Pretty much how I feel. Though, as I think you are alluding to, this fascination with what I call Alphabet Soup hiking is getting a tad ridiculous. It is not enough to go out and hike. Has to have a name for it. A few years ago, I did an about 60 or 70 mile loop in the Winds I strung together. Some off-trail, some using the CDT, some using other trails. In retrospect, I should have called it the PBR – Paul’s Backpacking Route. 🙂

Furthermore, because canned routes don’t require as much prep, the average person can do more of these kind of routes per year. I prepped for a big week in the Winds this summer using Pallister’s book, Skurka’s notes, Wilson/Dixon, and hours upon hours staring at a map, trying to figure out the best route across the spine of the Winds. This was intensely rewarding, however it took months of prep. The other 15 or 20 trips I’ve gone on this year have been either on-trail or off-trail routes that other people have done the legwork for.

So it’s a fact of life that, for those of us who have jobs and lives and work as [occupation] monkeys in Corporate America, canned routes allow us to get out and spend time outdoors that we’d otherwise never have time for. But even within that spectrum, there are varying degrees of information (and I think this gets back to the core of your message). I shouldn’t need somebody to tell me where to camp; I shouldn’t need someone to prepare an analysis of the climate I expect to face. And I sure as heck shouldn’t need someone to validate my route by giving it a formal name, so that everyone else can follow in my literal footsteps.

My buddy and I did a hike that we in jest called the “Wind River Fun Route”. There’s been much to-do about “THE Wind River High Route” in the backpacking community recently, and I find the whole discussion kind of silly. We were out there to hike off-trail from south to north, and to have fun. We achieved that goal, even if our route may look different from anybody else’s choice.

When you think about it, isn’t information overload a natural precursor to the whole “purity” movement on the established trails?

It is the balance I am trying to strike. Sharing an area without getting too specific. AS I said, we need to know about the wild areas. I personally feel a responsibility to not give the exact way of doing something. Knowing about Lost Creek is cool. Giving the exact campsites? Leaves out some of the exploration process. Again, a balance (Aaron of TG really puts is well) We will see if I succeed… And thank you for the kind words!