Inactive members: where are they now?

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Webfoot
Posts: 1759
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 11:06 am
Location: Troutdale

Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Webfoot » April 23rd, 2022, 10:39 am

Some regular contributors I know only from posts before I joined the forum, and many who were active after have since become inactive. I am forgetting these people until I find a post and think: where are they now? Are they on another forum? Out of the PNW? Off the grid? Stopped hiking? Passed away?

If others are willing I would like this thread to become an index for these inactive members.

One to answer myself:

pablo — his last post states "I no longer live in the area"

Here are some names to start things off for anyone in the know or up for some sleuthing.

Username and date of last post

Code: Select all

AlexanderSupertramp February 19th, 2014
Smith               September 7th, 2017
DouggieFir          April 29th, 2017
pdxgene             March 30th, 2018
gratefultrails      May 29th, 2018
TJ_T                July 1st, 2018
forestkeeper        August 31st, 2018
chameleon           September 13th, 2018
VanMarmot           September 14th, 2018
olderthanIusedtobe  April 25th, 2019
aircooled           June 3rd, 2019
mandrake            June 25th, 2019
Ryan Ojerio         July 19th, 2019
weathercrazy        September 10th, 2019
Rustygoat           September 24th, 2019
Eric Peterson       November 3rd, 2019
miah66              June 28th, 2020
sprengers4jc        July 16th, 2020
BrianEdwards        July 25th, 2020
Peabody             September 18th, 2020
K.Wagner            October 14th, 2020
ElementalFX         October 27th, 2020

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Bosterson
Posts: 2317
Joined: May 18th, 2009, 3:17 pm
Location: Portland

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Bosterson » April 23rd, 2022, 2:39 pm

Pablo retired and moved away.
VanMarmot retired and moved away.
Eric Peterson was maimed in a freak Strava accident.
All the rest abandoned this old timey "internet forum" and went to FB presumably. :lol:

Your "sleuthing" remark is just the weensiest bit creepy. People come and they go. ;)
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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Charley
Posts: 1834
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Milwaukie

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Charley » April 23rd, 2022, 9:04 pm

Webfoot wrote:
April 23rd, 2022, 10:39 am
Some regular contributors I know only from posts before I joined the forum, and many who were active after have since become inactive. I am forgetting these people until I find a post and think: where are they now? Are they on another forum? Out of the PNW? Off the grid? Stopped hiking? Passed away?
I miss some of the old regulars, like Koda, Grannyhiker, and Sean Thomas. I wonder how many active accounts are left from the migration date, back in 2008? I've been on the forum since about the summer of 2007. I will always remember being excited to look at my profile dashboard and learn that my posts were, at least for a time, about 1% of the total number of posts on the forum.

I think Bosterson is probably right that a lot went to Facebook. Until I deleted my Facebook account, I also enjoyed the PortlandHikers FB group. The user interface was easy for photo heavy trip reports and, I'm ashamed to admit, the fact that the group has thousands of active users means that the instant and numerically impressive accumulation of "likes" was rewarding.

This forum remains a rich and knowledgeable place, but it hasn't been the same in years. I may be wrong, but it also seems much more seasonably variable (very inactive in the winter), and many trip reports are from new members who never post again (after receiving few replies). I'm as guilty as anyone else. It's a lot of work to write up a nice trip report!
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

Webfoot
Posts: 1759
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 11:06 am
Location: Troutdale

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Webfoot » April 24th, 2022, 6:23 am

Bosterson wrote:
April 23rd, 2022, 2:39 pm
Your "sleuthing" remark is just the weensiest bit creepy. People come and they go. ;)
I didn't mean anything invasive. I am not trying to "dox" people. I just meant seeing a familiar avatar on another forum for example. I hope that's not creepy?

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Eric Peterson
Posts: 4097
Joined: May 11th, 2009, 5:39 am
Location: Oregon
Contact:

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Eric Peterson » April 24th, 2022, 8:35 am

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Charley
Posts: 1834
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Milwaukie

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Charley » April 24th, 2022, 11:44 am

Eric Peterson wrote:
April 24th, 2022, 8:35 am
unnamed.png
Gosh I'm dense. Is it a black hole? I am clueless.

Welcome back Eric Peterson!
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

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RobinB
Posts: 803
Joined: September 9th, 2013, 11:29 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by RobinB » April 25th, 2022, 9:13 am

I think there was some political stuff - issues with moderation, the bizarre change from "PortlandHikers" to "OregonHikers," etc - that drove some folks away, though, for my part, that all seems kinda silly in retrospect.

I wish I had more time to still post reports. I'm still hiking as much as ever, but, since I finished grad school in 2016, work has been taking up a lot of valuable Trip Report Time :)

The simultaneously nice and terrible thing about the (still correctly named) Facebook group is that it's so quick to post little TRs. I sort of wonder if it might be valuable to post similarly minimal ones here, just for folks who have the right idea about social media (eg: folks who stay off it). For instance: I hiked the Primrose Path last night, and it's the best it's been in years. Some seriously heroic guerilla trail maintainer has spent a lot of time and energy up there. I hope more of us use it, just so it stays as good as it is.

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bobcat
Posts: 2764
Joined: August 1st, 2011, 7:51 am
Location: SW Portland

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by bobcat » April 25th, 2022, 9:59 am

Short, quick trip reports are always good. The stumbling block for some people is the uploading of the photos (and some people just don't take photos, which they see as a prerequisite for posting here). Just takes a little practice.

Webfoot
Posts: 1759
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 11:06 am
Location: Troutdale

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by Webfoot » April 25th, 2022, 10:13 am

RobinB wrote:
April 25th, 2022, 9:13 am
I sort of wonder if it might be valuable to post similarly minimal ones here, just for folks who have the right idea about social media (eg: folks who stay off it). For instance: I hiked the Primrose Path last night, and it's the best it's been in years. Some seriously heroic guerilla trail maintainer has spent a lot of time and energy up there. I hope more of us use it, just so it stays as good as it is.
Yes, please!

jvangeld
Posts: 156
Joined: May 29th, 2018, 6:36 pm
Location: Proebstel, WA

Re: Inactive members: where are they now?

Post by jvangeld » April 25th, 2022, 10:42 am

Ryan Ojerio is easy to track down. He is still working at WTA as the SW WA region manager. I attend his zoom meetings for the Silver Star Vision Plan once or twice a month.

I am curious about Kelly Wagner. I wonder if he ever finished his book.
Jeremy VanGelder - Friends of Road 4109

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