This is about the change in climbers and the change in American society that occurred in the early 1980s.
I was fortunate to cut my big wall teeth in Yosemite Valley in the 1970s. We were homeless Camp 4 bums, living in Yosemite Valley for months at a time. We ate out of dumpsters, scarfed abandoned food in the cafeteria, collected bottles and cans for the nickel deposit, and hitch-hiked everywhere.
Life in Camp 4 was great. On rest days, we left our climbing rack and rope hanging from a tree branch, and went out to the Merced River or the spray at Lower Yosemite Falls. We never worried that anything would ever get stolen, and nothing was ever stolen. Climbers - and people in general - were honorable people.
Then something changed around 1980 or a bit later. Climbers started stealing from climbers. Camp 4 bums started breaking into cars. Hitch-hikers started to get murdered at alarming rates. By the mid-1980s it was nearly impossible to hitch hike anymore. Climbers even started jugging fixed lines on El Cap and stealing all the gear. If anyone remembers the names of these criminals, post them here.
WTF happened to climbers and people?