More Youngsters Backpacking

“Check out this article from this morning's SF Chronicle.

Interesting tidbits:
- 45% of backpacking enthusiasts are from 16-24 years old.
- Median age of backpackers in US is 29.5.
- 2/3 of American backpackers are from 16-34 years old.
- Since, with the exception of a few items, backpacking is a relatively inexpensive sport, it draws a broader economic demographic.
- Numbers of African American and Latino backpackers have increased recently, with each group now claiming 8% of backpackers (personally, I like diversity, so I think this is a great thing - it's always seemed a bit weird to me to see only other white folks out on the trail....).”

“a relatively inexpensive sport? i'm thinking baseball or volleyball is a whole lot cheaper!”

“Boy, I'm not sure I buy the 45% figure. I spend a fair amount of time on trails and I've never seen anywhere near that percentage. Generally the few young people I've encountered are with their parents and they don't appear to be very happy with the situation. ;-)”

“I always am suprised when I see someone a different skin tone than me on the trail, (I've only seen two black people out, ever). I do hope more minorities. get out there. They're missing out.”

“hahaha, yupp it's realive inexpensive if you don't add the gas to where you driving to, if you not adicted to all this cool gear.

anyone out there that can say they don't spend big $$$ on hiking? (even if you always get the best deals?)”

“Sass, I agree. I have never encountered a person of color on the trail and it troubles me. Each new generation is coming to the realization that we're all just one people and I hope that soon they'll feel comfortable being out there.

Ok, I'm getting down off my soap-box now.”

“I don't buy the minority figures, either. I've never seen anyone but "us white folks" on the trail, with one exception; there's a Black doctor here in town who gets out quite a bit. They wrote about him in Outside Magazine because he was such an oddity. I'm not so sure about the age figures either. It seems like most people are Baby Boomers (1946-1964) so about 39-57.”

“I believe the 45% thing easy but then I work with Scouts and know many others who do also. When we get together we always compare notes on each others programs. I can tell you for a fact that in the last three months over 400 North Florida Boy Scouts went for at the very least a weekend of backpacking. A few of us took out a much smaller number for a week over the Christmas school break.

I have also seens scads of youth groups on the trail, scout and otherwise. Some very good, some so-so and a very few who had no business being out there just yet. (God, they needed more training and disipline badly! And then there was the kids with them.....)

I have had several kids of many different ethnic groups in my Scout Troop over the years but still the majority have always been white but I have only ever seen one Asian guy on the trail.”

“I think there's just a bunch of Geezrs on the trail! Oh, hi Geezr! :>)”

“I have seen one group of black people hike so far, but that's about it. Always wondered about that. I guess you could call my kids black (I don't call them black or white, they are my kids that's it) , so there is another group I could add to my list. SO, 2 groups of black people so far.

I do see a lot of asians hiking. Funny because most of them where regular cloth, sometimes even dress shoes. Tourists?? Not sure, but I think it's great.”

“And a whole bunch of people approaching "geezr" status. Oh, hi Aero.”

“I think what they mean by "inexpensive" is that you don't necessarily have to buy the best stuff - can even buy used gear if you want - and once you have the basics, you're set for a long time. In contrast, take running, for example, which is also somewhat inexpensive. But (at least until I got hurt) I was still spending 200 bucks or more per year on shoes, and the ones I wear are pretty cheap. I could easily get by (backpacking) using my $100 tent (15? years old), $130 sleeping bag (10? years old), $60 stove (7? years old), and other misc. stuff.”

“Martyb, you're really starting to rub me the wrong way. Now what's going to happen when Weezr reads this thread and finds out I don't need the "best" stuff?????????”

“Doh!

Sorry about that, Geezr. See what happens if you let your wife start reading the same stuff on the web that you read?”

“Martyb, we compromise, I let her view this. She lets me view her porn sites. ;-)”

“Backpacking isn't expensive at all. We just make it expensive by believing that we "need" all those gadgets. Most of the gear we covet is unnecessary but does add to the comfort level. Frankly I'm sometimes amazed at how happy and comfortable my scouts are when camping with equipment that most hikers would never dream of seriously using.

Ever read Earl Schaffer's account of the first AT thru-hike? Nowadays if you we going to thru-hike using his gear list other hikers would do their damnest to get to committed to a mental institution.

