balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Feb 6, 2024 8:50:34 GMT -8
Someone named Alec popped up in my feed this morning, with a story about natiional parks that only deserve a day of your time. OK, I thought, let's see if we agree on those. So I read through it. A few made certain sense: Gateway Arch in St. Louis, etc. Then he added Kings Canyon, Arches, and Mesa Verde. What a maroon! Here's the link--although you may not want to generate traffic for the site. The sad part is that much of what he's posted is pretty good...but wow... explorewithalec.com/these-national-parks-only-require-one-day-to-visit/
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Feb 6, 2024 14:49:33 GMT -8
The wonderful world of bucket lists.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Feb 6, 2024 15:07:56 GMT -8
He also included Wind Cave NP, which shows how little he learned when he visited it. I could drive through Yellowstone in one day and even stop and take landscape photos if all I wanted was to say, "I've been there and here is proof." It's not just about the landscape.
And Wind Cave NP is not just about the cave and roadside scenery or even a short hike. The park is probably the best wildlife-viewing area I've spent time in. And to really see the variety it has to offer, it is best to visit at multiple times of year and in every season. People who pass through in summer will see little of that — especially in merely one day.
Hike off-trail and find yourself surrounded by mountain-lion tracks in the snow near its den. Sit quietly in a prairie-dog town and have a coyote walk right past you. Hike a trail, round a corner in a canyon, and find yourself facing a bison bull 20-feet away with no mind to negotiate. Watch elk herds or pronghorns in the dozens moving to or from feeding areas.
You don't see that in one day or one week.
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,512
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Post by balzaccom on Feb 6, 2024 15:13:54 GMT -8
I sent him this note:
"Hi Alec
I know you're just trying to generate hits for your website, but given the quality of the material on your website, this story was beneath you: explorewithalec.com/these-national-parks-only-require-one-day-to-visit/
If you only spent one day in Arches you simply didn't see enough of the park. Same is true of Mesa Verde—did you visit both mesas? And to include Kings Canyon in this article tells me you are clueless about that park. You can do better—and have done better.
I'd also like to suggest that maybe national parks aren't only photo ops, but opportunities to experience nature in a slower and more intense way. By visiting these parks for only half a day, you miss the dawn chorus, miss the sunset from the campground, and miss the peace and quiet of that particular part of the world when most of the photo-op selfie takers have left for a hotel in the nearest city.
PW"
His response to my email: "Morning Paul!
Thanks for taking a peek at the article and the feedback is honestly appreciated. I’m fully on board with everything you said when it comes to slowing down and enjoying these special place. — but most people don’t do that.
The kings canyon one is probably the one that I stretched on, but if you do sun up to sun down, you can see a tremendous amount of the park. I honestly love the area. I spent three days backpacking there and it’s wild. But most people will go to sequoia and if you can get a day in KC by driving down to roads end, I think that’s a win.
Buuuuut i did gear this the casual/average person who doesn’t have the ability to take week long vacation multiple times a year.
Thanks again for writing in. Interactions like this push me to be better!
Alec Sills-Trausch"
To which I replied:
All points understood, Alec
Buuuut do you really write for people who never get out of their cars? Why? Shouldn't your role as a guide be to encourage them to get out of their cars?
PW
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Feb 7, 2024 9:46:01 GMT -8
Here's the link--although you may not want to generate traffic for the site. The sad part is that much of what he's posted is pretty good...but wow... You got me nervous this was some scam site. I did a Google on the domain and found no complaints. Alex has a full profile internet presence. So once it seemed his site was safe I visited it. I kind of agree that the title shouldn't include "only require one day". Maybe "worth at least one day" or something like that. Alec is a two time cancer survivor. So I say go Alec and F cancer. So maybe that article wasn't a hit but check this page out. I respect his choices here: explorewithalec.com/best-hiking-gadgets/
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sarbar
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After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Feb 8, 2024 16:02:45 GMT -8
It's called clickbait, and you all fell for it. He wrote it to get you to visit. So yes, it is designed to get under your skin....lol.
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ErnieW
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I want to backpack
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Post by ErnieW on Feb 8, 2024 16:40:06 GMT -8
Someone named Alec popped up in my feed this morning What feed? Facebook, Instagram, X, etc?
It is not clear to me that he was going for clickbait. Unfortunately if those algorithm based systems determined this was controversial it will deliver it to people who might get stirred up by it. The service wanted your clicks not him as much.
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Travis
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WYOMING NATIVE
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Post by Travis on Feb 8, 2024 17:51:57 GMT -8
It's called clickbait, and you all fell for it. He wrote it to get you to visit. So yes, it is designed to get under your skin....lol. And you just clicked on the thread title to give him another boost. Way to go sarbar . Lol. Then you posted here to bump up the thread. Here, let me help you out. Yuk, yuk.
