>>192196Wilderness is off-limits to mechanized (this includes motorized, and MTB'ers) recreation. No moto in wilderness. A lot of people think "wilderness" is anywhere in the "backcountry", where legally the two are very different.
A moto will let you get way the hell back innawoods, well past anywhere a backpacker (except for the extreme ones, and in my experience they're not the douchey assholes like /out/ likes to be) can get to. Once you're about 10 miles in the trail, there's rarely anyone else back there that's not motorized because it's just not convenient to get to.
I see more wildlife on the bike than I ever did when I was hiking. Riding 2-3 nights a week I see deer/bats/hawks almost nightly, foxes/skunks/porcupines about once a week, and bears/owls about once a month.
Ride home from work, grab a snack and pull on dirt gear, throw camelbak/cameras/equipment/tools/snacks in my pack and head out till it's dark. Pick my way back to the road, dodge the deer on the highway, swing by a fast food joint for dinner before heading home.
