Short Essey on Cell Phones & Wilderness

[walker]

This article caught my eye from former AMC Winter Care Taker Steve Fagin on cell phone usage and the great out-of-doors, published on-line on "TheDay.com" Connecticut.

No Cellphones in Cars or on the Trail.

I thought it might spawn a intelligent sharing of thought.

See You On The Trails.....Walker

 

[Becca M]

This article caught my eye from former AMC Winter Care Taker Steve Fagin on cell phone usage and the great out-of-doors, published on-line on "TheDay.com" Connecticut.

No Cellphones in Cars or on the Trail.

I thought it might spawn a intelligent sharing of thought.

See You On The Trails.....Walker

hmmmmm... the reality is that people will *always* be with their cell phones (and GPS's, and altimeters, and compasses, SPOT locators, singing along with their iPods, etc.). And being near a hut is like being near a mall in terms of density of people. If somebody really finds that objectionable, there are PLENTY of places to hike where they will see nary a soul.... or their technology

 

[grouseking]

This article rubbed me the wrong way.

I don't like cell phones. I don't text, and my own is an old school phone that I only use to talk with (ya know, what a phone is supposed to be for).

That being said, to get mad at someone for using their phone while hiking is silly. Everyone uses them for different reasons. I have a medical condition, so occasionally I like to let people know that I am doing ok. I think I use my phone maybe once every few months on the trail, so its pretty rare. If a purist doesn't like that, then they can leave the area.

As long as people hike their own hike, while at the same time are at least somewhat considerate about other people's feelings, this type off stuff should not be an issue.

 

[JacobH]

Well I'm glad this person is comfortable dying because they don't own a cell phone. Me, on the other hand, am comfortable bringing tools on hikes. Why doesn't he just hike naked in the winter? Clothes are a burden anyway, they give such a false sense of security.

To each their own...

First of all, from an esthetic viewpoint, nothing shatters the magical ambiance of a wilderness experience more than an overheard cellphone conversation, which I’ve chronicled in the past.

So what happens when this person comes across 2 people talking in his "magical ambient wilderness experience"? Does he tell them to stop? This is an honest question.

 

[Peakbagr]

Interesting thread. Lets hope it doesn't go the way of some hunting, dog or other cell phone threads.

 

[DougPaul]

Yawn, this one again...

The author also mixes two completely different issues: consideration for one's fellow hikers and driving safety.

Doug

 

[Will]

I NEED to use a GPS; I suffered a brain injury many years ago that left me with short-term memory and attention deficits that I have to compensate for. But I urge restraint and discretion in cell phones, gps's, music-over-speakers, and all the other gadgets already here and to come. Nobody can stop us from using them, but there's no reason we can't be civilized and discipline ourselves not to be a**holes about it.

Originally I carried a huge, very inefficient, one channel GPS that frequently took many minutes to get a fix, sometimes never did (this is like 1991), plus you had to match up the GPS screen with map, compass and terrain once you did, trying to compensate for the (then) so-called selective availability (actually deliberate random errors). It was an obvious and cumbersome process that I tried to do in private and cover up as best I could, but on one occasion a guy came across me sitting at a water crossing in a not really all that remote area of the Whites, trying to figure out what planet I was on and how the hell I had gotten there.

He asked me what is that and I mumbled about it's being "something like a compass" and he shot back "that's a satellite thing, isn't it; jeeze, look around. You don't know where you are!?" He went on and on.

He was very pained about it, intruded upon. Personally invaded. Insulted. I felt very bad about what I had done to him. People who feel this way about the technology (and I frankly might well be one of them had I a choice) have real, legitimate, deserving-of-respect concerns. This was not an a**hole, he was genuinely hurt. You folks don't see it so raw these days because this was early and since then, over time, the sensitive have developed a pretense of politeness, a protective callus. But I saw the real internal revulsion full-volume and it's something we really don't need to provoke/impose on our fellow hikers.

 

[Remix]

There was a time when many people on this site would endorse the author's views, and perhaps go a bit further. Things seem to have mellowed.

 

[Raymond]

Actually, I thought the author was more mellow on the subject than some of the responses here were. He specifically said that he was not advocating the banning of cellular telephone use by hikers and paddlers, and GPSes and other devices weren’t even mentioned.

Also, he wasn’t hiking near a hut when he encountered someone gabbing on a telephone; he was one of the people in charge of the hut and had to deal with one guest who was making the other guests unhappy by carrying on a conversation on his phone, so he politely asked that person to take it outside. What’s wrong with that?

 

[Raven]

As long as people hike their own hike, while at the same time are at least somewhat considerate about other people's feelings, this type off stuff should not be an issue.

Fine point.

Personally, it does not bother me when someone has a cell phone with him or her, uses it to let people know they are safe, or for true emergency calls.

The only time it's ever bothered me is when people are inconsiderate with them and having a conversation on a summit or trail that impacts others' enjoyment.

The same can be said of two people having a loud/rude conversation together on a trail.

I carry one very rarely but when I do I choose texting over talking in those cases where I feel I need to get someone a message.

Cell phones can be used appropriately and in ways which are not rude. In these threads, it's easy to picture that person we've all seen who is totally oblivious to the people and solitude surrounding them.

 

[Maddy]

Perhaps the person who shared this is a dude who is still enjoying the belief that he is "invicinble", and he will never require emergency services. When one is still young enough to believe this fallacy, one can be very cavalier about not needing a cellphone, SPOT, or PLB.