But no, I did not "fall" for it. I knew what it was when I clicked on it. It's fine with me if people think Wind Cave NP can be seen in a day. That's just less people I have to put up with when I visit the place. In my experience, very few people hike the backcountry of that park anyhow. Maybe anyone gullible enough to think Wind Cave NP can be seen in a day deserves to be misled.
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sarbar
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After being here since 2001...I couldn't say goodbye yet!
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Post by sarbar on Feb 12, 2024 8:25:19 GMT -8
Well....I can tell you that the article wasn't written for any of us. The younger generation doesn't have the time, patience, vacation time, or attention span to go to a place for a week. In and out, and done in a day. They have jobs to get back to. My oldest kid, he's 26 now. He's lucky to get ONE day off a week the past 4 years. This week, like most weeks, he gets no days off. When does he go vacation? He doesn't even have time to go to Walmart to buy new socks. My life at 26 was far more laid back. And I had a 2 year old to go with it.
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Feb 12, 2024 8:36:28 GMT -8
Well....I can tell you that the article wasn't written for any of us. The younger generation doesn't have the time, patience, vacation time, or attention span to go to a place for a week. Not all of them. My youngest daughter is 35, and joined me for 17 days to hike the Camino Primitivo in Spain. And my older daughter, 39, spent two weeks in Sicily this summer, some of it exploring her husband's family's roots. Generally, generalizations are too general! :D
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Feb 12, 2024 8:38:47 GMT -8
Sing it, sarbar
Rich people can't wait for us old farts to die off & have nobody left to give a damn about parks and wilderness areas. They already have the mines, logging roads, golf courses, resorts, condos, and strip malls all mapped out & blueprinted.
A young pup who gets to see these places - even for just one day - is less likely to be apathetic about their destruction.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Feb 12, 2024 9:45:48 GMT -8
My oldest kid, he's 26 now. He's lucky to get ONE day off a week the past 4 years. This week, like most weeks, he gets no days off. When does he go vacation? He doesn't even have time to go to Walmart to buy new socks. I agree in part. The article may have been written for a younger generation. Backpacker Magazine was similarly inclined, but they included articles of far-away places that I've never had the time to explore. But I don't agree the problem is restricted to one generation. And I seriously doubt anyone is forcing your son to work a job with no days off. I'm approaching 71 years, with 6 years college education and a lifetime of independent reading and "research." Yet I found myself often working part-time jobs with no vacation time and certainly no paid vacations because I absolutely refused to allow anyone to take away my hiking and backpacking time. But the upshot is that I had little time or income to take longer trips. I often lived below poverty level but developed so many personal skills that I appeared better off financially than I may have been. Sometimes my sleeping schedule was so messed up that I had to crawl under a tree or bush and sleep for even a short hike. For two years I worked graveyard shift and compensated with exclusively night-hiking and "cowboy camping" when I needed sleep. But I explored areas in ways few people take time to do. I learned to navigate by moon or starlight. I hiked almost entirely off-trail even at night. I tracked mountain lions in what people call "the dark." I read a lot of books by college professors when other people would watch TV or go to the movies. And frankly I was rather appalled by the lack of work ethic among a lot of co-workers, younger and older generations. I never married and never wanted to have kids. The last thing I wanted in this world was anyone like myself. The further consequences are that my moderately-wealthy parents disinherited me because I was incomprehensible to them and sounding more and more like a "liberal." Perish the thought in Wyoming! Do I regret anything? Absolutely. A lot of things. Do I regret spending so much time in wilderness surroundings? Never. Obviously, there are a lot of forces and enticements in the present world that were not present 50 years ago. And a younger generation can easily fall prey to them. But I don't know any of the self-styled Zen Buddhists of my generation who actually tried to live up to what they espoused. They wore their so-called beliefs on their sleeve as surely as their parents' generation. So I don't believe it is all a generation thing.
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Post by Sleeping Bag Man! on Feb 12, 2024 9:59:35 GMT -8
The long term trend is that Americans are taking fewer & fewer vacation days...a decline from what was already a shamefully low level compared to the rest of the industrialized world. This would naturally affect younger generations, who start out with fewer vacations days to begin with, but who are also trying to establish themselves & thus are susceptible to being pressured into "The Grind" - the idea that it is a virtue to sacrifice your friendships, family, hobbies, sanity, and health to prove yourself.
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Deborah
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Post by Deborah on Feb 12, 2024 9:59:40 GMT -8
Generally, generalizations are too general! :D Generational generalizations, generally annoy me.
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Post by marmotstew on Feb 12, 2024 10:06:34 GMT -8
Right now I’m sitting on nearly 400 hours of PTO. I use it but am I the only one that gets an ass load of PTO?
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