The West That Has Passed

In 1911 Charlie Russell opened his first national exhibit at the Folsom Galleries in New York City. Widely regarded as one of one of the greatest cowboy artists, the exhibit featured more than two dozen paintings and bronze sculptures, which Russell called “The West That Has Passed.” The exhibit was effectively a requiem for the era of cowboys and Indians, the open range, and free-roaming bison that had passed during his lifetime. This wasn’t a life he observed from afar, but rather a life he witnessed growing up in Missouri, and one that he actually lived after moving to Montana at the age of sixteen.

Fast-forward to 1968 and we find Edward Abbey railing against the National Park Service for making parks more accessible. Abbey’s now famous “polemic” was written well after the west had transitioned from a land that needed to be tamed, to a land that was to be used and exploited - save for a few islands preserved for tourists and outdoor enthusiasts. In his book, Desert Solitaire, Abbey bemoaned the idea of paved roads being built in Arches National Monument, his place of employment in the mid-1950s. More pointedly, he decried “The Developers, the dominant faction” within the National Park Service who sought to make parks more accessible by means of what he called “Industrial Tourism”. He feared, or foresaw, how more roads, hotels and restaurants would lead to national parks becoming overrun by “mechanized tourists,” those that he defined as the “indolent millions born on wheels and suckled on gasoline, who expect and demand paved highways to lead them in comfort, ease and safety into every nook and corner of the national parks.” He argued that these types of tourists didn’t belong in parks because they didn’t appreciate them the way he did, nor did they share his wilderness ethic.

Equally provocative, Harvey Manning asked readers in the summer 1975 issue of Backpacker Magazine: “Where did all these damn hikers come from?” In this piece Manning concluded that automobiles were squarely to blame for making trails and wilderness areas more accessible, and thus more crowded. Without question, good or bad, automobiles have played a major role in the overcrowding of parks and trails. Honestly, however, when I made my first pilgrimage to the west in 1986 I never would’ve recognized either of these complaints as legitimate. Not having anything to compare with, I didn’t see these “crowds” as being problematic.

If your first visit to a major national park occurred after the dawn of the social media age you may not be aware that the experience has profoundly changed when compared to just a few years ago. To illustrate the extent of this transformation, consider that between 2013 and 2019 total national park recreational visits jumped by nearly 20%! That’s almost 54 million additional visits per year. And it shows. Discounting a reprieve in 2020 due to Covid, visitation remains near record levels.

I really don’t remember how the conversation arose, but somehow my friends and I hatched the radical idea of driving out west from our homes in suburban Cincinnati. Radical, because I don’t believe any of us had ever been west of Indiana up to that point. Being poor college kids there was never a question that this was going to be a camping trip. Several weeks later the three of us packed all of our camping equipment, a box of canned foods that we appropriated from our parents pantries, and loaded it all into John’s mid-1970s Ford Pinto hatchback. If you’ve ever seen a Pinto from this era you may be wondering how three guys and their camping equipment could fit into such a cramped vehicle. Let me tell you, it was tough! We had to lay the back seat down, which forced us to take turns lying stretched-out in the back.

We really didn’t have a plan on what we were going to do on this whirlwind trip; only the places we intended to visit, and that we would be gone for 10 days. Though there were brief stops in the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, our focus was Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain national parks. Unlike today, we didn’t need a reservation to camp in the parks. We simply drove up to the campground, paid our fee, and then selected our site. We also didn’t need any timed entry permits. We drove in and out of the parks as we pleased. In fact, I don’t recall ever having to sit in any lines at any of the park entrances. Most importantly, we always found parking spots at the trailheads or the points of interest we visited. We never had to wake up before sunrise to beat the crowds into the park. Nor did we ever have to fight traffic, or sit in any slowdowns, unless of course they were caused by a herd of bison or a random bear sighting.

We had a great time. Though it was a lot of driving in a very short period of time, and we really didn’t do all that much hiking, this will always be my most memorable road trip. In Yellowstone each of us saw our first 10,000-foot peaks, our first geothermal features, our first moose, our first elk, and our first bison. One evening, after watching the sunset atop Signal Mountain in Grand Teton, we saw our first grizzly bears while driving back to our campsite in Colter Bay. One of the most sublime moments for me occurred one evening while taking a solo walk along the shores of Jackson Lake. While fully entranced by a spectacular fiery sunset, a gaggle of geese flew overhead in a perfect V formation. I was hooked forever.

Subsequent trips in the following years were similar. No matter the time of day, we never had any issues getting to any trailheads or major points of interest. Believe it or not, but once upon a time you could drive up to Logan Pass in Glacier, Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain, or even Jenny Lake in Grand Teton at just about any time of day and parking spaces would be available. You may be thinking that shuttles can or should’ve solved the problems of overcrowding in recent years. That doesn’t appear to be the case. In fact, there are unintended consequences associated with shuttles. According to one study, after the introduction of shuttles in 2007 the annual number of people hiking to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park had tripled to 90,000 by 2011. During that same time period the number of visitors hiking the Highline Trail from Logan Pass to “The Loop” exploded from just 1800 hikers per year to more than 40,000, despite overall park visitation remaining flat during this time period. The study’s author, Norma P. Nickerson, Ph.D., blames the increase on the park’s shuttle system, which has made trailheads more accessible. Prior to the introduction of shuttles hikers were forced to go elsewhere once trailhead parking areas became full.

Today’s experience is significantly different in multiple ways. In recent years more precise planning is required. Hotel reservations are now needed at least 9 or 10 months in advance. You need to be at your computer at a precise moment to ensure you’ll be able to secure timed entry permits for the park you’re planning to visit. As a result, you now need to know several months ahead of time which hikes, or at least the area of some parks you plan to visit on any given day. Even with timed entry permits it’s still a race to arrive at some trailheads in time to ensure you’ll have a parking spot waiting for you. That effectively means waking up in the wee hours and being at the trailhead by sunrise in many instances. If you wait just a little later you run the chance of not finding a parking spot, or encountering lines to get into the park. After your hike, depending on the park, you may run into more congestion on the roads. Our past two trips to Grand Teton, including this past September, were the absolute worst. We encountered major traffic jams between Teton Village, Wilson and Jackson, as well coming into Jackson from the north. We also experienced heavy traffic on the Idaho side of the park. If you plan to dine at a restaurant afterwards you may need a reservation, arrive early, or wait in yet another line.

In short, at least for me, the national park experience has deteriorated in recent years. Perhaps my perspective is the same as that of Russell, Abbey and Manning, in that I see the west as the way it used to be, and lament for those bygone days. Whether that’s perception or reality, I’ll concede is up for debate. However, as I see it, the national parks are now in a bit of a conundrum. On the one hand they were established so that all Americans can enjoy their exceptional natural beauty, while at the same time the National Park Service has been mandated to leave parks “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Some fear that allowing too many people to enjoy parks now could irreparably impair them for future generations. While I fully embrace the broader meaning of the line, “I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly” in John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High”, something clearly needs to be done. While it’s beyond the scope of this article, I do offer several detailed suggestions in my book on the history of hiking. The final chapter is dedicated to the future of hiking, and how overcrowding is impacting trails and parks.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
HikinginGlacier.com
TetonHikingTrails.com

Ramble On (2nd edition book on the rich history of hiking)
Exploring Glacier National Park
Exploring Grand Teton National Park