I haunt (DV, SW Utah, southern AZ, WA, MT, CO, and the Sierra) tends to have a group of dedicated hikers who are willing to share info, once you establish a place within the community. We used to have a great Zion forum but it vaporized with Yahoo groups, and I can tell you, the FB groups suck by comparison!
So I would never post anything I care about to alltrails, or FB - this is "lurkers in the extreme". In some of the other fora, I will describe a trip either in vague terms so that those in the know will recognize it and maybe get some current beta or ideas, or perhaps reference the source of my beta (e.g. "Steve Hall" or "Kauri" or even.. "John Morrow"). That last aspect is more out of gratitude and trying to plug someone.
In the case of both DV and east Zion and further east (extensive off trail travel) I have run into and become part of a community willing to share info with each other, but often not publicly. A lot of what I have learned about both places, and led to tons of enjoyment, has been from these people, and I also have been glad to pay back. This would not have occurred without the "community" aspect.
Blue Mountain is an interesting example, and perhaps a cautionary tale. I went up to Borax BM based on something that Kauri said, and was stunned by Blue. Talked a bunch with Kauri about access via Artist Palette, and it took me a few years, but eventually I got into its lower slopes. Then DV Dazed became an apostle and in fact summited, multiple times! and left a register I believe. Now we see it showing up elsewhere - e.g. Stav's site. I have really enjoyed the sense of community fostered by this story. I don't mind if Stav posts it because I mine his site for beta as well, about other places. But have we blown it? Is there going to be a beaten down trail to the summit in 10 years?
It is a really beautiful mountain. I would never have seen it except for posts from Kauri that I read here. Probably was not enough info in her posts to get me there, and so I probably asked her, and she told me probably because she respected that I had shared other info with her, and with others...
And then.... the lurkers. Don't know what to do about that.
But the flip side is that I don't own the park. It is public land. I can't be possessive of it.
I have been particularly fond of the DV boards, In part, they are an example of what I consider to be a fascinating offshoot of social media, that is, location based media. (Usually when we say "location based" we mean "where I am now" but in this case, it is some fixed geographic area). Each of the areas I haunt (DV, SW Utah, southern AZ, WA, MT, CO, and the Sierra) tends to have a group of dedicated hikers who are willing to share info, once you establish a place within the community. We used to have a great Zion forum but it vaporized with Yahoo groups, and I can tell you, the FB groups suck by comparison!
So I would never post anything I care about to alltrails, or FB - this is "lurkers in the extreme". In some of the other fora, I will describe a trip either in vague terms so that those in the know will recognize it and maybe get some current beta or ideas, or perhaps reference the source of my beta (e.g. "Steve Hall" or "Kauri" or even.. "John Morrow"). That last aspect is more out of gratitude and trying to plug someone.
In the case of both DV and east Zion and further east (extensive off trail travel) I have run into and become part of a community willing to share info with each other, but often not publicly. A lot of what I have learned about both places, and led to tons of enjoyment, has been from these people, and I also have been glad to pay back. This would not have occurred without the "community" aspect.
Blue Mountain is an interesting example, and perhaps a cautionary tale. I went up to Borax BM based on something that Kauri said, and was stunned by Blue. Talked a bunch with Kauri about access via Artist Palette, and it took me a few years, but eventually I got into its lower slopes. Then DV Dazed became an apostle and in fact summited, multiple times! and left a register I believe. Now we see it showing up elsewhere - e.g. Stav's site. I have really enjoyed the sense of community fostered by this story. I don't mind if Stav posts it because I mine his site for beta as well, about other places. But have we blown it? Is there going to be a beaten down trail to the summit in 10 years?
It is a really beautiful mountain. I would never have seen it except for posts from Kauri that I read here. Probably was not enough info in her posts to get me there, and so I probably asked her, and she told me probably because she respected that I had shared other info with her, and with others...
And then.... the lurkers. Don't know what to do about that.
But the flip side is that I don't own the park. It is public land. I can't be possessive of it.