[color:"blue"]I just got back from canoeing in BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) near Ely, MN. If you want wilderness, I suggest going there. They do have restrictions and you pay for a permit, like you must use their campsites (which are not overcrowded due to being only the size for one to three tents and they have an 'open throne potty system'). The rangers do patrol frequently to ensure no one is causing havoc in the still nearly pristine waters. However, it's truly a "wild" experience. (No bear or moose, but saw eagles and beaver and a northern bluejay.) <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

My point is: If where you like to go becomes to crowded, find another place to go. Or go in the "off" season. I'm going to winter kayak at Land Between the Lakes, TN, later this year. I imagine there won't be too much traffic out there. And if there is, I won't let it spoil my kayaking experience.

Maybe my second point is: Everything evolves. Nothing is static. And at the same time, once "too many" people get into backpacking (if indeed they do it more than once or twice a year), it will no longer be the "novelty" and some new activity will catch the eye of the masses who will exchange a backpack for something else (let's hope they've learned LNT or LVLT -- VL= very little). Then, we'll have the backpacking trails all to ourselves again.

I just don't think there's going to be a herd of touronic people hiking the entire length of any trail. And if they do, they'll be just like the Appalachian Trail hikers who end their "thru hike" at Suches or Neel Gap (Blairsville).

Go with the flow and think about running for Public Office. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Coosa <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> [/color]