Should Trip Reports be a thing of the past ?

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DavidGraves

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I sometimes look at one of the FWC Facebook pages and am glad to see a burgeoning discussion about whether or not to post specific address or GPS points from ones' travels....

Human behavior is not unlike herd animals....we all want to be together !

I am glad that some have realized this can lead to resource abuse and a negative experience for those who Wander The West.

David Graves
 
No. It really depends on the area. If I visit the racetrack in DV its not like its not already well known and visited. I think if it is an area you don't want too many people in then you do a report like the Ski3pins do. No gps coordinates, no step by step instructions on how to get there. If you can figure it out from the trip report then you're probably not the kind to abuse the area anyway.

I think its certainly okay to say I visited Marble Canyon. Its well known anyway. GPS coordinates of the petroglyphs I found in the area? Absolutely not.
 
Trip reports are one of the best reasons to visit WTW. Living in northern Minnesota I would never have guessed there were areas out West that I've read about in WTW. I learn something every day and I visit every day.
Thank you WTW, Bigfoot Dave
 
Yep-that's the way to do it! Seems to me that over the years we have had that discussion several times on whether to post locations of so called "special " places or not! During my career as a federal land manager I had to deal with the problem of just how "much " to publicly identify or not certain resources or places. These resources belong to all of us-the public and we need their support-yet these same resources need to be protected somehow from being destroyed or over loved to death by that same public! Laws, education, physical protection measures and active law enforcement can not protect these resources from those determined to destroy use or take them. I guess how much we identify them in the first place comes down to just how much "abuse " those special things and places can take

When you throw in that these places and things are sometimes located with other types of resources that we may also want to "utilize" , those land management decisions become ever harder. That's why we always say here , go to those local federal land management meetings, take part, make comments and add you 2 cents in, after all they are your public lands and we could them without your support! I should add here that trip reports are one of the reasons we use and like this site because many of us will never be able to visit these places. They are also ,especially useful to identify possible places to visit or not.

Smoke
 
I see no problems with trip reports.
A lot of us have never been to some of the places shown to us through the reports.

Now posting the GPS coordinates is a no-no especially sensitive areas.

Fellow WTW members please continue to post your trips as you please.

I have used information gleaned from them to get info about places I want to visit.

Thank you to all who have posted over the years.

Frank
 
My personal ethic dovetails with Craig and Smoke's, as well as Ski3pin & others. GPS or map descriptions of many places on the beaten path are not significant. However, everytime I find something unique or likely to be disturbed by too much human interest, I neglect to give specific location information. I have been to Marble Canyon a few times, even photographed the 'flying saucer' petroglyphs twice on different trips - Along with hundreds of other people. There are other petroglyphs, ruins and delicate natural ecosystems that I do not post any geolocation information about, or if it is very unique, I may occasionally post misleading geolocation information.

I believe a trip report is mostly about celebrating a way of life and warning others of hazards along the way. I do not understand why, for example, anyone would want to go to a feature like 'The Wave' or Zabriski Point, along with dozens to hundreds of others to do, see and photograph the same thing over and over. But the more people that are at those high use areas, the fewer there are in the barely known back of beyond areas.

Besides, I do love to see the interesting remote places like-minded people have been and what they did there.
 
A good example of the danger of publishing Lat/Lon is what happened recently to the area where that obelisk had been placed in Utah.
The destruction and trash from so many curious but ignorant or undisciplined visitors within a very short time after publication of the location is instructive.

The trip reports and links to travel blogs are some the best reasons for visiting WTW regularly.

Use caution and wisdom in what you reveal on this immortal global traffic increaser.

Paul
 
I love reading trip reports. Ski3pins are the best. As far as locations, if you don't want to share don't share. We have too many people and they are buying 4 wheel drive vehicles. If you found the special site the multitudes will find it also. I would hope those on WTW are packing in and packing put. If you need the location of a place PM the member posting it, tell then you will treat their special place with respect. I am old enough to remember when visiting many areas was an accomplishment. Now some of those areas are paved and you can drive a class A motorhome to them. Other areas have been made wilderness and are off limits to everyone not walking or on a horse. Good of bad depends on your viewpoint. The areas you can visit in a 4WC style vehicle are becoming harder to find. This and getting older are both reasons I sold my FWC and went to a Class B. I will continue to wander the west, just not as far off the road.

