Between a Mossy Rock and a Hard Place

Introducing an outdoorsy advice column + etiquette for photos at crowded overlooks

Welcome to a new fortnightly series with advice for all your outdoorsy conundrums!

I get asked a lot of questions about outdoor recreation by the people in my life—work colleagues who want to take their kids camping¹, friends who are buying new backpacking gear, and even strangers on the street who are curious where I’m headed when they see me loading up my car with skis or tents.

I love giving my two cents—who doesn’t?!—and since I get a lot of repeat askers, I figure I must be halfway decent at it. So I’m going to tackle your outdoorsy questions every other Wednesday, supplementing my strong opinions about nearly everything with my deep love for research.

With the increase in posting frequency, I have opened up paid subscriptions for Index of Mossy Rocks. But, don’t worry—you can still read everything as a free subscriber! The weekly Sunday posts remain unchanged. The new Wednesday advice columns will be emailed out to all subscribers, but will only be available on the website for a week before heading behind the paywall. That means if there’s an advice column that you may want to refer back to in the future, don’t delete the email after reading!

In addition to getting full access to the archive, paid subscriptions help support my future adventures. Subscriptions are priced at $5/month or $50/year, so think of a yearly subscription as sponsoring a night of camping. Whether or not you decide to become a paid subscriber, I’m so glad to have you as a reader and I hope you’ll continue to stick around (and maybe share your favorite post with a friend)!

Now, onto the advice!

The first outdoorsy conundrum of this series comes from a friend:

How do I take photos at a scenic overlook without being a jerk to everyone else who’s trying to enjoy the view? I hate when people ask me to move out of their shot when I’m just snacking on some trail mix, but I also don’t want strangers in the pics I take. Am I a hypocrite?

Well, if you’re a hypocrite, then so am I!

While hikers are generally a pretty chill bunch, scenic overlooks can be a pressure cooker—especially ones that are close to a parking lot. It’s rare that I’m directly asked to move, but I’ve definitely experienced people complaining loudly about not being able to see until everyone within earshot awkwardly shuffles out of their way. If I’ve been hiking for a few hours (or days!), I am not particularly inclined to move—I get grouchy when my peanut M&M² consumption is interrupted!

However, I do have a few strategies for enjoying a scenic overlook, both as the person trying to rest and as the person taking a photo.