first of all, I am going to lay claim to being one of the original first posters on this forum. something like #47 or so.
I have been here since the early days of these forums.
Back then, when I was 25 yrs younger, about this time of year the TR section was full of upcoming trip plans. this year, to keep that old BPer forum tradition alive I posted my CDT hike plans.
and we had some real characters back then, too.
Enough of this. Carry on everyone.
Me? I am going out for a 700 mile hike in NM this spring wandering along the CDT and wishing I still had the legs I had 25 yrs ago.
Who knows where the time goes? (song my Kate Wolf).
Backpacker.com domain was registered August 1997. Most people still didn't know what the Internet was then. First Netscape and IE browsers 94/95.
These forums went through a number of "restarts" in those early years. '97 could be the year. I was subscribing to the magazine back then and saw reference to it there. I was living in Sault Ste Marie, MI in the U.P. great backpacking up there. Ok, 97. I was registered user #47. I do remember that much. So 15 years ago.
Backpacker.com domain was registered August 1997. Most people still didn't know what the Internet was then. First Netscape and IE browsers 94/95.
These forums went through a number of "restarts" in those early years. '97 could be the year. I was subscribing to the magazine back then and saw reference to it there. I was living in Sault Ste Marie, MI in the U.P. great backpacking up there. Ok, 97. I was registered user #47. I do remember that much. So 15 years ago.
Rounded numbers.
And I stated reading BP Magazine somewhere around 1973 or 74...
-------------- Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty. – Socrates
I think most of this type of thing has moved to Facebook or Meetup.
I'm not on facebook so don't know for sure about that, but I'm a member of a few Meetup groups. New trips or actives are always being posted for the groups I joined.
So yeah changing times. Forums are getting replaced by other formats like facebook and meetup I suspect
Backpacker.com domain was registered August 1997. Most people still didn't know what the Internet was then. First Netscape and IE browsers 94/95.
These forums went through a number of "restarts" in those early years. '97 could be the year. I was subscribing to the magazine back then and saw reference to it there. I was living in Sault Ste Marie, MI in the U.P. great backpacking up there. Ok, 97. I was registered user #47. I do remember that much. So 15 years ago.
My first foray into the world wide web was in Sept. 1995 -- using Netcom.
That was around the same time that I started going online- 1994 or 1995. I was using dial-up on my parent's Apple Mac to chat room and build a GeoCities site.
I'll always remember my first day of college in Sept 1997, right after getting back from a week-long backpacking trip. I set up my new computer, and four girls from the floor above me came down and asked if they could mess around with it. What did they look at right away? Yup, you guessed it: porn.
The first time I was on this forum, '98 I guess, RedDoug was here. The forums were about bragging then more than anything. So lots of stories and banter. It was fun and meetup was never like that. Facebook is prolly the slowest, least reliable site I frequent.
SW Mtn backpacker Born to hike, forced to work ...
Group: Members
Posts: 6742
Joined: Jul. 2006
Posted on: Feb. 13 2013, 8:59 am
The exact date of BP online doesn't really matter. Think there was actually was a trip planning thread around New Years but I could be mistaken. Mine anymore are pretty random based on winter snowpack and spring rains considering the forests have been shut down for burns and drought the last 2 years. I'll grab my pack and just go.
Did a bunch of group hikes with old friends and then BPL (you need a light pack though or they'll make fun of you). None here though.
Meetups could have some liability unless newbies are willing to get their packs inspected pre -hike. I could see where BP or their parent company doesn't want to get involved with a dedicated trip planning forum.
-------------- Usually Southwest and then some.
In wildness is the preservation of the world. - Henry Thoreau
If my fading memory serves, the site-and forums-were not even backpacker.com back then, the domain name belonged to someone else, though it seems like about the late 90's, it was purchased. I do seem to remember having to make another account when the forum moved to this domain. Maybe. I think.
-------------- Now shall I walk or shall I ride? Ride, said pleasure, Walk, Joy replied,
I gave up on Meetup.com. For an outdoor community, I am surprised at the amount of "walk on the path down the river" trips and such that are there in the "Adventure" group in our local Meetup.
These days, I use a device called a phone to setup hikes.
-------------- If I'm going to be lost, in the woods is where I want to be...
If my fading memory serves, the site-and forums-were not even backpacker.com back then, the domain name belonged to someone else, though it seems like about the late 90's, it was purchased. I do seem to remember having to make another account when the forum moved to this domain. Maybe. I think.
original website was bpbasecamp.com
-------------- Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
If my fading memory serves, the site-and forums-were not even backpacker.com back then, the domain name belonged to someone else, though it seems like about the late 90's, it was purchased. I do seem to remember having to make another account when the forum moved to this domain. Maybe. I think.
original website was bpbasecamp.com
Truly, you have a dizzying intellect.
-------------- Now shall I walk or shall I ride? Ride, said pleasure, Walk, Joy replied,
These days, I use a device called a phone to setup hikes.
How retro!
I agree to some extent on Meetup. I am the organizer of our kayaking meetup. Over 700 members and at least half of them don't own a kayak. I busted my butt last year trying to accommodate everyone, holding paddles where rentals are available and ended up paddling the same damn pond every Sunday.
-------------- The future is no place to place your better days. Dave Matthews
Remember 1991 when I moved to Santa Barbara and my then-boyfriend moved to Germany. He set up and taught me to use this weird thing the techno-geeks had called email. . . . Fast-forward 4 years, and I was using email and "talk" to carry on with a new long-distance boyfriend, now my husband. I do have a soft spot for the net
As for trip planning here. . . I do get advice most summers when we are planning. But this time of year I'm planning nothing and going nowhere (especially this year). So not much to say. Heck, we haven't even gotten to the local open space for hikes and runs since Xmas, due to my bum foot.
Actually, I think it's a little like most book clubs: once you've all gotten to be friends you spend a lot more time chewing the fat than talking about books.
-------------- Bits of writerly thoughts and random short fiction found at The Ninja Librarian Blog
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