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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 5:47 pm 
If ever you think that social media didn't have an impact on our trails... Yesterday, on WTA, I noted several trip reports for Little Giant Pass. A concensus among them seemed to indicate about a dozen people on that trail on a weekday. In times past, you'd be pressed to see a dozen on a weekend. LGP just doesnt get that many folks, between the ford of the Chiwawa and the steepness of the trail. A check with Mr. Numbers indicated a WH&C fb post from 9/26 with 130 comments and 1,200 likes. I feel solitude slipping away by the minute.

Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker



Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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Location: West Seattle
zephyr
aka friendly hiker
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 8:08 pm 
Gwen wrote:
WH&C fb post from 9/26 with 130 comments and 1,200 likes.
Yikes! Announce it and they will come. frown.gif ~z

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Ski
><((((°>



Joined: 28 May 2005
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Location: tacoma
Ski
><((((°>
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 8:19 pm 
Anybody ever considered posting bogus reports of made-up places? Post some pretty pictures, and send 'em to the GPS coordinates of a trash dump or abandoned meth lab site, then tell all your Facebook friends to flood it with "likes". Fight fire with fire, baby! hockeygrin.gif

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster



Joined: 24 Feb 2018
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Location: Wa
SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 8:35 pm 
Definitely correct on the increasing popularity, luckily where I'm at on the East slope of the Cascades it's not as noticable. I also think this is the 3rd topic with this title or something very similar now... I also like that idea Ski, but we should send them to the middle of a forest where they have to at least earn the reward they are not going to get.

I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 8:40 pm 
SwitchbackFisher wrote:
where I'm at on the East slope of the Cascades it's not as noticable
Except that Little Giant Pass IS on the east slope. Don't you worry, your side will catch up soon enough.

Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
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SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster



Joined: 24 Feb 2018
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Location: Wa
SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 8:44 pm 
I probably was not specific enough, I have not seen a large difference in my specific neck of the woods. I've also only been backpacking for about 10 yrs myself so might not be as noticable as it is for some who have been for decades.

I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
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veronika
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veronika
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PostThu Oct 03, 2019 9:34 pm 
I hate to say it but I have seen it happen here on NWH as well. When there hasn't been a TR for at least a couple of years on a certain hike... Someone posts one and BAM! A ton of TR's in the following weeks or so of the same hike. I'm not defending social media or anything. Just saying...

Take risks not to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping I may not have anyone rocking my world right now but, I don't have anyone messing it up either.
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Pahoehoe
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Pahoehoe
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PostThu Oct 03, 2019 10:03 pm 
You could just go to places that there hadn't been a trip report posted on for a while....

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Cyclopath
Faster than light



Joined: 20 Mar 2012
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Cyclopath
Faster than light
PostThu Oct 03, 2019 10:25 pm 
I saw a trip report for Ballard, now there are people everywhere and a bunch of new condos. mad.gif

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BigBrunyon
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Joined: 19 Mar 2015
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Location: the fitness gyms!!
BigBrunyon
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PostThu Oct 03, 2019 10:34 pm 
I get out least couple'a nights a year, SATURDAY NIGHTS EVEN, up in the cascs and no one around!! I must be so much more creative than these guys complainin'. I'm findin' spots!! Look, I'm appearin' in Linked In searches every week but that don't mean nothing. Some trails are the same way.

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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month



Joined: 14 Feb 2010
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Gwen
LO Girl-of-the-Month
PostFri Oct 04, 2019 4:47 am 
BigBrunyon wrote:
I must be so much more creative than these guys complainin
I was not complaining, I was simply pointing out an observation of the impact social media has.

Tomorrow's not promised to anyone, so be bold, scare yourself, attempt something with no guarantee of success. You'll be amazed at what you can achieve. -Olive McGloin
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Brucester
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Brucester
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PostFri Oct 04, 2019 4:55 am 
Lost is the search, the hunt for places and beta. Don't let the internet cheapen the experience!!! Leave no trace even on line??? Just post vague stuff and pictures!!! And pick up others litter along the way!

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joker
seeker



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
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joker
seeker
PostFri Oct 04, 2019 8:48 am 
Yeah. Leaving aside "good" or "bad" as Gwen did in her OP, I've seen similar occurences with my own eyes over many years, from both FB as well as from web forums like nwh and tay. I find it somewhat amusing the backflips some people do in order to try to argue that such influence doesn't occur - e.g. I've seen one person who writes those "ten best hikes" type web stories that get spread on FB point to data showing that many of the peak NP visitation years were back in I think the sixties - when we had super cheap gas etc. - as if this somehow shows that social media isn't pointing some fire hoses of people at specific trails (whethen in NPs or elsewhere). Admittedly my own take is based on my own anecdotal experience, but I have seen this LGP story play out again and again wherein a previously relatively empty place suddenly has a significant and sustained traffic spike and lots more reports after a single posting.

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Randito
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Joined: 27 Jul 2008
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Location: Bellevue at the moment.
Randito
Snarky Member
PostFri Oct 04, 2019 9:24 am 
Brucester wrote:
And pick up others litter along the way
Plogging, a great way to improve the experience for yourself and others. Far more satisfying than whining. To me a lot of the hand wringing about increased usage due to social media is because it erodes "old timers" sense of specialness of being one of the select few to visit a location. The most obvious example is one poster's numerous rant sessions about the vastly increased traffic on Mailbox. I think that particular poster is just pissed off that young people in yoga pants and vibram 5 fingers are frosting his times on Mailbox.

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neek
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neek
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PostFri Oct 04, 2019 9:24 am 
Any idea how long the firehose generally stays on? Weeks? Forever? Will LGP be forgotten again by next summer, or is it permaforked now like Jade? (Well, I've always thought of it as somewhat popular, but not packed-on-weekday popular.) FB posts are more ephemeral than articles in an international magazine, but there's clearly a sort of ripple effect where trip reports beget more trip reports.
Pahoehoe wrote:
You could just go to places that there hadn't been a trip report posted on for a while....
Indeed, the best reason to follow WH&C etc may be to determine where not to go...
Veronika wrote:
I hate to say it but I have seen it happen here on NWH as well.
White Chuck? smile.gif

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