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I grew up in Spokane, Washington but I am currently living in Kent Washington. I started exploring the outdoors when I was old enough to go out into the backyard alone, with my parents, my siblings, or friends. I grew up without T.V. at home, and as a result I was outside all the time. Riverside State Park which has the Spokane River running through it was my exploration grounds in before and during high school.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Where are you from and at what age did you start to take an interest in the outdoors?
- How long have you been into backpacking?
- What are your favorite aspects about backpacking?
- What is your most essential piece of gear that you are using?
- Tell us about your most memorable trip.
- What social media platforms are you using to share your trips?
- Do you have a trail name? Why is it said trail name?
- What do you think the challenges of the next generation of backpackers will be?
- If you were to think about your life in twenty years from now, what do you think you will be doing?
- Do you have anything to tell the BPL community?
# WORDS: 1070
# PHOTOS: 10
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Companion forum thread to: Faces No. 3: Douglas Malott
Douglas, thanks for the article. It would be nice to have a location of your pictures. For those of us with fading memories, many of them look very familiar (I live in Washington also).
I grew up in Colorado back when kids were "free range" kids and allowed to be outside all the time without a whole lot of adult supervision. I now live, coincidentally, in Spokane where Douglas Malott, it would appear, had somewhat the same type of childhood. I share his opinions. Social media, and I'm not an advocate or participant, is bringing a lot more people to the backcountry. My favorite place to backpack, The Enchanted Lakes, is inundated with people. Most stick to the established trail, spend a night or two in the area and then post a 1000's of pictures on Facebook and other sites. Those 1000's of pictures get viewed by 1000's of people who think "i've gotta go there!" Permits to the Enchanted core are very difficult to come by now so I'm moving to new locations – Selway Bitterroots, Seven Devils, Cabinet Mountains, Gosple Hump, and Selkirks where I see a lot less infringement. Very interesting article, Thank You!
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