Without getting into a thread about gear, and age related problems, how has the mountains change in the time you've been hiking?
I've been hiking since about '62', the thing I remember most from that period is the trails, especially above the treeline. They were a lot wider and lots of splits, multiple paths. People walked wherever they wanted, switchback cut and just a general beat'n look to everthing.
Shelters were more plentiful with few tent platforms. I miss some of those shelters; Liberty Spr, Kinsman, 1st Dry Rvr and the cabin on the other side of Lonesome Lake from the hut. They also had that same beat'n look to them. From tramping everywhere, to the cutting of firewood. Most had a trash dump just out of site in the woods.
There were a lot fewer people but their impact was greater I think. More erosion to the trails, fewer bridges.
Today I think there is more respect for the system. Staying on the trail because of better maintainance correcting a lot to the water holes in the trails, better fuel stoves eliminated much of the need to cut fire wood. "Carry in, carry out" and the "Low impact" approach to hiking helpped.
I remember Garfield and Ethan Pond shltrs, the early attempts at "Revegetation"
I think the Whites are in far better shape then they used to be, even with an exponential number of people in the mountains now.
Feel free to chime in on the Cats, ADK, Baxter... also. I reread Thoruea's account of climbing "Ktaadn" and that's where this line of thinking came from.
I've been hiking since about '62', the thing I remember most from that period is the trails, especially above the treeline. They were a lot wider and lots of splits, multiple paths. People walked wherever they wanted, switchback cut and just a general beat'n look to everthing.
Shelters were more plentiful with few tent platforms. I miss some of those shelters; Liberty Spr, Kinsman, 1st Dry Rvr and the cabin on the other side of Lonesome Lake from the hut. They also had that same beat'n look to them. From tramping everywhere, to the cutting of firewood. Most had a trash dump just out of site in the woods.
There were a lot fewer people but their impact was greater I think. More erosion to the trails, fewer bridges.
Today I think there is more respect for the system. Staying on the trail because of better maintainance correcting a lot to the water holes in the trails, better fuel stoves eliminated much of the need to cut fire wood. "Carry in, carry out" and the "Low impact" approach to hiking helpped.
I remember Garfield and Ethan Pond shltrs, the early attempts at "Revegetation"
I think the Whites are in far better shape then they used to be, even with an exponential number of people in the mountains now.
Feel free to chime in on the Cats, ADK, Baxter... also. I reread Thoruea's account of climbing "Ktaadn" and that's where this line of thinking came from.