I have a new IPHONE and much to my surprise I love it. I do not use it in my vehicle because I appreciate how easily one can be distracted. I never want to be responsible for killing or maiming one or more people.Can't imagine having to live with that for the rest of my life.

Example: Friday I came close to being broasided by a young woman on a cell phone. I had the right of way, she had the stop sign. Fortunately I was driving very slowly fearing for pedestrians in this area. I stopped as she showed no signs of slowing down. She looked right at me with a very vague expression and continued to drive right in front of me. In this case I saw it coming.


As someone pointed out when this was being discussed the other day on a news program, we already have laws against driving to endanger and distracted driving. The penalties need to be the same as drunk driving. The sad think is if we behaved responsibly, we would not need more laws to tell us what we should and should not do.

I agree with Becca. These gadgets are here to stay and we need to find places where we can hike and get away from people and their gadgets, and there do seem to be plenty of them out there. Crowds have never been my thing anyway but I do enjoy the high huts in early September (after school starts.) Or Pinkham when people are sparse in the Joe Dodge Lodge. I have always avoided crowds so I'm pretty good at it. Fortunately I worked weekends by choice, and had weekdays off.

Come REI dividend time, I will be the proud owner of a brand new Mc Murdo Fast Find. I am no longer invincible and damn...I hate to admit it!
I never did have the ability to multitask behind the wheel, and I think working in trauma center soon woke me up to the fact that it really isn't a great idea.

If you want to die for your belief, so be it. Not much anyone can do about that.

 

[Barkingcat]

The author...mixes two completely different issues: consideration for one's fellow hikers and driving safety.

Exactly; conflating the two pollutes his point.

If somebody really finds that objectionable, there are PLENTY of places to hike where they will see nary a soul.... or their technology.

Very much agreed -- and add to that "plenty of times of the day/week" when you're less apt to run into someone chatting on the trail.

 

[Billy]

...

Quote (from author): First of all, from an esthetic viewpoint, nothing shatters the magical ambiance of a wilderness experience more than an overheard cellphone conversation, which I’ve chronicled in the past.

So what happens when this person comes across 2 people talking in his "magical ambient wilderness experience"? Does he tell them to stop? This is an honest question.

Yeah, Jacob has hit on the essence of it. In fact, with the exception of the clueless folks who think they have to yell into a cell phone, a person engaged in a summit cell phone conversations is only 1/2 as "noisy" as two people on the summit talking.

In my opinion, lots of things shatter "the magical ambiance of a wilderness experience" more than an overheard cellphone conversation. For example, people who litter on and off the trail; dogs who come up to me and sniff my junk without buying me dinner first ( I even hate it when the good-looking dogs do it); a-hole campers/backpackers who don't shut up during quiet hours.

But someone talking into a phone? Really? That's what set you off? Perhaps we have it so good we're running out of real things to complain about.

 

[dr_wu002]

Yawn, this one again...

The author also mixes two completely different issues: consideration for one's fellow hikers and driving safety.

Doug

The guy obviously hasn't kept with the times. You can use your phone now to take pictures and in a pinch, at least the iPhone has a cool app that you can use the camera flash as a flash light. Maybe the author can use it to find his brain in the dark. There's an app for that too.

-Dr. Wu

 

[skiguy]

Yawn, this one again...

Doug

I'm with you on this one Doug. Wannny waa waa

 

[Chip]

GPS could have saved some lives on Rainier. My only complaint is that we are now supposed to be reachable anywhere regardless. My only concern is the potential for a diminished ability (or no ability) to plan, navigate and communicate if/when the tech fails.

On a related tech note: Many kids already can't read or write script. Now the schools are issuing Ipads instead of books and binders. They can type with their thumbs great and auto-correct eliminates the need to spell correctly and form complete sentences. Soon they won't need to use a pen or pencil at all. The pendulum is swinging. We need to remember to learn and teach the fundamentals without tech also.

 

[skiguy]

The pendulum is swinging. We need to remember to learn and teach the fundamentals without tech also.

I do agree with this but IMO it goes the other way also. Being stuck in an analog world without understanding of the digital world is as dangerous. The pendulum may be swinging but should be free to swing freely from side to side. Ultimately it should swing and not be idle hanging in the middle.

 

[Maddy]

The guy obviously hasn't kept with the times. You can use your phone now to take pictures and in a pinch, at least the iPhone has a cool app that you can use the camera flash as a flash light. Maybe the author can use it to find his brain in the dark. There's an app for that too.

-Dr. Wu

Thanx...I just downloaded the app!

 

[Stan]

Technology is a wonderful thing and great for business and pleasure,
But 'tis how and when its used that's really a measure,
Of manners and consideration for the interests of others.

F'rinstance, I know I talk too loud on any device,
That's rude to others and not very nice,
A certain look corrects that in just a short while,
Though I'd much rather elicit a certain smile.

It ranks high up among useful tools,
And is considered by some to be quite cool,
But when you find it idles your brain and your time it does drain,
Then you know that you've been taken for a silly fool.

 

[RoySwkr]

One issue with cell phones at huts is that it not only creates the "tether" for the speaker but for other users once their spouses read in the Globe that cell phones work at huts

Wilderness would be more like wilderness if they banned cell phones and GPS instead of blazes and bridges - both deliberately reduce safety for esthetic reasons

I once started a poll on whether electronic devices should be banned in Wilderness if the technology existed to do it automatically, but it didn't get very many responses either way