Good article on the Instagrammification of natural areas

[CampinCarl]

https://theringer.com/instagram-geotagg ... .3y9lstokk

I think this rings true for us from a local perspective. We desire to share these beautiful places with the world, yet become disgruntled when they become overrun or trashed. What I liked about the article was that LNT principles are encouraged, hopefully that will spark more awareness of these principles in some small way.

[justpeachy]

Interesting article.

Some Instagram outdoor enthusiasts have taken to using hashtags like #nogeotags and #secretplaces, urging followers in their captions to keep some places sacred and secret.

In my opinion, if you want a place to stay secret, don't post a photo of it AT ALL. I think it's just antagonizing people when someone posts a photo and then says "I'm not telling you where this is."

The funny thing is that places more than 6 miles from a trailhead are getting less use than in the 1990s

I don't think this is necessarily true. Just look at how crowded the Lakes Basin area of the Eagle Cap Wilderness is.

[retired jerry]

Green Lakes area of Three Sisters is more crowded?

The viewpoints below McNeil shelter?

(Those are more like three miles from TH)

Enchantments are less crowded because they've implemented quotas

My guess is places are a little more crowded over all because there are a few more people.

I figure if I put up a picture, maybe there'll be more people so I'll find another slightly different spot, like in that article. Good for people to get out into nature.

[CampinCarl]

justpeachy and retiredjerry, good points both.

I agree that it is location specific as far as the relationship of distance from trailhead vs. degree of use. I am thinking of backcountry camping near Mt. Hood, Three Sisters, and most Washington Cascades all seeing heavy use (unless quotas are in place as you referred to, Jerry), largely due to proximity to urban areas.

I agree that it is good for more folks to be out enjoying the outdoors, it builds advocates for helping protect these areas. The conundrum is how to encourage responsible use.

Along these lines... I like Outdoor Project, yet I hate Outdoor Project Anybody else feel this tension?

And trip reports have become less frequent for me as I consider my digital footprint.

[Bosterson]

Social media and Instagram did not invent discovery of beautiful outdoor spaces — but they have become a curator-friendly guide to collecting them. It’s like bingo: You’ve got your picture at Yosemite with Half Dome in the background, but wait — Crater Lake has popped up in the Explore tab five times in the past few weeks. You must go, and you must document it. America’s most gorgeous natural wonders: Collect them all!

... “The places that really get hammered are the ones that are really photogenic — that show up well on Instagram — but are fairly easy to reach,” he told me.

"That 3 minute hike was so worth it."

[CampinCarl]

"That 3 minute hike was so worth it."

Here are my responses to that:

[Bosterson]

"That 3 minute hike was so worth it."

Here are my responses to that:

Socality Barbie is a funny parody [note: the photographer is from Portland!] that is a very incisive critique of the (pretentious, hyper-curated and self-conscious) Instagram "outdoor" lifestyle culture.

To wit: that in the original article you posted, the writer goes to that secret place on the North Santiam and - after being asked not to by the ranger - posts pics of herself on Instagram... with the meaningless caption, "Living our very best lives," as if being an affluent white girl drinking beer in a river were like the apotheosis of humanity or something. The one-up-man-ship of the level of narcissistic drivel in the Instagram "outdoors" culture is simply staggering, and Socality Barbie is hilarious specifically because a Barbie drinking fake coffee outdoors is no less "real" than the BS people on Instagram are actually posting.

Nevertheless, the explosion of overuse (aka "loved to death" - Munra, anyone?) is precisely the reason I stopped posting TRs about lesser known/unknown places that I go in the Gorge. It's just not safe to share information publicly online anymore.

[miah66]

It is interesting to note that the owner has "retired" the account. One of my faves.

"If you need me I'll be spending the day relaxing in my hammock in the most absurd places"

[BigBear]

I can't blame it all on Instagram. Picture postcards started the see-it-visit-it desire in May 1898. Then came books and magazines that published scenic photographs of our treasured landscapes. Then came the maps and hiking guides which you had to buy and do some research to visit an area. The bigger culprit today is that these hiking guides and pictures are as easy as a key stroke to find on your computer/phone. Each advancement has indeed increased the desire to see it.

Instagram is just another format to display our picture, but the photo alone doesn't make the trailheads crowded. The pictures are in Sunst magazine or on your Great Northwest calendars. The internet has made researching a hike a simple one-click process. With the GPS on the phone, you can drive to the coordinates and hike without knowing a whole lot about where you're going. This is the biggest contributor to increased visits - the how to get there question. It's no longer a question.

If you want to keep an area secret, pull the directions to the trailhead off the internet.

[VanMarmot]

Back when I was actively mountaineering, it used to be all about the summit – get there alive, take in the view, snap a photo (if the shutter wasn’t frozen), and make it back alive. The goal, not the process, was the order of the day. We used to have convoluted discussions (usually fueled either by beer down low or by oxygen deprivation at altitude) about goal versus process, but kept after those summits nonetheless. While not forgetting that mountaineering invariably involves skill, risk, and a lot of struggle, tagging a summit doesn’t seem too different than the Instagram culture of “go to Social Media Enhanced Point X”, snap a photo of it and a selfie (or just a selfie with X in the background), and post it (preferably right then because there’s probably cell service at Point X).

It wasn’t until after I retired from mountaineering that process started to make sense. Sure, our hikes still have “goals” (a specific trail, a view, some ridgeline, a non-technical summit, etc.) but are now about enjoying the whole experience, not just some specific spot (like a summit or a waterfall or a pool or whatever) during it. This approach sure frees you from the tyranny of “we have to fight our away through the overflowing parking lot & the permit restricted trailhead & the crowded trail to see the one Social Media Enhanced Point that matters or else the hike’s a failure.” So, how about blowing off social media, putting in a little effort of your own, and enjoying the process of hiking your own hike to a destination of your own choosing? Doing so can be so liberating…