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.

When resting, I pick a spot off to the side and back a bit from the edge so that others can get a mostly unobstructed view. This greatly reduces the chance that someone will bother me. I don’t block access to the trail and I keep my belongings contained to minimize my footprint—it’s not the place to spread out a wet tent to dry! If all the spots to sit would impede the flow of traffic, I take my photo and then move along the trail in search of a quieter spot for a long break.

As the person trying to take a photo, I first remind myself that I’m not a professional— no one aside from me cares how it turns out! My main goal is not to capture the faces of strangers so I can share my photos on social media without worrying about violating someone’s privacy. That said, the backs of people’s heads can actually look pretty cool in a shot! The best photo I took of the northern lights last May includes the silhouette of a trio of high school kids.³

While I will not ask anyone to move, I do have two lines that often accomplish the same thing (while still being polite). The first is asking the person in my way to take a photo of me posing in front of the view. My other line—if they are seated—is asking if I can step in front of them for a brief moment (really brief—like less than seven seconds) to take my shot.

However, these only work when the person is just hanging out and enjoying the scenery, not if they are also waiting for an opportunity to take a photo. To tell the difference, I look at how they are holding their phone and/or camera—if it’s grasped in their hand, I assume they are in photography mode, but if it’s is laying next to them or tucked away unseen in a pocket, I will approach.

When there’s an iconic spot that is heavily trafficked, the best bet is to visit at a less popular time—early morning on a weekday instead of Saturday on a holiday weekend—or head a little further away to capture the scene from a different angle. My photos from the Lake of the Clouds overlook in the Porkies are fine, but the ones I truly love were taken once I started down the Big Carp River Trail and got away from other people.

At the Lake of the Clouds overlook vs. looking back at Lake of the Clouds from the Big Carp River Trail in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

And if you regret not capturing the photo you hoped to? Support a local photographer by buying one of their prints or use it as an excuse to plan a return trip to the park!

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I want your questions!

• Do you need a pep talk to go on your first solo camping trip?

• Perhaps you’re unsure how to tell your longtime hiking partner that your ideas of what makes an ideal trip have diverged?

• Maybe you take twice as long to set up camp as your friends and want tips so you’re not the last one to sit down around the campfire?

1. For those in the Chicagoland area, I created a 137 page Google Doc of hiking and backpacking trails, organized by state and driving time.

2. I truly believe that the best trail mix is just a bag of peanut M&Ms. Every bite is the perfect ratio of chocolate and nuts, plus you avoid ending your trip a bag of now-salty raisins that you avoided for a dozen miles.

3.