Why don't more people go Overnight Backpacking?

[Carlos C]

I’ve been wilderness backpacking for almost 10 years , and I have a hard time understanding why more people don’t do it. Its gorgeous, liberating and adventurous; why are people shying away from this beautiful activity?

[Ken Thompson]

It’s work. There’s no electricity, internet, refrigerators….

[David Thomas]

Their charging cables aren’t long enough.

[Alex H]

The are skeered to sleep in the woods.

[MJ H]

What if everybody really is getting eaten by bears and REI is covering it up to prevent a loss of sales?

[Monte Masterson]

1) Lack of sanitary facilities such as toilets, showers, etc. A morning bowel movement in the backcountry can be pretty sobering.

2) No comfortable beds.

3) Scared of the boogie-man or wild animals. I’m amazed at how many people think that coyotes will readily attack full grown humans

[MJ H]

Another issue is that if you are working and have a family, it’s usually much easier to get away for a Saturday of hiking than two days of hiking.

[Lori P]

I have to question why you WANT more people to go.

Inyo NF had 66,000+ people backpacking last year – that was just the ones that pulled permits, doesn’t count people hiking into Inyo from other forests/parks, day hikers, those who didn’t bother with permits… the Sierra is having a boom of usage. 30+ thousand people requested the JMT permit – quota kept the numbers below 4000 for the Happy Isles to Whitney, but creative folks did other trailheads. Met someone hiking south from Florence Lake – plan was for him and his buddy to do the south half, come back to Florence, do the north half, because the quotas were more generous.

I think we’ll be wanting fewer people on the trail rather than wonder why more people don’t go, soon…. the water is starting to register contaminants. SEKI warned us at the usual pre-backpack lecture last year to wash off before you get in the lake to swim to avoid adding your sunscreen and DEET to the watershed.

SO, perception isn’t everything…

[Carlos C]

Thanks for the responses! I understand the lack of comfort and irrational fear of animals might PLAY a role, but I am sure some of us had that too at the beginning. Maybe if people knew or had a someone teach them how to backpack along with basic survival skills they would get out there more. That was definitely my case.

[David Thomas]

Bigger reasons may be simple unfamiliarity with backpacking and outdoor pursuits in general.  If your family didn’t introduce you to it, and you weren’t in Scouting or a university outing club, you might consider backpacking as much as I consider polo as a weekend / vacation activity.  I don’t know anyone who plays polo, I don’t know how to play, I don’t have a horse, etc.

I’ve introduced a lot of people to backpacking through Scouting, UC Berkeley Hiking Club, friends and girlfriends on personnel trips, and classes we taught at the backpacking store.  But I don’t know if I would have gotten into it myself if my parents hadn’t taking us camping (mostly because it was the cheapest way to travel) and I hadn’t taken camping and backpacking trips through scouts.

[Brad Rogers]

I think done in a day activities are much more appealing for a lot of people (especially young people).  I know lots of rock climbers, fly fisherman, trail runners, kayak ers mountain bikers, here locally, but only a few backpackers.  It’s slower, less “exciting” than in a day activities.  If the done in a day activies are a sprint, backpacking is a marathon.

[Tom K]

“A morning bowel movement in the backcountry can be pretty sobering.”

It can also be a spiritual experience.  A matter of proper site selection.

[moggie]

Most of the people I meet in places like my job think backpacking is dangerous. They’re all afraid something will happen to me. I’m not entirely sure what hazards they envision. They get a little ruffled when I point out that crossing the street is far more dangerous than a backpacking trip.

I didn’t have anyone to teach me when I took up backpacking on a whim for my 52nd birthday. I had been camping and day hiking most of my life, but never knew anybody who backpacked.

[BlackHatGuy]

“It can also be a spiritual experience.  A matter of proper site selection.”

And diet….

[Erica R]

Here I am again, participating in a community forum. Soon I shall have to admit we are social creatures. I have been solo backpacking for 50 years, and I admit it is psychologically easier to go with friends, but logistically quite difficult.

[Steofan M]

Now that the paperwork is done, I can have custody of my granddaughter. Worth the hassle but who would have thought that taking your kin into the woods once a month would have so many hoops to jump?  I’ll be picking her up at School on Friday afternoon and off we go until Sunday afternoon. My son will know where we will be and has the job of cleaning her up and taking her back to mom.

Logistics indeed, but well worth it for all concerned. I do so love that girl and she has always been curious about my solo backpacking so one more child in the forest will be a good thing.

[Jerry Adams]

Not enough overnight camping spots within cell phone range.

Might miss an important thread on BPL

I finding pooping in a cathole not that much worse than a flush toilet at home.  Most of the negatives like bugs occur during the day while hiking, not the overnight portion of a trip.

