Hi Mike,

Congratulations on your engagement! The pictures are amazing.

Would you please consider deleting this post, or at least the specific instructions on how to visit this place? I've been camping here for decades and have never seen it as crowded as I have this year. I know this is in part because of the pandemic, but advertisements like this do not need to be available. Please consider keeping this place somewhat off the beaten path.

    jhardy Thanks for reaching out to me. I split your comment into its own discussion because it could get a little off topic from the guide, but it links back for reference and I wanted to give you a response.

    I have thought about this before, I had someone reach out to me with a similar request on a guide I posted for a Channel Islands National Park.

    Since I am still a pretty new website, I have not formalized an official mission statement but I have been working on a draft. I am going to share two mission statements about the outdoors that I really look up to. I think of my website's mission statement being a combination of both of them.

    The first mission statement is form the National Parks Service:

    The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

    The second mission statement is from the Leave No Trace Organization:

    The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics protects the outdoors by teaching and inspiring people to enjoy it responsibly. The Center accomplishes this mission by delivering cutting-edge education and research to millions of people every year.

    From these two mission statements the two sentence that stand out to me are:

    1. "for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations"
    2. "protects the outdoors by teaching and inspiring people to enjoy it responsibly"

    I want Seek Adventure to be a place to inspire individuals to go out and seek their own adventures in a responsible manner. In my view, being properly prepared and informed helps protect these locations for future generations enjoyment.

    In the information age we live in, places will be easily discovered; I can only hope they find my guide and that the community here can help educate and prepare them to visit these places responsibly. It's when visitors are not prepared that they take rocks, and sticks to rescue their stuck vehicle. It's when visitors are not prepared that they build a fire in a location they should not. Proper preparation can help preserve these beautiful places, and that's how I want to help others here.

    I completely understand how frustrating it can be to see your favorite location crowded with lots of visitors. I personally have not been to Yosemite in the summertime because I know seeing the huge crowds will break my heart.

    Although seeing the crowds may be disappointing at first, it's the awe in the eyes of a little kid or its the family bonding away from the TV, or a veteran enjoying some much needed beauty in life that turns my own frustrations about crowds into happy thoughts.

    In the Los Burros article, I have worked with locals to clear up confusion, and give up to date information to people planning their own trips. It's information like this which is why I keep sharing my detailed guides, and I hope you can at least understand my point of view.

    I hope others will come here and work as a community to help prepare other adventure seekers to enjoy the outdoors responsibly, so we can preserve the beauty for future generations.

    Mike, I agree 100% with your perspective here. The simple truth is that more people are interested in the outdoors than ever before. Information will be shared and places will become more popular.
    It is up to those of us with a platform, however small, to show the right way to do things and be an example of how to enjoy responsibly. That is the best way we can contribute to protecting our natural wonders - not by sticking our heads in the sand and pretending people aren't going to come - but by sharing the love and respect that we have for these areas to impart that on others.

    2 months later

    jhardy

    I had the exact same thoughts about this post having discovered this location through my own curiosity and studying satellite maps of forest service roads in big sur. I would hate for this pristine remote location to get overrun with people. I think on one hand it's good to make a post like this to try to ward people away from doing irresponsible things, but on the other hand, I think it's also likely that a (really well done) post like this will inevitably increase traffic to these areas as well. Increasing visibility online will lead to more use of the land which typically will lead to more issues in spite of your stated goals these posts may have unintended consequence.