Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Trail Marking

On Tue, 3 Sep 2002 17:32:57 -0700, "Barbara McCrary"
<bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Interesting question.  On the recent 100 mile ride we manage, someone not
>only pulled the flagging on about 1 mile of trail, but dragged logs down off
>the banks onto the trail in attempt to block it.  One supposes it's hikers,
>but we don't know for sure. Who, we wonder, would go to all the trouble to
>pull heavy log sections onto the trail?  I  posted signs indicating that the
>flags were park-approved trail markings, but didn't indicate whether for
>horses, hikers, or mountain bicycles.  The perpetrators of this vandalism
>not only pulled the flagging but tossed it off the trail into the brush.
>All riders did get through, but what a nuisance.  I haven't found a
>fool-proof way to mark trail yet.  The system works for several years and
>then something like this happens.  Fortunately, we had a water stop and
>trot-by just before this stretch of trail, so when the riders came back,
>they were advised that it was the correct route.

We used to have a problem with some areas in Bankhead Forest
(Alabama).  Sometimes they would pull the ribbons from the correct
trail, and tie them for a ways down the wrong trail.

One day when I was out flagging I went back and re-checked a section
I'd put up only a few hours before.  They were gone, and I encountered
a pickup truck with a couple of good ol' boys in it, and a pile of my
ribbons in the back.  I decided to diplomatic and asked them, "Hey
guys, if you see anybody pulling down ribbons from the trees, like
this one in my hand, would you please ask them to leave them alone?
They're for a horse ride next week, and we'll be taking them down
after the ride anyway."  The good ol' boys piped right up "Oh, that
was us, we thought it was somebody marking the way to their hunting
spot."  They left them up after that.

It's a shame that people think they have some kind of right to
sabotage other people's markings on land that doesn't belong to them
(or is public land).

-- 

Joe Long
jlong@xxxxxxxx
http://www.rnbw.com


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