Is All This Becoming TOO Popular?

Ddays said:
This too shall pass.
In the mid-late 70's & early 80's we went through the same cycle. EVERYONE hunted, had dirt bikes, put mud tires on their trucks, went camping or had a camp, fished, etc, etc. Then it died off during the late 80's and into the 90's & the activity just hovered. The Plandemic has helped re-ignite the outdoor activity craze but it had already started in the teens again it seemed. And honestly it's a positive for folks to get off their asses & unplug. Get your kids out into the outdoors & all that. I think that we the people that have had those attitudes & sensibilities all along (it is a Wayalife after all....) have a hard time sharing with all of the hipsters, podcasters, new age hippies & the rest that are out in the wild now. Unfortunately in a lot of cases these idiots are just ignorant to the outdoor protocols - leave it better than you found it. Hopefully this will die down again & something else gains in popularity to get rid of the casual "this is cool" crowd.

PS: Major pet peeve of these clowns: rock cairns. Just. Stop.
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I really hope you're right. I've been doing this off road thing out in the desert for the better part of my life and I have never seen it anywhere as bad as I've been seeing it since the plandemic started. It is off the chart.
 
Money, People have too much of it - Look at flying Most of those people belong on a bus, Would gladly pay 2500.00 to Fly Back East with a Better Class of People. The Same with SxS & 4-Wheeler's Entry price should be 50,000 Minimum. Get the Bums out of There
 
wayoflife said:
Man, you know how I feel about SXS and the people who drive them. They really are the scourge and the REAL problem.

That said, they aren't allowed in places like Death Valley and in really remote areas, you don't see them as much out there either especially being that they would need to stage somewhere. In places like that, we've been seeing a shit ton more of the overland/van life types everywhere just setting up camp all along the trail and leaving their shit everywhere too.
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I didn’t know they weren’t allowed there but that makes sense, and your totally right, I kinda assimilate it to how people treat guns, growing up we had hunter safety courses and different things that exposed us to guns, it taught to to respect them not fear (or blame) them. Lots of people these days haven’t learned the whole pack in/pack out thing, respect the land for more the obvious reasons, maybe it’s cause they follow certain people on social media that also don’t seem to give a fuck, or don’t put any emphasis on it, so people who are new and have no actual brains or compass don’t put any mind to it.
 
It is sad what we see in the way of trash left out in the desert while trailing. People just do not care and they feel that someone should clean up after them.
Our Jeep club is having a clean up day in the desert later this month.
Sometimes the guys that shoot out in the desert get clean up crews together. They clean up the shooting morons trash. We just don't want to give shooting out in the desert a bad name. Good vs Bad.
 
I blame a guy that started taking photos of trips back in 06-07. Before him and the JK our lands were all safe from hipsters and 4 door gheyks. Nice work !
Now we can’t go anywhere without seeing something with 4 doors on the trails and baby diapers all over .

😉
 
Growing number of people coupled with shrinking number of open trails. In Mojave California between Jawbone Canyon and Walker Pass, there’s a portion of the desert turned into a preserve. They closed off a bunch of trails, graded the roads and put in parking areas and now the area is infested with crossover driving Patagonia Hipsters stumbling all over the place with a pair of aluminum hiking poles and a belt with holster for water bottles. More people trampling the sage in a single than we’d see in a year.

Growing up, we hunted rabbits and quail in that area. Show up with so much as a single shot .22 now and you’d soon have SWAT called on you.
 
People like US, need to be more proactive in preserving trails and educating. Maybe volunteer with the agencies, co's etc., that manage the particular land. Maybe the huge community of off road manuf's, suppliers should donate to the cause and not just monetary, but get out and put up signs where allowed, educate people for free, lobby with local gov about helping and educating.
Many of you said it in this thread about blaming the internet. I 100% agree, with all the YouTube content on off roading I can see where the interest is sparked. It sparked the interest in ME. That being said, the internet is not going away, so people like US need to do something about it instead of placing blame. Less people today are willing to exert themselves and go hiking using their feet and legs. EVERYONE has an SUV. Takes no physical effort to go drive on trails. How many kids do you see playing football, or baseball, or riding BMX bikes? They are all inside playing video games or texting or watching stupid media like tik tok. But...they saw cool video on YT and talked their parents into driving out in the wood, or desert or whatever.
 
