Wilderness Tripping, or what?

Very reasonable OP
I interpret g2d’s OP as simply asking what the purpose of this forum is and whether it is optimally labeled.



I think those are reasonable questions. I find myself never posting and rarely reading this forum because I don’t really understand its purpose or incremental value.



I also think the title is at least doubly ambiguous. “Wilderness” is a word that has been highly (and intelligently) debated on other boards, and I think it’s fair to say it has no definitive meaning, objectively or subjectively.



“BWCA and Beyond” is also not very helpful as a topic specifier because it implies a sort ambiguous directional aspect. To be facetious but to make the ambiguity point, if you live in Manitoba what’s beyond the BWCA could be Chicago.



The only real content help I get from the forum title is the word “tripping”. So, I’ve sort of assumed that the purpose of the forum was to have discussions about extended paddle trips vs. day trips. Yet, the trip reports for extended trips seem to show up either in the Discussion Forum or completely outside the Forums under the Articles-Places to Paddle pull-down menu. Gear discussions, which could apply to extended tripping gear, seem to show up mainly in ASGH Forum.



In sum, I don’t have any particular suggestions for re-organizing or re-titling the forums on this site, but I do personally conclude that there is not the quality of discussion here regarding canoe tripping-planning-camping as there is on CCR or was on the apparently defunct ST. That’s too bad because those sites had a heavy emphasis on Canada.



Another issue for this site re providing attractive information and entertainment regarding canoe tripping and camping in wilderness, or anywhere else, is the apparent inability to embed photographs and videos into the body of posts. I assume that’s some technical issue related to the site software.



So, this is my first and probably last post on this forum – and I regret that it wasn’t even on topic, whatever the topic is. Sorry for trying anyone’s patience.

Possibly overthinking it
One other factor is that the list of designated federal wilderness areas can change. “New wilderness” gets added. Of course, there is no real new wilderness, physically. It’s just a label.

No real freedom, either.
As I said before, most of us who seek wilderness know very well what we’re looking for, and it isn’t a short day run in north Georgia, and it isn’t the Arkansas above Salida. BWCA and beyond says it very well.

no more than the other boards.
Not any different than the other boards.

I’ve seen messages regarding baking bread, auto repairs, porn movies,

camera repair, politics, head lice and the list goes on…!

It is what it is.

I agree and I am working on the beyond
bit.



Well be at Liard HotSprings tomorrow and take off on the Teslin/Yukon Friday.



There is lots of beyond.

The Arkansas is wilderness?
Not to me, and I’ve never heard anybody else call it that, in any sense of the term.



Wilderness really is too vague a term. So is “backcountry.” The latest abomination around here is that Highlands Ranch–the gigantic subdivision nationally renowned as the height (or depth) of suburban conformity–is trying to sell its last lots under the marketing guise of “The Backcountry at Highlands Ranch.” Yeehaw, ride em, pony!

Read my post and report back.
You will see that I did NOT say that any portion of the Ark was wilderness.



And as I read my original post, I can see that I touched a nerve. Everyone knows this forum is just a canoe and kayak camping forum, not a wilderness tripping forum at all. Like a non-profit organization, it didn’t start that way, but it “died of a theory.”

What would you suggest?
I think the guidelines for this forum are ignored much more than those for the other forums, unless we just regard this as a paddler camping forum. Which I suggested we might do in my original post. I’ve gotten all sorts of evasion on the “wilderness” issue while few seem willing to admit that this isn’t just a poor sort of horse, it’s a cow!

I have a different beef
The appropriate title for the forum would not be “Canoe and Kayak Camping”. It would be “Self-Supported Paddle Camping” or hopefully, a better term for that.



I don’t think questions about guided trips in BWCA (or whatever) quite hit the target. My impression, which may not be what Brent intended, is that the forum serves as an information exchange for those who are planning their own trips, not signing up to be led by an outfitter.



The posts plugging commercial trips in here rub me the wrong way. I don’t mind the ads, just the ads that masquerade as posts.

Just curious, how many hand-holding
trips are you seeing on here? I don’t see them. I don’t object to “self-supported” but I wonder if there are enough “dependent” trips described on this forum to make the exclusion relevant.



Still, I think “self supported” is a good criterion.

I STILL Smell biscuits…
n/m

No problem
with g2d expressing his opinion on the “watering-down” of this particular forum. I am a recent member and I was interested in paddling the Lake Placid/Saranac region. He politely informed me that a different discussion board would be more appropriate for my query.No big deal. Although, I did recieve some very informative and friendly responses,for which I am grateful, I arbitrarily chose the wrong board and didnt have an issue with being told so.

Must be way up your nose.

Take what you can get
I would think most don’t live near any real wilderness.

Those on the east 1/3rd of the nation have seen most of our land utilised since Colubus laned.

Those who do have wilderness are very lucky.

I have to be satisfied with the north branch Susquahanna, mostly farmland and old coal towns.

But we have eagles again!!!

What is wilderness?
I just did a Yukon River trip.



By my personal definition the trip itself was not a wilderness trip. There was not a day when we did not see someone on the river. We passed some fishing camps and a town and some mining operations.



But hiking in the woods following old trails out of camp one could get into trouble quickly. It might be an old prospectors trail or a bear trail…and it would be easy to get turned around…and no one find you for years. So is that wilderness?



I think wilderness is a personal decision. One mans is not another mans

Yukon wilderness

– Last Updated: Sep-05-12 8:10 PM EST –

I've paddled the Yukon a few times myself. Although we saw several canoe campers and a few First Nations fishing operations, we certainly were alone in the vastness of that wild river the majority of the time. But those mountains on either side sure do call out to you being as wild as can be. A hike most anywhere there would certainly take you far from any possible human contact.

Since we were racing each time, we did not have the opportunity to explore off river, and we camped short nights on gravel shoals. But while waiting out one afternoon thunderstorm, I walked just a bit back on the soft mushy moss muskeg. Very slow and difficult going. The mountain ridges would be much easier.

Wilderness is a cluster concept.
Various things go into the definition, degree of roadlessness, degree of absence of human population, degree of wild (versus cut or farmed) vegetation, lack of buildings, lack of power lines, etc. etc.



That’s how people actually use the word wilderness. One person’s “personal” definition will vary.



If just one criterion is out of compliance a bit, that may not cause people to stop calling it “wilderness.”



The BWCA meets most people’s definition of wilderness. “BWCA and Beyond” is a pretty damn good way of indicating what kind of “wilderness” we’re talking about.



I can keep pointing this out as long as you choose to imply that nearly the whole land mass of the planet really isn’t wilderness.

How about "Mongolia Only"
A few clicks west of Ulaanbaatar…that fit ya for “wilderness” G2.:)?

DUU is the right opening. You show no
understanding at all. Obviously if I back Brent’s “BWCA and Beyond” as a guideline for this supposedly wilderness forum, I don’t have to go to Mongolia. But if you have the money, I encourage you to go, and report back.

Much “wilder” and more dangerous
than the Yukon, Boundary waters, or Mongolia, is a place I am occasionally forced to journey when I travel east and cross the George Washington Bridge.

Crowded wilderness.