Saturday, March 24, 2012

Too far on the do-goodery?

The car door made for a neat and unique trail bridge here.

10 comments:

tinytowers said...

Weak. That was something I looked forward to on the trails. I think I'm riding there today, maybe I'll rebuild it.

Anonymous said...

that is complete and utter bullshit. Is this the high drive friends of the trails group that's sanitizing the trail? I've noticed a lot of the rocks on the trails being moved to make for a smoother walk or ride and it pisses me off. The self-righteous attitude these people have is nauseating.

Jonathan Eberly said...

Aww man that sucks. That door made a sweet bank. I was jealous of those who were able to hit the trails today. It seemed like a great day for it. What shape are the trails in?

Anonymous said...

That does suck. . . I always thought that using trail debris to make trail was sort of a testimate to the history of the land. Especially when it includes things like wrecked cars and structures.

It isn't a wilderness area.

Anonymous said...

I've been riding the bluff for over 17 years. I appreciate the hours these guys and gals put in to keep the bluff from being a dumping groud for old car parts and appliances. I remember how bad Beacon had gotten in the mid-90's and it would probably still be that way without the work of volunteers who took the time clean the trails.

Anonymous said...

Sad day. Like others, I looked forward to hitting that each time. Hopefully the garbage cans at the south end of the trail are still there? Something that is truly unique to Spokane.

John Speare said...

Anon -- I appreciate the effort of the volunteers also. But I think some of the older "junk" down there provides some context of the history of the area and is pretty interesting. And some of that junk is used as trial features and other stuff that's just tucked away (or often arranged) in an interesting way...

That said, I can understand the ethic around hauling it out of there -- after all, it's trash.

But this kind of stuff: where one user group is going into an established trail system and ripping out trail features built by another group is what I object to. That bridge was clearly built into the trail by someone. And the trial/bridge is clearly well-used by cyclists all the time. Why rip it out?

Maybe I'm paranoid, but I guess I see this kind of obtuse disregard as an establishment of trail "ownership" assumed by a group of self-appointed stewards.

Don't get me wrong, I'm down for less junk, thinning out trees, clearing fallen trees, improving trails to reduce erosion... but this area is a hugely valuable cycling resource and the work of other trail users should be respected.

Also -- and I don't know if this is what you are suggesting, but I really don't see the potential for the HD trails to become a trash heap in the way Beacon did/can -- there's just no longer any easy access to the HD trails by car.

In fact, aside from dog crap, the HD trails are about as pristine a trail system I've ever seen given the proximity to town. I saw a cigarette butt down there yesterday and was surprised...that was a first for me.

Anonymous said...

I won't be satisfied until all trails are paved and marked with directional signs every 50 yards.

Just kidding. I think both sides here have good intentions for an increasingly in demand resource. Maybe time for a gathering of the user tribes at that spiral tree to come to an informal understanding.

Faces rather than bloggy facebookery.

Bryan B said...

So is there any formal group that has gotten together that maintains the HD trail system? Kind of like what Beacon has? It seems to me like the lines of communication need to be in place so stuff like that doesn't happen again.

John Speare said...

The org that is picking up this work is directed by WSU extension. It's called "Friends of the Bluff" -- and I'm on their mailing list. You can search them on Facebook to get involved.