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Comment by jungletime | Hacker News Reader

I visited Yosemite, while beautiful, it is so commercialized. It feels like disney world for nature. It did not seem wild at all in the valley. More like a hippy tent city, with a pioneer village. I saw some deer, wanted to take a photo from maybe 200 feet away. And I literally could take photo with two other photographers in my line sight with the deer. It was a little ridiculous. 3 in one head shot. And a little moment of self reflection later, I realized I'm part of the problem by being there.

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Yosemite Valley is about 2% of the total area of Yosemite National Park. It's deliberately concentrated so that most of Yosemite can remain wilderness.

I've hiked the entire park. Literally ever trail except for maybe 1-2 miles.

The park is massive. It would take about 2 weeks doing 10-15 miles a day to cover the entire thing.

The VAST majority of the park is empty. If you go more than 2 miles in you have the entire place to yourself.

There are places in the back country that would be ENTIRE national parks if they were anywhere else. Maybe of the waterfalls don't even have names.

I want wolves and grizzlies reintroduced.

The upside of grizzlies and wolves is that all the slow and sick tourists would be eaten thereby strengthening our species.

Jokes aside... We did it in Yellowstone and it's time we let wolves back into CA

I did a fair bit of hiking all through the park in my youth. We'd go days/weeks without seeing anyone else up there. Most of the Sierras and the west coast/southwest parks are like this. You are very much alone if you choose to be.

There really isn't much else like hanging out with your best friends, fishing for dinner, all alone in the wilderness for days/weeks at a time, hiking and sleeping out under the stars. It's so unique and intoxicating, I have trouble remembering it back home. I transmogrify in the dust of the trail.

I can't wait for this all to be over so I can get back out there like that again.

Us, the moon, the sweet winds, and the howl.

That's a problem I have with Parks. There is a conflicting mandate. They 'protect' but they also 'promote'. My parents took us up to Yosemite on weekend trips in the summer growing up. 50 years ago they tended to studiously avoid the valley proper.

The farther you're willing to hike the fewer people and more bears and Germans.

Germans?

It's a stereotype with a grain of truth. In general, European tourists seem to be more accomplished or more enthusiastic hikers. You come across a lot of German-speaking people. But also Scandinavian and various others. Like all stereotypes, it breaks down on close inspection.

Yeah, I feel like any strenuous backcountry hike I take in the western U.S. will have me encounter at least one Scandinavian by its end.

Worldwide stereotype for off-beaten-track hikers. I remember Israelis felt over-represented on trails in South America too.

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