Hikers are found across the world this can be seen in the millions of hikes found on websites like AllTrails across the globe, from accounts from American hikers visiting with hikers on foreign trails, and from the number of foreign hikers that the United States sees in its State and National Parks every year, along with several other places. It has been documented that hikers gather most of their information from friends and family primarily, but they do seek out information and resources from the greater hiking community. This is true both domestically inside the United States (Ernest et al, 2005) and internationally as seen with a study on (Asian) backpackers through Europe done by Shang-Ju Chang (2009).
Chang mentions in his article how backpackers in Europe try to seek out destinations and locations based upon their language abilities and when in situations where they do not have a great grasp of the language seek out books and media in their own language and the usefulness of the information is greatly based upon the users understanding of the language. He also found that backpackers seek out information in languages that they are familiar with (2009). This information is very interesting compared domestically in the United States with the study that compared minority group hikers to white hikers (Thapa et al, 2010). These minority groups comprising primarily of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian-Americans. This study found that there was no difference in the primary types of resources whites and minority groups used to find their information. But some groups (especially Hispanics) did prefer some secondary resources to others, the authors of this study mention that one of the reasons for this difference might be language-based, “language barriers may be a factor prohibiting non-English speakers from approaching rangers/employees for information or reading bulletin boards” (2010).
These three studies can represent the larger hiking community across the globe. Showing how hikers primarily seek out information from close connections and then seeks information from the hiking community, and how language barriers and cultural influences can have slight impacts upon a potential hiker’s information-seeking behaviors, but that impact is not significant. With this information, we can narrow in on the commonality of hikers seeking information from the whole community. Doing a quick google search for “hiking community in Europe” the first thing that comes up is a Facebook group called “Hiking Europe Club” which is an open group that a visitor can view their planned hikes, see photos of past hikes, and message the group moderators. Allowing a potential visitor to easily connect with people in the area they want to hike. This kind of google search and community connecting can be done with a large level of seeking, a person can try to find a group in the town of Lucerne, Switzerland to the entire continent of Europe itself, and can be completed for locations across the globe.
A major issue that the United States deals with in its hiking community is how traditionally white its members are. Historically hiking and many recreational activities are known as a leisure activity for white people. This is an issue that has very much come to light in the last few years with the Black Lives Matter movement. Within the US minority hiking groups (especially those comprised of Blacks) have started cropping up across the country and is changing the racial makeup of hikers across the US trying to make the activity more accessible to people who traditionally do not have a tradition or availability to participate, or who have actively been discouraged from participating (Beckford, 2020).
Across the globe, it is hard to see if this movement to make hiking and the hiking community more inclusive because of the varying nature of how
different countries and cultures define “minority” and “diverse” groups. In the United Kingdom, I found an article that listed several hiking groups for different minority groups including Muslims, immigrants from several different countries, and other minority groups (Kampfner, 2021). In Australia, I was able to find a group of LGBTQ+ hikers called the “Brisbane Hiking Dykes.” Unfortunately, much of my research is limited to English-speaking countries with a large internet presence so this list of international inclusion in hiking is limited. But these grassroots movements on creating more diversity and inclusion in hiking fit the theme that Christian Lauersen was explaining in his blog and the importance of libraries’ promotion of these movements. “For my part I would also argue that libraries are forces of social good and has an obligation to foster social justices and help communities fight inequality and polarization” (2019).
References
AllTrails. (2021). https://www.alltrails.com/
Beckford, G. (2020). These Black hiking groups are changing the outdoors. Lonely Planet. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/black-hiking-groups-around-the-us
Brisbane Hiking Dikes. (2021). https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/Brisbane-Hiking-Dykes/
Chang, S.-J. (2009). Information Research in Leisure: Implications from an Empirical Study of Backpackers. Library Trends (711-728). Johns Hopkins University Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.0.0062
Ernest, D. J., Level, A. V., & Culbertson, M. (2005). Information-seeking behavior for recreational activities and its implications for libraries. Reference Services Review, 33(1), 88-103. https://doi.org/10.1108/00907320510581405
Hiking Europe Club. (2021). Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/HikingEuropeClub/
Kampfner, C. (2021). New heights: the minority ethnic hiking clubs opening up rural Britain. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/mar/06/new-heights-minority-ethnic-hiking-clubs-opening-up-britain
Lauersen, C. (2019). A million stories- how libraries can foster integration of refugees through culture and storytelling. The Library Lab. https://christianlauersen.net/2019/08/07/a-million-stories-how-libraries-foster-integration-of-refugees-through-culture-and-storytelling/
Thapa, B., Graefe, A. R., & Absher, J. D. (2010). Information needs and search behaviors: A comparative study of ethnic groups in the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests, California. Leisure Sciences, 24(1), 89-107. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400252772854
Photo Credit: The Wanderlust Women. (December 1, 2020). [photo of logo on Instagram]. A hiking group comprised of Muslim women in the United Kingdom
Photo Credit: Boots and Beards. (February 11, 2020). [photo from Instagram]. A hiking group comprised of people of different minority and ethnic backgrounds based in the United Kingdom.
