I don’t think backpacking is an AARP game; I see a lot of young people on the trail, too. I suspect part of the answer to why we aren’t seeing a lot of new members is that many people, especially younger people (say, below 50? Funny how “younger” is a relative term that keeps getting older) are just not literary.

I did not say they are not literate. They are - they just don’t express themselves by writing. I just went to You Tube and looked for videos posted in the last week on backpacking, and found several pages of uploads. While manufacturers and retailers use this medium to advertise, the overwhelming majority were younger people who were sharing trip reports and gear reviews and general observations about how and where they backpack. I suspect many are quite good, though I don’t spend a lot of time on You Tube videos.

It may well be that our demographic is one that is in decline. I know I’m here because I like to follow people’s thoughts and logic; the mental excercise is important to me. I don’t get pulled in by visuals the same way I do by the written word. My son and daughter in law are big readers and writers; my daughter and son in law are highly visual. My granddaughters read only when school requires it; for pleasure, they are entirely visual.

I suspect the times, they are a-changin’.