That super old skatepark deep in the Sierras

While I like the catchy music and people getting outdoors, I can't understand why they thought skateboarding on granite was a good idea. I don't know if there are any regulations for where they were camping but it just doesn't sit right with me. Some parks and national forests have regulations on the use trekking poles because they damage they cause to rock and the scars they leave which other visitors find distracting from the outdoor experience.

Trekking poles have carbide tips – much harder than granite

Skateboards have urethane wheels – much softer than granite

I'm not promoting unlawful activities in beautiful areas (if that is indeed the case), but to me, this does not seem harmful. I love fishing even more than skateboarding, but what about all the lengths of tippet and snagged flies that end up left behind?

Wheeled vehicle rules should apply.

Someone has to be able to ID that lake and confirm if it's in Wilderness or not.

Irregardless, I'd count it as a cool idea well executed. Everyone knows skateboards are a gateway to mountain bikes, and I support anything which hastens the inevitable bike legalization of the JMT.

Somebody should take a longboard and ride those massive flat granite slabs in Emigrant around big lake/pingree/hyatt.

I hope that I have misunderstood what you've said about mountain bikes being legalized on the JMT. If you think mountain bikes should be legalized in any wilderness you need to think long and hard about what it means. I've seen the damage around Emigrant done by mountain bikers, and it's deplorable. Considering that you're a BPL staff member, I sincerely hope I've misunderstood what you're saying.

Richard, how do you feel about horses?

Horses are a preexisting issue and, it's my impression, that for most part as pack station operations close down new ones are not being given licenses. However, they do allow some people who might not otherwise be able to enjoy the mountains to enjoy them. Ideally they will be phased out.

> Considering that you're a BPL staff member, I sincerely hope I've misunderstood what
> you're saying.

We have diversity inside BPL too.
Me, I agree with Richard. I have seen far too much bike and horse damage in the high country.

Cheers

Richard, well said. Thank you.

…and bicycles are a gateway for ATV's and other motorized vehicles. Why not, it is public land after all right? I say pave that sucker so we can provide access for everyone. All people have a right to enjoy the backcountry. Should it be reserved for an elitist few? Damn snobs. Skate or die!

> I support anything which hastens the inevitable bike legalization of the JMT.

This is the worst thing I've read in a while.

You'd have to have mad skills to bike the JMT. Not for the faint of heart.

-I'd encourage everyone to take everything they read on the internet very, very seriously.

-Bikes on the JMT is a clearly impractical idea, but so long as it remains a reliable discussion point I'll keep raising it. It is a cage worthy of rattling.

-There are compelling arguments against bikes in Wilderness, and "They'll open the door for motorized use" and "I don't like it" are not among them.

-The impetus to see something unexpected and condemn it reflexively is itself more worth condemning than most things I can think of.

As my great grandma used to say, "Haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate."

Good one Ian.

I liked the video. Nice scenery, clear camera shots, and a variety of cool stuff. Bringing a skateboard along seemed like a fun activity. Though my years of skating is behind me.

The one skateboard out there out of the 1000's of people did not harm the nature.

"Someone has to be able to ID that lake and confirm if it's in Wilderness or not."

It looks like they are just within the boundaries of the Desolation Wilderness, Eldorado NF, California. During the beginning of the video, you can see Mt. Tallac, which is also within the boundaries. I'm not sure on the specific lake, but I have a pretty good idea.

The venue wasn't appropriate, but I really dig the video and the overall vibe. Reminds me of trips I would take when I was in college. Good stuff. Thanks for sharing.

"-The impetus to see something unexpected and condemn it reflexively is itself more worth condemning than most things I can think of."

I second that wholeheartedly.

That does not mean I like to see bikes or skateboards where I hike.

I think a lot of people are missing the point and the quote above is a gem in my opinion.

""-The impetus to see something unexpected and condemn it reflexively is itself more worth condemning than most things I can think of."

"I second that wholeheartedly."

It's a paraphrase of the above passage written by William Paley, a 19th Century British philosopher.

'Contempt prior to examination is an intellectual vice from which the greatest faculties of mind are not free. I know not indeed whether men of the greatest faculties of mind are not the subject to it. Such men feel themselves seated upon an eminence. Looking down from their height upon the follies of mankind, they behold contending tenets wasting their idle strength upon one another, with the common disdain of the absurdity of them all. This habit of thought, however comfortable to the mind which entertains it, or however natural to great parts, is extremely dangerous; and more apt, than almost any other disposition, to produce hasty and contemptuous, and, by consequence, erroneous judgments both of persons and opinions.'

Short version: 'There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. This principle is, contempt prior to examination.'

I, too, would second it as a general principle. But here, Dave inserts "reflexively" into the sentence, thereby implying that anyone who condemns skateboards, bikes, and other mechanical modes of transportation in wilderness areas has not bothered to think the issue thru before condemning the idea. Big difference, but Dave and I just got thru jousting over this issue in a related thread, so I'm not inclined to do more than note that by making such assumptions before inquiring after other posters' reasoning, he is hoisting himself on his own intellectual petard. I'll leave it at that.