Internet unites people in love with the outdoors
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5/7/2008 - 5/8/08
After more than a dozen treks through Kings Canyon National Park, one place has always eluded me.The only reason I care is the fault of 19th-century explorer Theodore Solomons, who gave this place a really cool name: the Enchanted Gorge.
Crammed between two jagged ridges, the Black Divide and Ragged Spur, the Enchanted Gorge may be the Sierra's most remote river canyon. No more than two or three parties — in a busy year — set foot in this unspoiled wilderness.
Eight or nine years ago, back when the Internet was still in its infancy, I typed "Enchanted Gorge" into a search engine. When a Web site popped up that had a detailed trip report and more than a dozen photos, my jaw just about hit the floor.
Suddenly, the Enchanted Gorge didn't seem so remote. And the Internet didn't seem like another version of the hula hoop.
It just so happens that the Web site's author is a science teacher. According to Bill Finch, Sierrahiker.com has received more than 1 million hits (he's stopped counting) since its launch in 1996.
"I get e-mails from all over the world," Finch said. "For some reason, I'm especially popular in Belgium."
Search "Enchanted Gorge" today and in addition to Sierrahiker.com you'll find an array of personal and community Web sites, user groups and message boards. It's just one example of how the Internet has irrevocably transformed every facet of how people pursue their outdoor passions.
Go to a hiking site and you'll find not only trail descriptions and photos but also updates on the latest conditions. Go to a fishing site and you'll find member-generated reports and wide-ranging conversations. There are hunting sites, skiing sites, climbing sites and sites that combine all of them.
Last winter, Frank Saburit wanted to find some new hiking partners. So he went to a Web site called Meetup.com and started the Fresno/Madera hiking group.
The response was nearly instantaneous. Four months later, Saburit's cyber club has 100 registered members. Thirty people showed up on a recent hike to Lewis Creek.
Only through the Internet are these kinds of connections possible.
"I can't see how you'd do it any other way," Saburit said. "You'd be posting flyers on telephone poles around town."
Besides bringing people together, the Internet allows us to live vicariously through the lives of others.
Despite a fondness for mountaineering, there's no way on earth I'll ever climb a big wall like El Capitan. To satisfy my curiosity, I lurk on Supertopo.com, a rock climbing site with an emphasis on Yosemite.
Supertopo.com's loosely moderated forum accounts for 80 percent of its 2 million monthly page views, founder Chris McNamara said. On it, recreational climbers and luminaries such as John Bachar, Jeff Lowe and John Long reminisce about historic climbs, comment on new ones and debate climbing ethics.
Another way the Internet shapes our view of the outdoors is through the proliferation of Web cams. There are about 20 stationed in the southern Sierra.
Yosemite has five Web cams, four of which are owned and maintained by the Yosemite Association. Five hundred people a day log on for a pixelated peek at Half Dome. During heavy traffic periods, that number can swell to 3,000.
Bass Lake has two Web cams pointing toward opposite shores. There's one at the top of Sierra Summit. There's one on the main boat dock at Shaver Lake. There's one that points west from Giant Forest and one looking east from Mineral King.
Get a sneak preview of the weather before leaving the house. What a concept.
The way I see it, the only downside to this wealth of information at our fingertips is if we allow it to guide our decisions. When actually in the outdoors, nothing you've read on the Internet is a substitute for common sense.
"You can read all the Web sites you want," Finch said. "Eventually, you have to go out there and do it yourself and make it your own."
Or not. After reading about the tedious boulder-hopping, dangerous creek crossings and endless bush-whacking required to descend the Enchanted Gorge, I no longer have any desire to go.