Thanks for the story “Columbia Gorge sites pay the price of popularity” (July 23). Through mountaineering and backpacking, I have been exploring the world’s wild places for over 45 years. And I find the recent trend of humans flocking to a few highly publicized locations in the Gorge troubling.
Quality of the experience plays a significant role in my choice of hiking location, and I find it mind-boggling that people are willing to compromise on quality by subjecting themselves to the swarming hordes. Face it, the masses lack creativity and initiative to find the places that offer solitude and scenery (I’m not sharing) and, in my opinion, hardly qualify as backcountry hikers.
Urbanites make a couple of trips to REI and, bingo, they’re experienced hikers just waiting to be told where to take their next all-important selfie! Sadly, this is not limited to the Gorge. We need to take a serious look at making the decisions necessary to preserve America’s wild spaces. I don’t like the emerging trend, but I support lottery systems and increased user fees as tools to preserve the landscape and experience.
