SPECIAL OUTDOOR RECREATION ISSUE High Country ForN people whoews care about the West SHREDDED Will a growing, technologically evolved army of thrill seekers overrun every corner of the West? July 20, 2015 | $5 | Vol. 47 No. 12 | www.hcn.org 12 No. 47 | $5 Vol. 20, 2015 July CONTENTS High Country News EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER Paul Larmer MANAGING EDITOR Brian Calvert SENIOR EDITORS Jonathan Thompson SHREDDED Jodi Peterson ART DIRECTOR Will a growing, technologically evolved army of Cindy Wehling thrill seekers overrun every corner of the West? ONLINE EDITOR Tay Wiles D.C. CORRESPONDENT SPECIAL OUTDOOR RECREATION ISSUE Elizabeth Shogren WRITERS ON THE RANGE EDITOR Betsy Marston ASSOCIATE DESIGNER Brooke Warren FEATURES/ESSAYS COPY EDITOR Diane Sylvain CONTRIBUTIng EDITORS 14 End of the Trail Wars Cally Carswell As a decades-long battle between a tribe of local mountain bikers Craig Childs Sarah Gilman and the Forest Service dies down, Sedona faces the end of its Judith Lewis Mernit By Sarah Tory Jeremy Miller free-wheeling era. Sierra Crane-Murdoch Michelle Nijhuis 36 The Human Factor Josh Zaffos CORRESPONDENTS We’re better than ever at understanding the dangers of avalanches. Ben Goldfarb So why aren’t we better at avoiding them? By Kate Siber Krista Langlois Kate Schimel 44 Knowing the Grand Canyon in your bones EDITORIAL FELLOW By Nic Korte Sarah Tory INTERNS Paige Blankenbueler 46 #OutdoorRec and #Tech Gloria Dickie How do our electronic gadgets, social media platforms and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Alexis Halbert constant connectedness affect the wilderness experience? By Jonathan Thompson DEVELOPMENT ManageR Alyssa Pinkerton DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT Christine List INSIDE SUBSCRIPTIONS MARKETER Contributors JoAnn Kalenak 5 Living the dream, plus overtime By Elizabeth Shogren WEB DEVELOPER Eric Strebel DaTABASE/IT ADMINISTRATOR 6 The madding crowds By Marshall Swearingen Alan Wells 7 By Sarah Gilman COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Can I camp on your land? Gretchen King 8 Misadventures in packrafting By Krista Langlois FINANCE MANAGER Beckie Avera 9 Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way By Sarah Tory ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Jan Hoffman 10 An extreme pursuit By Cally Carswell CIRCULATION manageR Tammy York CIRCULATION SYSTEMS ADMIN. DEPARTMENTS Kathy Martinez CIRCULATION Doris Teel, Kati Johnson, 3 HCN.ORG NEWS IN BRIEF Tory THOMPSON Stephanie Kyle Cally Carswell is an HCN Nic Korte is a groundwater 12 THE HCN COMMUNITY ADVERTISIng DIRECTOR Research Fund, Dear Friends contributing editor who writes geochemist who has hiked and David J. Anderson 19 SPECIAL SECTION: OUTDOOR RECREATION MARKETPLACE from Santa Fe. backpacked nearly 150 nights ADVERTISIng SaLES in the Grand Canyon. His blog Margaret Gilfoyle 35 WRITERS ON THE RANGE Mary Emerick declutters and “Birds and More,” can be read GRANTWRITER By Mary Emerick Janet Reasoner Memories from the gear shed writes in Oregon. Her novel, at the Grand Junction Daily The Geography of Water, will Sentinel’s website, gjsentinel. FOUNDER Tom Bell 39 MARKETPLACE be published in November. com. This essay includes [email protected] 42 BOOKS excerpts from a longer essay [email protected] Sarah Gilman is an HCN in On Foot: Grand Canyon [email protected] So, How Long Have you Been Native? by Alexis C. Bunten. contributing editor who writes Backpacking Stories, published [email protected] Reviewed by Carson Vaughan from Portland. by Vishnu Temple Press. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Snowblind: Stories of Alpine Obsession by Daniel Arnold. John Belkin, Colo. Reviewed by Kate Schimel Beth Conover, Colo. Jay Dean, Calif. 48 HEARD AROUND THE WEST By Betsy Marston Bob Fulkerson, Nev. Wayne Hare, Colo. Laura Helmuth, Md. On the cover Day seven of a hut-to-hut mountain biking trip from Telluride, Colorado, to Moab, Utah. SergIO BALLIVIAN John Heyneman, Wyo. Nicole Lampe, Ore. Marla Painter, N.M. Dan Stonington, Wash. High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) (ISSN/0191/5657) is published bi-weekly, 22 times a year, by High Country News, 119 Grand Ave., Printed on High independent media organization that covers the issues Paonia, CO 81428. Periodicals, postage paid at Paonia, CO, and other post offices. POSTMASTER: recycled Rick Tallman, Colo. paper. Luis Torres, N.M. Country that define the American West. Its mission is to inform Send address changes to High Country News, Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428. 