Off Trail trekking for knowledgeable & responsible trekkers

[Nighthiker]

I received another issue of Backpacker today. They taunt Get Out More ! I would like to advocate to Get Off Trail ! Abbey got most of us to get out of our motor vehicles and plod along on are own two feet. On pavement, signs advise us to merge left, no right on red and no u turn. Abbey also got us to put the dam builders out of work, but he forgot the sign painters. Public Land managers extol the visual qualities of our public land, they even hired sign painters to point this out. If you are a knowledgeable and a responsible hiker, Get Off Trail.

[RedRoxx44]

This is an old argument but still timely about OHV's- I hike and backpack but also off -road- although I do it on roads- usually mining roads or forrest routes or up open canyons and washes (open to vehicles). It is the same stuff- you can be an idiot if you are a hiker or an OHV user or both or you can enjoy your activity and try to minimize impact. I have a jeep set up to climb just about vertically but I don't try to leave tire marks on every rock. But people will do what they do and all we can try is to act responsibly yourself and reinforce that behavior in certain people around us in our group. Or better yet hike by yourself or in groups of one to two -less impact on the land. If I am on an established trail I stick to it, but if I see a point in the distance of interest- I'll go there.

[olesma]

All this talk about who's "knowledgeable and responsible", and who's tip toeing on dandy lions is beginning to sound a tad elitist.

I agree that the overtones are there - but I know I don't have that viewpoint. It's not elitism - I'd love to see more hikers out there who are experienced, skilled, knowledgeable about trail etiquite and so forth. The reality is that hiking is fairly new as an "extreme" sport and there are a lot of people who either have just started or who do it stricly for the "workout". None of which is bad.
I think it is just the realization that there are folks out there who do things they are unprepared for or have no idea that the activity they are engaging in is damaging or dangerous.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, we live in a free country and people are allowed to make their own mistakes - and sometimes they pay for them, other times someone else, or possibly the environment, pays for them.
There's no more elitism in that viewpoint than seeing someone screaming down the freeway at 100 MPH or seeing a drunk driver and thinking they're a moron. They are putting themselves and everyone around them in mortal danger - therefore they are idiots.
Hikers can easily fall into the same category. If an inexperienced hiker goes off trail, they risk their own lives and possibly the lives of potential rescuers that will have to track them down. And if they are not experienced in LNT tactics, they are putting the environment at risk. Sounds grandiose when stated that way - but those are the facts.

Experience and knowledge counts. Wishing that everyone realized that, and wanting to educate and help others realize what they are doing is not (in my mind) an elitist attitude. But I can see how it seems that way.

[pfredricks]

We are not elitist. Is it our fault that we are smarter, better educated, better looking, and more wealthy??

[sherileeaz]

We are not elitist. Is it our fault that we are smarter, better educated, better looking, and more wealthy??

OMG, everyone get on your really deep wading boots now! :roll:
Any brand, it's getting really deep in here!!!

Sherileeaz

[hoppy47m]

90% of my hiking is off trail. I really don't prefer crowds, I get into a pace and on trails which are heavily traveled and narrow someone is always stepping off to the side. At the Grand Canyon you will encounter a group of not so well seasoned hikers, which are pacing themselves at a slower pace than I am taking. Try to get a group of ten hikers to let you by. I very seldom walk the same way when hiking off trail, even tho I hike the same area many times. I am careful not to trample vegetation and I actually prefer to leave as few tracks as possible. I guess I'm greedy, I kind of like my out of the way spots I find and like to keep them to myself.

[PaleoRob]

To quote Jared Farmer:
"...people who experience moments of bliss on jeep trails, at overlooks, in slot canyons-are contributing unintentionally to the deterioration of the canyonlands...the discoverer's impulse becomes self-destructive...undiscovered places have great power, but once discovered, they lose it. Discovery anticipates loss."

I think that the potential for elitism claims can be easily alleviated if people (the general public) realize how easy LNT is to get a grasp on. People who are not "hardcore" hikers see classes on LNT, and survival skills and all this, and assume that really being Out There requires tons of specialized knowledge. I had no idea about what LNT was all about (other than a general concept), despite hiking and backpacking for a number of years, exploring canyons, ruins, etc. In a class at NAU we got a handout about the principles of LNT - surprise, not only was I doing those things during my time in the outdoors, but I felt I was going above and beyond some of the precepts. LNT doesn't immediately make you outdoor savy, doesn't mean you can survive and navigate, but it is a big first step, because its applicable not only in the backcountry, but also on established "frontcountry" trails.
Anyway, I'm all for hiking off-trail, as long as its not creating a new trail. Make your own untrailhead, so others won't be tempted to start out and make a mess - but, if they're interested and feel prepared, maybe they'll stop at that same spot and have the thrill of discovery all to themselves, because you will have left it like it was.
If there's an established trail, stick to it. The same thing that causes tracks to appear across a lawn on a campus causes spur-trails and environmental degradation. Be a good example both on and off trail.

[domromer]

lets all hike off-trail and tramp the rest of the country flat, it's my right isn't it?

[pbaenzig]

I hike both on trail and off trail. Here in the Sedona area there are a lot of official Forest Service trails. But there are also an equal or larger number of unoffical trails. The Forest Service calls them "social trails." I think the term is unfair because some of those trails are older than the Forest Service, go back centuries.

So, is hiking on those "social trails" going off trail? The Forest Service would agree to that. I'm not so certain. Trails that go to beautiful places where no official trail goes make sense to me.(Examples: trail to the top of Capitol Butte, Soldier Heights Loop, Twin Buttes Loop) Trails that duplicate an existing official or unofficial trail should be avoided and renaturalized if possible.

I do hike truly off trail at times, too. In Sedona, however, it's rare that you are really, really off trail. There is almost always some faint trace of a trail, iffy and possibly a game trail, but a trail nevertheless.

I agree that an off trail hiker should try to minimize the impact by hiking on rock or in washes if possible. But as long as BLM, Forest Service etc. allow grazing even in wildernesses, I just can't get too excited about a few footsteps on fragile cryptobiotic soil.

[ssk44]

As a hunter, I have been hiking "off trail" for a long time. What draws me to "off trail" hiking so much is that its about as close as you can get to a true wilderness experience. When I am hiking an actual trail, it is usually so remote and lightly used not that there really is no trail anyways. Before I go out on any "off trail" trip I will study topo maps on my computer and pick a route that typically follows ridges and saddles and will choose climbs that are more user friendly. What I find very interesting is that I have almost always picked a route that deer or elk have already made there own trail. Game trails are a very good way to hike cross country because deer and elk always pick the easiest way to through a particular area. Follow a recognizable game trail for awille and you will see what I mean. Deer and elk are not dumb. I posted a cross country "New Hike" recently called "Saint Peters Dome Wildlife Habitat Area". My photo album follows my route. If you look closely at a couple of my pictures you will see a trail. Those trails were made by elk in the area traveling between water holes and beding areas. I love hiking "off trail" in remote areas and dont plan on stopping anytime soon.

(ssk44)

[te_wa]

"trails are for people who cant read maps" te-wa, 2008

[chumley]

"trails are for people who cant read maps" te-wa, 2008

Truer words haven't been spoken.

I also find myself utilizing game trails fairly frequently. Apparently I like going the same places they do.