Anecdotal evidence rules the day!!
We live in a tourist trap area of hiking trails.
Very much the case.
We went to several local trail heads, plenty of cars parked, started out on one trail, encountered 2 gaggles of hikers going in opposite directions, brushing by one another on the narrow trail.
We went back to the car and went to an area of logging roads no suburban or urban hiker will ever know exists.
Nobody there, probably within 5 miles.
“2 gaggles of hikers going in opposite directions, brushing by one another on the narrow trail.”
Essentially, it’s civil disobedience because even the peasants know their govt is full of it. They are outdoors. and I bet none of them became ill.
My comment was originally about “Hikers complain...” typical of modern journalism. As if “Hikers complain…” is proof of anything.