[Todd Stough]

We are trying to get out and generally things end up not going well.   The first trip this winter Mom and I froze and the kids were fine.  We made it over night but I was up at 2am stoking the fire.  The second trip we had everything well planned and right at bed time stomach flu hit my youngest, packed up in the dark.

As silly as it sounds pooping in the woods is a huge hold back.  Ticks are also a huge concern, they are every where here in PA.

[Ben H.]

I think the three biggest hurdles are:

1. Lack of familiarity; lack of friends to go out with
2. specialized equipment.. You don’t need much specialized equipment to stay at a campground and if you don’t know what you are doing, you can jump in your car and drive home.  Post all the $200 backpacking equipment lists you want.. it is still an awful lot of equipment to assemble and much worse if you have a family.
3. pooping in a cathole… My wife is up for most any adventure in the back country unless it does not involve a toilet.

[Ryan “Rudy” Oury]

I know for my wife it’s the following… and if these things are issues (in her mind) as she’s been married to me and seeing me backpack for 15 yr, it ain’t never gonna change. Now take your average person who doesn’t have someone that loves camping bugging them to go, taking care of all the equipment, setting up the trip etc, and I easily see why few go.

1) no toilet. She has to be near exploding to even pee outside.

2) bugs. If she gets bit by ONE mosquito or sees one ant near her, she’ll say “I’m getting eaten alive”

3) poor sleep. She sleeps poorly at home in ideal conditions… she basically doesn’t sleep if she’s outside.

4) carrying a backpack. She has NO interest in strapping on even a light pack and getting sweaty while walking.

[Carlos C]

That makes sense, maybe its just a personality type. From my experience I found:

1. People are scared of animals (when in reality they should be more scared of weather and lack of attention)
2. Lack of amenities (although there are many modern inventions you can take with you: including solar chargers, comfortable hammocks, etc).
3. Information overload so they just give up.
4. Lack of physical fitness.
5. No one to go with.
6. Risk adverse.

[David Thomas]

[Kattt]

7. Lack of time.

8. Family/work commitments

9. Other interests

10. Not able to spend money on something that might get used twice a year

11. Not into outdoor culture

12. Health reasons

13. Rough life already so why rough it again outdoors

14. Just not appealing to sleep outside.

I can go on. Personally I don’t mind people not going. To each their own.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

I like backpacking but the reasons I won’t go are:

• It’s too cold. I don’t want to lay awake cold for several nights in a row.
• It’s too hot. When it’s really hot the hiking is miserable.
• The birds. It costs us $40 a night to board our birds. It used to cost more when we had more birds. Because of the birds, my boyfriend and I take separate trips so one of us is home with the birds.
• There’s too much to do on the weekends when you work full-time. If you don’t get all that done and you go backpacking instead, you’ll either have to run out of food and clean underwear and exist in a messy house for a whole week until the next weekend, or somehow you have to squeeze all the chores into the last few hours of Sunday night when you get home.
• It’s too far to drive. When the summer hits, my local places are too hot so then I have to drive at least 5 hours to go somewhere that isn’t too hot.
• Too many bugs. If it’s too hot at home and I gotta drive to the Sierras, I’ll avoid the buggier months. At home in June the flies can be worse than Sierra mosquitoes ever could be.
• There’s a perfect time in fall to hike but if you miss it, you have to wait months before it’s hiking season again.

[Tipi Walter]

I do all my backpacking in TN and NC and Georgia and have a theory—Locals Don’t Backpack.  I live in rural Tennessee and you won’t find any local boys out backpacking in the mountains under a weighted pack.

They WILL instead Car Camp—but only because there’s no hiking involved and they can get all their camping gear at Walmart.

Many bear and pig hunters come out into the woods in season and I asked several about coming out backpacking and spending the night (instead of just hanging out around their trucks).  I got two responses:  “There are too many critters out here to spend the night!!” (probably very pissed off mammal family members of the ones they killed)—or—“It’s too much work!!!”.  I agree that backpacking up our mountains is alot of work.

Then we have the JUST RIGHT folks.  They won’t come out unless the weather is perfect.  Otherwise it’s too cold or too wet or too brown or too steep or too green or too white or too hot or whatever else.

And then we have . . . . DAYHIKERS.  We have area dayhiking clubs which start their day at a restaurant for breakfast and then drive to a trailhead and do a loop and get out in time for dinner at another restaurant.  For some reason I cannot understand—these dayhikers will never stretch a one day hike into an overnighter and come out the next day.  In essence, they start their day in a car and end their day in a car.  Very depressing.  My opinion only.

I mean, why go to all the trouble to drive hours to a trailhead and then drive hours back home and not be tempted to spend a couple days (or 3 weeks) in the beautiful forest??????  Seems like torture to me—like going to an AYCE buffet and not allowing yourself to eat anything.  Just my opinion.

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