23 August 2007
The Outdoors Are For Everybody
Posted by Darrell under: Rantings Of An Outdoorsman .
Yesterday, I read a blog post that really iritated me. It was written by a writer that I respect - Dave Hurteau on the Field and Stream Field Notes Blog. Dave didn’t express his opinion, just simply asked a question “Do Glampers Belong in The Woods?”
The question is so stupid that it should never have been asked. But, alas, some of my fellow outdoorsmen completely blindsided me with their ridiculous answers to this question. One brilliant reader commented “These people might as well stay in a Hilton and drive to the National Park, then drive back when the day is up.”
As you might have guessed, the term Glampers is used in reference to wealthy campers who, in this case, pay big money to stay in a luxurious camp. The original story in the LA Times tells of a wealthy couple who took their six year old son to a luxury camp in Montana. The family had never been camping before. When their six year old son asked to go fly fishing in Montana his parents obliged.
Why would any outdoorsmen in his right mind object to this? The parents had obviously never been camping before. Heck, the article states that they don’t even cook their own meals at home. Would you really expect them to primitive camp? Come on people. Here we have a story of ‘non outdoors people’ going out of their way to introduce their child to the outdoors. This is what we are all preaching isn’t it?
Yes, their version of the outdoors might be different than mine. But, the fact is that we have a family experiencing the outdoors together. We don’t need to ask if they belong in the woods. The woods are for EVERYBODY. Period.
5 Comments so far...
Kristine Shreve Says:
23 August 2007 at 11:02 am.
This is one of the things that really annoys me. There are a lot of different ways to enjoy the outdoors, just like there are a lot of different ways to hunt or fish. When we start classifying one way as “wrong”, we close off a pool of people who could become supporters of hunting, fishing and conservation.
Your last paragraph really said it. The woods are for everyone. The important part is not how you choose to enjoy the outdoors, it’s that you’re making the effort to enjoy the outdoors at all.
Bryan Says:
23 August 2007 at 2:06 pm.
Hmmm…this irks me too. First off, as has already been said, the woods are for everyone. Would you rather them hate the outdoors and begin protesting against many outdoor-related activites? Second, from a completely financial perspective, who better to bring to the woods?!?!?! The more that the so-called ‘wealthy’ get involved, the more resources will be available for conservation, improving/maintaining campsites, etc.
Othmar Vohringer Says:
23 August 2007 at 10:41 pm.
Unfortunately we have some very ignorant people in the hunting community too. Some rifle hunters object to bow hunters and some bow hunters object to crossbows. Sadly with this background it seems almost normal that some hunters also seem to object to campers, hikers and other outdoor users.
Luckily it is minority of hunters that are so narrow minded. There numbers might be small but they do annoy me greatly.
-Othmar Vohringer-
Arthur Says:
24 August 2007 at 6:36 am.
I couldn’t agree more with all of you and I have seen this too many times in outdoors forums. They spend so much time fighting amongst themselves that it actually ends up separating us from each other when all of us who enjoy the outdoors should be rallying together to help our cause, not fighting amongst ourselves.
I say whatever way someone is allowed to have the outdoor experience is alright by me.
Darrell Says:
24 August 2007 at 12:55 pm.
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that thinks the outdoors belong to everyone and ANYONE is welcome to enjoy them. Thanks guys for weighing in!
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