SOB said:
People like US, need to be more proactive in preserving trails and educating. Maybe volunteer with the agencies, co's etc., that manage the particular land. Maybe the huge community of off road manuf's, suppliers should donate to the cause and not just monetary, but get out and put up signs where allowed, educate people for free, lobby with local gov about helping and educating.
Many of you said it in this thread about blaming the internet. I 100% agree, with all the YouTube content on off roading I can see where the interest is sparked. It sparked the interest in ME. That being said, the internet is not going away, so people like US need to do something about it instead of placing blame. Less people today are willing to exert themselves and go hiking using their feet and legs. EVERYONE has an SUV. Takes no physical effort to go drive on trails. How many kids do you see playing football, or baseball, or riding BMX bikes? They are all inside playing video games or texting or watching stupid media like tik tok. But...they saw cool video on YT and talked their parents into driving out in the wood, or desert or whatever.
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Maybe people like you should show all of us what you've done and still do to help this problem instead of making self-righteous assumptions and blaming everyone else about what you assume they aren't doing.
 
piginajeep said:
I blame a guy that started taking photos of trips back in 06-07. Before him and the JK our lands were all safe from hipsters and 4 door gheyks. Nice work !
Now we can’t go anywhere without seeing something with 4 doors on the trails and baby diapers all over .

😉
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Not gonna lie, it pains me to think that I may have played a part, in any way shape or form, in what I see today.
 
wayoflife said:
Maybe people like you should show all of us what you've done and still do to help this problem instead of making self-righteous assumptions and blaming everyone else about what you assume they aren't doing.
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Wow...I guess I struck a nerve. I wasn't chastising anyone here. But you obviously have a chip on your shoulder. I guess it's true what everyone says about you.
 
SOB said:
People like US, need to be more proactive in preserving trails and educating. Maybe volunteer with the agencies, co's etc., that manage the particular land. Maybe the huge community of off road manuf's, suppliers should donate to the cause and not just monetary, but get out and put up signs where allowed, educate people for free, lobby with local gov about helping and educating.
Many of you said it in this thread about blaming the internet. I 100% agree, with all the YouTube content on off roading I can see where the interest is sparked. It sparked the interest in ME. That being said, the internet is not going away, so people like US need to do something about it instead of placing blame. Less people today are willing to exert themselves and go hiking using their feet and legs. EVERYONE has an SUV. Takes no physical effort to go drive on trails. How many kids do you see playing football, or baseball, or riding BMX bikes? They are all inside playing video games or texting or watching stupid media like tik tok. But...they saw cool video on YT and talked their parents into driving out in the wood, or desert or whatever.
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Well I can't speak for everyone here , but they are all probably similar to me. Trail stewardship is huge when I go out. 90 % of the time i come back, it's with more garbage then you can imagine. My oldest knows the routine, We see garbage I stop and she tosses it in the back of the Jeep. I host events for people who purchase new Jeeps and explain the importance of treading lightly. We do volunteer cleanup in areas after grad parties in the back country . I just don't post up videos looking for the gratification and clicks because that not why I do it. I do it so I can continue to do it , Do i like it , NO but i am not going to let the onetime instagrammer ruin what I have loved to do for 30 + years.
 
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trailraider said:
Well I can't speak for everyone here , but they are all probably similar to me. Trail stewardship is huge when I go out. 90 % of the time i come back, it's with more garbage then you can imagine. My oldest knows the routine, We see garbage I stop and she tosses it in the back of the Jeep. I host events for people who purchase new Jeeps and explain the importance of treading lightly. We do volunteer cleanup in areas after grad parties in the back country . I just don't post up vidoes looking for the gratification and clicks because that not why I do it. I do it so I can continue to do it , Do i like it , NO but i am not going to let the onetime instagrammer ruin what I have loved to do for 30 + years.
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we do OverlandBound events at the Mojave National preserve, Started as a way to Help save the Mailboxes and some of the weird display's out there Like the Nome's and Frogs. Twice a year there is usually about 75 People or so doing things all over the Preserve.
 
trailraider said:
I just don't post up videos looking for the gratification and clicks because that not why I do it. I do it so I can continue to do it , Do i like it , NO but i am not going to let the onetime instagrammer ruin what I have loved to do for 30 + years.
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That's just the thing, right? To brag about how awesome you are is just as cringe as lecturing others on what they should be doing and just because you recently found out about all this on the internet. Do what you think is right, ask how you can be of help and or invite others to join YOU.

But hey, I'm just a guy that people talk shit about on the internet, what would I know.
 
wayoflife said:
That's just the thing, right? To brag about how awesome you are is just as cringe as lecturing others on what they should be doing and just because you recently found out about all this on the internet. Do what you think is right, ask how you can be of help and or invite others to join YOU.

But hey, I'm just a guy that people talk shit about on the internet, what would I know.
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I don't think asking or doing the right thing is ever wrong. or did I read your statement incorrectly?
 
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