Hi Marina,
I enjoyed reading your post! I appreciate you taking the time to discuss diversity in hiking communities. It’s interesting that hikers normally get information from close-relations. I think that hiking can be intimidating for new hikers, especially if they don’t have that information from other hikers. So it makes sense that hiking knowledge would be based on generationally, creating a community that lacks diversity. I have personally found it difficult to get up-to-date information. Another problem I have is doubting the information I’ve read about a certain trail. I wonder if I accidentally missed a fork in the trail when areas are not maintained or labeled.
I also have an issue with doubting my trail information especially with Alltrails where people can submit their own ways, so if a trail has multiple routes. And going out onto hikes you are unfamiliar with is super intimidating! Which is why I think these diverse groups getting people more familiar with hiking and with other people who look like them or who have similar experiences as them who are also hiking is super important!
Hi Marina,
This is such a great topic to explore within the hiking community. I recently found the courage to start hiking by myself (just day hikes, nothing too intense yet). I find so much joy in being outdoors but I think it’s taken so long for me to embrace it because the concept of hiking was pretty foreign to my family/culture and I just wasn’t exposed to it growing up. I also went to a very outdoorsy university and it was pretty intimidating to step into that world when everyone else was already so knowledgeable and had expensive gear.
I remember when I studied abroad I met a guy from Sweden while hiking and he was telling me all about his extensively planned trips to the national parks in Utah. When I told him I had always wanted to go he was pretty shocked and replied with something like “I travelled over 4,000 miles to see them and you live like right there! You have no excuse”. He definitely meant well but I think he was just unable to comprehend the fact that some people, despite proximity, might not have access to these spaces or might feel uncomfortable in them due to lack of representation (especially coming from a more homogeneous society like Sweden).
I never really thought about how libraries and hiking intersect, but I agree there’s a lot of potential for social good between the two!
That is awesome that you found the courage to start hiking by yourself. I have actually also just found this courage and have found it super freeing. I am also glad that you were able to get into and enjoy the activity after facing some difficult obstacles in different cultural standards and lack of access to knowledge and equipment. I agree in that I think the United States because of its extremely diverse socio-economic and racial/ethnic makeup is really hard for people unfamiliar with that sheer amount of diversity (and geographic magnitude that is the US) to understand a lot of the issues that the US faces when it comes to trying to make activities more accessible to everyone.
Hi Marina,
I love your community of hikers. I, myself, am a casual hiker, and after reading your blog, I see how I have engaged in many of these information seeking activities on my own, without even realizing it. I work in a rural library in Southern Nevada, and like you, we have access to many hiking trails and natural resources. I’m only about an hour away from the Valley of Fire Sate Park and in the other direction about an hour and half away from Zion National Park. I tend to pair my hiking hobby with my photography hobby, and find that sometimes it takes me twice as long to do a little day hike as the guides say because I often stop to photograph everything.. . lol. I also realized how my little hiking hobby fits nicely with Stebbins five categories of hobbyists – “makers and tinkerers” (maybe not for me, but a backpacker for sure), “collectors” (oh yeah, that’s part of the photography part, and also keeping maps, trinkets, or badges from national or state parks I’ve visited), “liberal arts hobbyists” (I love to hike trails or do walks that have a history to them. As a kid my parents took me on a small walk on the Trail of Tears, and I guess that stuck. Like with my community of food historians, it’s about making a connection to the past and learning history that makes it fun), “activity participants” (hiking with my friends or family is fun, though they sometimes get mad because I take too many pictures), and “players of sports and games” (also maybe not for me, but I guess you could have a competition on a hike, does geocaching count for this?). Anyway, I also wanted to share with you some hiking resources I found during the pandemic that you might find interesting. Did you know that you can do famous hikes virtually now? My friends did this one, virtually walking el Camino de Santiago https://www.theconqueror.events/camino/ and I became addicted to a couple of shows, that were free with Prime, but now looks like they may not be, but they were so interesting, I now want to try some of these hikes. The first is “Walks Around Britain” – https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01G624ZEC/ and the other is “Walking Through History” – https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B07KRL2272/ Again, your community is awesome, and I hope you find these shows interesting, if you don’t know about them already.
My aunt and uncle told me about the Walks Around Britain and Walking Through History shows and I totally forgot about them until now. Thank you for bringing them back to my attention! I did not know about the virtual hiking tours, that is super interesting I will have to check them out, Thank You!