Please, please...everyone stay home playing video games!
Yeah really, a big ongoing stink around here is that Yosemite National Park has for many years now been too overcrowded, too many cars up there, too much negative environmental impact, etc.
Yosemite is an interesting example of a simultaneous National Park Service success and failure. It is such an incredibly beautiful place that the war between access and preservation is a constantly shifting battle. The smog, trash, and feeling of being in the middle of rush hour during the peak summer months contrasts so sharply with the amazing scenery around you. The same can be said for a lot of the more popular National Parks (Rocky Mountain National Park). The nice thing, as a hiker anyway, is that generally you can walk about 500 meters up any trail at a National Park and you will be in solitude once again. Most of the people who visit National Parks these days are "roll down the window and take a picture" visitors who define access as being wherever the road takes them.
I really don't see a correlation with video games and park attendance..not that I've been conducting a survey or anything. I think we are seeing less people in the wilderness part due to technology in general and the feeling of connectivity the current generation is growing up with. My nieces came to visit us this year (ages 11 and 14) and they were
constantly buried in their cell phones texting their friends back home. I finally had to make a rule that no cell phones were allowed at the dinner table...and frankly, if they were my girls I would have put them on a texting plan that gave them a limit per month so they could learn a little about budgeting. (I'd make a terrible parent..one of those iron fisted ones that has their kids rebelling in their teen years..hehe..)
The other big factor, I think, in a reduction (if there is indeed one) of people experiencing the great outdoors is the cost of getting there. I drive a Honda CRX...so I get about 42 miles per gallon. My girlfriend drives an XTerra..and she gets about 18 miles per gallon (ouch!). At $3.00 a gallon for gas, even though I drive a pretty fuel efficient car, I have to think carefully about how far I want to travel when I take my hiking trips. For instance, last weekend we nixed a plan to drive about 3 hours away to go hiking and instead went to a more local place about 45 minutes away..mostly due to the fuel cost consideration. I think as the economy cools we'll see more and more of that...decisions to stay home instead of driving somewhere for vacation..or more local entertainment than distant travels.
Last weekend, when my brother and I went hiking up Mount Mitchell, we didn't see a single other person over the course of 2 days except for a few guys picking plants as we exited the trail. Granted..it was about 25 degrees out in mid-winter..but there are still places of solitude out there if you are willing to get out of the car and do some walking.
BeachAV8R
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