Edward Abbey Approved?

[AvidIndoorsman]

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I tend to think that our wilderness areas are becoming increasingly trafficked. Constraining recreators to trails, when possible, is generally a good thing. Saves the tundra, cryptobiotic soil, helps with stream bank erosion, etc. I prefer less, but highly used trails, giving critters more room with less human disturbance.

There are a ton of unauthorized cairns out there and people taking it upon themselves to create unauthorized trails.

There are a lot of people who see crap on social media and want copy cat and be cool.

Net net, I'm worried these kinda posts do more harm than good.

What do you think?

https://winapps.umt.edu/winapps/media2/wilderness/toolboxes/documents/signsposters/FS%20Wilderness%20Sign%20Guidelines.pdf

 

[Irrelevant]

Ole Ed would approve.

I might approve, depends on my mood and the specific carne and location.

But in general I would prefer people just stop building them as opposed to actively tearing them down.

 

[DouglasR]

I kick gappers in their nuts sacks and I kick unauthorized cairns to the ground, bro.

 

[Sytes]

Wilderness - Pack in / pack out... leave it as it was found... etc.

Not a cairn fan, unless for survival then all elements are free as necessary. I believe Covid has opened eyes of many people who never thought to explore the backcountry and suddenly became REI defined experts. Until the trend burns off - I believe it will escalate then hopefully taper off though would be beneficial to see some proactive - do's and don't media released by our budget restricted USFS, etc.

If it's along a trail knock it down. trail is well identified routing as it is. Good on the hiker.

 

[Bambistew]

I pull down flagging when ever I see it as well.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Excessive cairn creation is a thing where you all tread?

 

[Bigjay73]

Damn flat bills and their IPAs, I tell ya

 

[antlerradar]

I pull down flagging when ever I see it as well.

I can not see a need for flagging with today's GPS. I never needed to use it in the past.

 

[DouglasR]

The nice thing about being a jerry/gapper/flat brimmer and not knowing too much about anything is when I see an unauthorized cairn I just assume it’s an authorized one and I just walk past it.

This is why I ask questions like a 10 year old.
Like “is it ok to swim in the streams on the mountain”
There’s just so many little things you can do in the backcountry that aren’t ok and offend people that you wouldn’t know about unless you grew up out there in Disney world.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I can not see a need for flagging with today's GPS. I never needed to use it in the past.

There's a goat herd on quandary... provided a huge portion of CO goat hunting opportunity.

18,000+ people climbed that peak in 2017 according to the summit daily, I imagine more last year.

I could care less about a 50-100 hunters... 18,000 hikers, you could destroy a lot of habitat in a hurry if you don't keep them on the trail.

I've seen both sheep and goats on Grays and Torreys Peaks over the years 20,000-25,000 annual visits.

I dk, mixed feelings hence the post.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

I've seen way too many of these cairns when fishing and it kind of ruins the natural aesthetic of the rivers and creeks. I dont think people should be building more of them but admittedly I did hike a trail this season that wasnt maintained at all and was a little glad someone did build some cairns to mark the trail where it looped.
I would hope people wouldn't kick down the big historic ones...that might hurt.

 

[madtom]

There’s just so many little things you can do in the backcountry that aren’t ok and offend people that you wouldn’t know about unless you grew up out there in Disney world.

Aside from cairns, do you have an example of what isn't ok to do that isn't obvious? I didn't grow up in the west, but I can usually decide if something is ok with common sense.

 

[DouglasR]

Aside from cairns, do you have an example of what isn't ok to do that isn't obvious? I didn't grow up in the west, but I can usually decide if something is ok with common sense.

Swimming in the creek, where to park, can I camp here?

 

[FI460]

When do you get a better chance to play Godzilla? Cairns feel like Ghidorah just showed up when I pass by.

 

[Wildabeest]

My guess is that most of the cairns you see are built by people who have no idea about their traditional use as navigation tools and markers. They’ve seen them when hiking and just think it’s a “cool” thing that you do in the woods. I was at Delicate Arch in Arches NP this summer. It’s less than 100 yds from a paved road. And I counted 20 cairns built along the trail.

 

[TOGIE]

i'm not sure what i think of destroying cairns that you don't know whether they were built by the forest service or not

my gut reaction is that travis has a superiority complex and the post feels douchey. so i agree wllm, in that it doesn't further our cause as hunters

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Aside from cairns, do you have an example of what isn't ok to do that isn't obvious? I didn't grow up in the west, but I can usually decide if something is ok with common sense.

Off leash dogs... complicated

Camping with livestock

The old topgun conundrum.

East coast has just as many, so far dealing with those is my biggest NE hunting hurdle. I appreciate where @DouglasR is coming from.

What do you mean you can't camp in MA... like WTF, literally how do you hunt.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

My guess is that most of the cairns you see are built by people who have no idea about their traditional use as navigation tools and markers. They’ve seen them when hiking and just think it’s a “cool” thing that you do in the woods. I was at Delicate Arch in Arches NP this summer. It’s less than 100 yds from a paved road. And I counted 20 cairns built along the trail.

Yeah Utah; Moab, Arches, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, goblin Valley... great examples of cairns way out of hand.

 

[beginnerhunter]

I said "no" since worried about those of archeological and/or historical significance.

But maybe in addition to the A.S.S. movement, hiking culture needs to confront cairns.

 

[BigHornRam]

Excessive cairn creation is a thing where you all tread?

Must be a Colorado thing. Smoke too much weed, and you start playing with rocks.