We have replaced knowledge and skill with commercially produced gear. You no longer need to know how to start a campfire in the rain to assure a warm meal (someplaces it's illegal too) all you need now is your new piezo ignitor stove. You don't even need to know how to strike a match.

That being said, I like gear and I'm going to REI. Anyone wanna carpool?”

“'mule, I suppose picking me up in Billings is out of the question?”

“Hmmm.... lemme see. If I hang a right at the Gulf Coast and swing left at Chicago.........”

“So where do my 9 and 7 yo daughters fit in to those statistics?”

“I guess they're part of the 1/3 that aren't 16-34, just like me and my 7-year-old son. I don't know if I like being the oddball....”

“Now you know how I felt when I didn't make into the 139 IQ group.


Hurts don't it?”

“Uh, I believe that would be, "Hurts, doesn't it?"”

“Go ahead, make me look stoopit.”

“yeah, being a Scout i know that we don't have the "best" gear. But there ain't nothing wrong with that. Im quite comfortable hiking im my BDU shirt and my $2 M1941 wool army pants. Plus i think trying to find the least expensive gear is half the fun. And some things i simply refuse to by, like stoves ('cept for the esbit, which i don't that much anyway.) because i love making them. My mom keeps telling my to "just buy sterno!", well i did buy a can of it-at the dollar store of course.”

“That was my point big guy.”

“Backpacking ROCKS!!!!!!

No matter how old you are!

8)”

“Now you know how I felt when I didn't make into the 139 IQ group.


Hurts don't it?"
Geezr
01:47:30 PM
01/09/03

I believe the Webster definition for "hurts don't it" is "Titty Twister". You must have meant hurt's doesn't it.”

“Nice article MartyB - thanks for sharing.”

“I'm kind of surprised to see the ages so young. Very interesting!

I think the 8% for blacks and hispanics figures seems a bit high. Aero's right, it seems like it's mostly just "us white folk." I'd welcome a buttkicking hike with an African American sometime.”

“hyway, yeah Martyb reminded me what an idiot I am about five posts prior to yours. You probably could have beat him thought if you hadn't had to look up titty twister in Webster's. ;-)”

“Being last is almost as bad as a Hurtz donut.”

“many of the black people(african american) i know are deathly afraid of snakes. perhaps that has something to do with it.....”

“If I were a black man, I would be more afraid of only having a tent between me and some drunken red neck hellbent on causing trouble, than i would be of a snake.”

“most of us are harmless, hyway...”

“To kind of add to stratdewd's point, most blacks often tend to live in urban areas. There are very few blacks who live in "the country". This probably has a lot to do with why we don't see many black people on the trail. I don't personally know any blacks who are into anything outdoor related in general. It's kind've a shame, IMHO.”

“stratdewd, I agree with you. I grew up in the country, only my country was bordered by an ocean, so we had rednecks who hunted, rednecks who surfed, and rednecks who did both? I no longer surf or hunt, but I still like being in the woods. I like the term redneck. It means you are out there in the sun doing what needs to be done to make the world right for you and your kin. But a drunken, armed redneck is a terrifying sight in the backcountry, that can't be denied.

Artex, in the same way that most whites live in the city, percentagewise, most blacks may also live there. But there are many blacks who live in the country. Many of them hunt and fish, too. As a group, they just don't seem to like spending time in the woods, especially at night.”

“I got sidetracked, but I wanted to ask you how much weight your 7 yo carries and how far do you guys usually hike in a day?”

“who knows the origin of the term 'redneck'?”

“I don't know who said it first, but it refers to the farmers tan you get when you work in the sun all day.”

“This past summer, on our 4-day, 26-mile trip, he started with 8 pounds, including pack and water. That included basically all of his clothes, sleeping pad, and snack/lunch food. The previous 2 years he carried about 7 pounds. That pretty much fills his daypack, so until we switch to a bigger pack, that will be about it. It seems to work pretty well....

Distance we hike varies. On the above mentioned trip, we went 8 miles, from 8000 to 9400 feet elevation with no trouble. But we had "trained," including a 9.5-mile dayhike, with pack although with fewer hills.”

“Forgot to mention, he weighs about 50 pounds, so 8 pounds is 16% of his weight.”