I will continue to post links to my trip blog. If travel posts are stopped I would spend much less time on WTW.
 
I enjoy reading trip reports and have visited some places because of them. Sometimes I wish that there was more specific information on locations but at the same time I'm glad that there isn't. It's better to make each adventure your own rather than try to follow someone else's path.
 
I remember the Ski3pins posting pics of a what was likely a sacred Indian site somewhere in the Owens Valley. I think I may know the general vicinity but I won't look for it. Seeing the pics was good enough for a special area like that that really doesn't need a lot of traffic even from the most well meaning respectful folk.
 
We're living in an era of rapid change, driven (pun intended) by reliable 4wd vehicles, smart phones with GPS & apps, and social media. I can't tell you how many times I've cringed reading a post about hot springs, petroglyphs, floral displays or iconic landscape photo locations. "Where is this, exactly?"

Our local swimming river has garnered over 48k posts on Instagram, and the crowds have taken over.
It seems the pandemic shutdowns exacerbated the abuse of the wheeled accessible backcountry with many more users. We're fortunate we have our truck camper and can be several steps ahead of the crowd!

It's a good time to keep quiet on special places for as long as we can. I like TR's that keep you guessing, while sharing the flavor of the report. It's a fine line; well known locations are treated differently, of course.

However, I enjoy sleuthing special locations from TR's, bloggers, research papers, historic maps, etc.
It's a rich world out there to explore, if you enjoy this sort of research. Visiting and recording these fragile locations comes with a duty of responsible disclosure.
 
Well being from iowa where we have zip for overlanding,we really enjoy trip reports.. no I do not support gps postings, but love general locations posts..
 
Alabama Hills is a classic example of an Instagram ruined location.

I agree with everyone else that non-geolocated pics are the way to go if you want to report. I appreciate the way the above mentioned posters do it and like seeing their reports.

We're preaching to the choir though. Instagram Influencers are accomplishing two things, telling you where they are, but just as importantly...where you're not. FOMO is a big part of the success of online influencers. I don't think anyone here cares much about that or expects a big audience of people who do.
 
eyemgh said:
We're preaching to the choir though. Instagram Influencers are accomplishing two things, telling you where they are, but just as importantly...where you're not. FOMO is a big part of the success of online influencers. I don't think anyone here cares much about that or expects a big audience of people who do.
Click to expand...
FOMO -- yeah. I suffer from WTMO - Want To Miss Out! :oops:
 
For the past several years I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the trip reports and would miss them tremendously. I have traveled to a few of the locations and visited parts of the regions that have been posted, some by stumbling into the areas and others by carefully researching maps, google earth or other resources.

That being said, there are several places that I wouldn’t travel to, however, I’ve enjoyed the stories and pictures the travelers/explorers have shared with us. If you choose to share the locations or not share the locations that’s up to the individual, however, this land does belong to all of us and the beauty was created for all.

Educating, being a role model and stewardship is what we can do to assist with the new masses. Remember how excited you were when you discovered the great outdoors.
 
Seems like Wander the West itself wouldn't blow up any spots on its own, but the idea of not disclosing location info is just a good rule of thumb. The internet in general, at least in my opinion, ruined a lot of areas locally, as well as in Mexico. GPS software is one thing, but when a person goes and creates a video blog/vlog on a location, it gives the viewer a whole new context.

What bothers me is, many postings the author will state "Wow, the area is so untouched and beautiful, we had it to ourselves for the entire stay, it was a great experience". There are many areas I would consider sacred, in which I've been lucky enough to experience for decades without ever seeing another human for weeks on end. You now have guys coming in now for the first time, with video equipment ready to make a few bucks by making YouTube videos on it. Ruining it for everyone, especially those who spent so much time and energy finding it by themselves, and then not spreading the word. I have no problem with people going to these places, I just have problems with those needing to document it on large platforms.

I've always loved this intro from the Surfers Journal on an old secret spot:

In the early 1970s, the only surfers on the planet who knew the name “Petacalco” were those who had been there. In that pre-Google Earth and social media epoch, The Code was adhered to. It was based on a simple verity: if a locale had been transformational for you, and you had put the hard yards in to get there and to learn it, to know it, why in god’s name would you broadcast the news, thus ruining the future experience not only for yourself, but for future adventurers?
 
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