800-905-1155. All Andy Wiessner, Colo. and inspire people to act on behalf of the region’s rights to publication of articles in this issue are reserved. See hcn.org for submission guidelines. Florence Williams, D.C. News diverse natural and human communities. Subscriptions to HCN are $37 a year, $47 for institutions: 800-905-1155 | hcn.org 2 High Country News July 20, 2015 CONTENTS High Country News EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/PUBLISHER Paul Larmer MANAGING EDITOR Brian Calvert SENIOR EDITORS Jonathan Thompson SHREDDED Jodi Peterson ART DIRECTOR Will a growing, technologically evolved army of Cindy Wehling thrill seekers overrun every corner of the West? ONLINE EDITOR Tay Wiles D.C. CORRESPONDENT SPECIAL OUTDOOR RECREATION ISSUE Elizabeth Shogren WRITERS ON THE RANGE EDITOR Betsy Marston ASSOCIATE DESIGNER Brooke Warren FEATURES/ESSAYS COPY EDITOR Diane Sylvain CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 14 End of the Trail Wars Cally Carswell As a decades-long battle between a tribe of local mountain bikers Craig Childs Sarah Gilman and the Forest Service dies down, Sedona faces the end of its Judith Lewis Mernit By Sarah Tory Jeremy Miller free-wheeling era. Sierra Crane-Murdoch Michelle Nijhuis 36 The Human Factor Josh Zaffos CORRESPONDENTS We’re better than ever at understanding the dangers of avalanches. Ben Goldfarb So why aren’t we better at avoiding them? By Kate Siber Krista Langlois Kate Schimel 44 Knowing the Grand Canyon in your bones EDITORIAL FELLOW By Nic Korte Sarah Tory INTERNS Paige Blankenbueler 46 #OutdoorRec and #Tech Gloria Dickie How do our electronic gadgets, social media platforms and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Alexis Halbert constant connectedness affect the wilderness experience? By Jonathan Thompson DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Alyssa Pinkerton DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT Christine List INSIDE SUBSCRIPTIONS MARKETER Contributors JoAnn Kalenak 5 Living the dream, plus overtime By Elizabeth Shogren WEB DEVELOPER Eric Strebel DATABASE/IT ADMINISTRATOR 6 The madding crowds By Marshall Swearingen Alan Wells 7 By Sarah Gilman COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Can I camp on your land? Gretchen King 8 Misadventures in packrafting By Krista Langlois FINANCE MANAGER Beckie Avera 9 Where there’s a wheel, there’s a way By Sarah Tory ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Jan Hoffman 10 An extreme pursuit By Cally Carswell CIRCULATION MANAGER Tammy York CIRCULATION SYSTEMS ADMIN. DEPARTMENTS Kathy Martinez CIRCULATION Doris Teel, Kati Johnson, 3 HCN.ORG NEWS IN BRIEF TORY THOMPSON Stephanie Kyle Cally Carswell is an HCN Nic Korte is a groundwater 12 THE HCN COMMUNITY ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Research Fund, Dear Friends contributing editor who writes geochemist who has hiked and David J. Anderson 19 SPECIAL SECTION: OUTDOOR RECREATION MARKETPLACE from Santa Fe. backpacked nearly 150 nights ADVERTISING SALES in the Grand Canyon. His blog Margaret Gilfoyle 35 WRITERS ON THE RANGE Mary Emerick declutters and “Birds and More,” can be read GRANTWRITER By Mary Emerick Janet Reasoner Memories from the gear shed writes in Oregon. Her novel, at the Grand Junction Daily The Geography of Water, will Sentinel’s website, gjsentinel. FOUNDER Tom Bell 39 MARKETPLACE be published in November. com. This essay includes [email protected] 42 BOOKS excerpts from a longer essay [email protected] Sarah Gilman is an HCN in On Foot: Grand Canyon [email protected] So, How Long Have you Been Native? by Alexis C. Bunten. contributing editor who writes Backpacking Stories, published [email protected] Reviewed by Carson Vaughan from Portland. by Vishnu Temple Press. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Snowblind: Stories of Alpine Obsession by Daniel Arnold. John Belkin, Colo. Reviewed by Kate Schimel Beth Conover, Colo. Jay Dean, Calif. 48 HEARD AROUND THE WEST By Betsy Marston Bob Fulkerson, Nev. Wayne Hare, Colo. Laura Helmuth, Md. On the cover Day seven of a hut-to-hut mountain biking trip from Telluride, Colorado, to Moab, Utah. SERGIO BALLIVIAN John Heyneman, Wyo. Nicole Lampe, Ore. Marla Painter, N.M. Dan Stonington, Wash. High Country News is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) (ISSN/0191/5657) is published bi-weekly, 22 times a year, by High Country News, 119 Grand Ave., Printed on High independent media organization that covers the issues Paonia, CO 81428. Periodicals, postage paid at Paonia, CO, and other post offices. POSTMASTER: recycled Rick Tallman, Colo. paper. Luis Torres, N.M. Country that define the American West. Its mission is to inform Send address changes to High Country News, Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428. 800-905-1155. All Andy Wiessner, Colo. and inspire people to act on behalf of the region’s rights to publication of articles in this issue are reserved. See hcn.org for submission guidelines. Florence Williams, D.C. News diverse natural and human communities. Subscriptions to HCN are $37 a year, $47 for institutions: 800-905-1155 | hcn.org 2 High Country News July 20, 2015 HCN.ORG NEWS IN bRIEF Editor’s note The trail less traveled I decided to leave the trail and return by a different route — straight down a talus slope, on the cheap aluminum rubber-tipped crutches that I used full-time. I was young, and I wanted to avoid the herds of hikers pounding the pulverized granite trail into California’s Desolation Wilderness. Besides, I could see my destination, the blue waters of Upper Echo Lake, where I’d left the rowboat a couple of hours ago. How hard could it be? An hour and only a few hundred feet down Mule deer in decline later, I realized: really hard. What looked from a In the Piceance Basin of western Colorado, mule distance like a set of natural stairs was actually deer populations are in decline.