[pct-l] Problems on the PCT

[Sir Mixalot]

I have no more problem with horse feces on the trail than I do leaves.  As
a trail maintainer, you may realize that inorganic soil is preferred over
organics.  Too bad horses don't crap sand.

Now when that feces is where I want to camp, I get upset.

As to water contamination, other animal feces is in there too.  Some people
think getting water from melting snow is safe, but they may not realize
rodents live under that snow.

Yeah, we can gripe that some packers may not do their fair share to support
the trail, but how many hikers pull their fair share?

It's unfortunately when cows roam over the trail, but that's a compromise
to get the PCT to be continuous.  Keep the PCTA donations going, and maybe
that land can be purchased and have cow access restricted.

Fires are a big problem.  The damage they incur is beyond that which plant
growth, the forest service and trail crews can keep pace with.  Fortunately
horses and cows aren't starting fires too. ;p

On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 5:31 PM, Boris Trgovcich <btrgovcich at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Dear PCT hikers,
>
> I spent the last 50 days hiking a 1000-mile section from Kennedy Meadows
> to Ashland (got off on Sept. 24, 2012)  and, as would be expected, it was a
> great experience.  Indescribable scenery, great weather, nice people and no
> bugs.  However, about 400 miles of the trail was a really" crappy"
> experience.  I am writing here to find out if others have noticed what I
> have and if anyone tried to do something about it.  Here are my three big
> concerns:
>
> 1.  JMT was awesome, some of the most spectacular scenery I've seen.
> Unfortunately instead of fresh mountain air all I smelled for about two
> hundred miles was fresh horse manure.  I have nothing against horses on the
> trail, and on the remaining 1500 miles that I hiked so far, it has not been
> a problem any more than feces from wild animals.  However, JMT is heavily
> used by packers during the peak season and horse manure is constantly
> there.  During the afternoon thunderstorms it is generally flushed down the
> trail into the meadows, lakes and streams (our drinking water) but within a
> day or two, fresh piles are everywhere again.  I brought this up with a
> ranger (on a horseback) at the Yosemite NP but he was extremely defensive
> and actually claimed that all that horse manure does not end up in the
> streams and lakes.  I have plenty of photos proving otherwise.  The cowboy
> behind him chimed in telling me that horse manure is not a public health
>  problem because their horses eat "clean food." So, I guess if we all wash
> our food thoroughly we can also just "go" anywhere on the trail.  I am not
> prepared to argue if there are any potential health issues (I was mostly
> bothered by the constant smell of manure) but there must be a reason why NF
> and NP regulations require stock animals to be kept 200 feet from water.
> Again, nothing against the horses on the trail but there is a simple
> solution for heavily used areas like JMT (mostly by commercial packers).
> Ever seen any horse manure on the streets of major cities where horses are
> used by either police or commercial operations? There must be a reason why
> those horses are required to wear "diapers."
>
>
> 2. Going through the Trinity, Russian and Marblewilderness areas there
> were typically plenty of great springs and streams to drink from, except
> that about 90% of it is contaminated by cow manure.  Cows with their bells
> ringing were roaming free in all three designated wilderness areas and
> trampling meadows (including a few patches of pitcher plants) and
> destroying the trail. I have a picture of water running from a nice spring
> and across the trail (where one would normally fill up a water bottle),
> except that about 50 feet above the trail the water runs through a cow
> patty tunnel.  Again, signs at the entrance to these areas say to keep
> horses away from water, but cows apparently get a free pass.
>
> 3.  About 160 miles of trail was closed in the Northern California due to
> four fires.  I would not normally have a problem with that except that only
> about 25-30 miles of trail was actually affected by the fire and the trails
> were still closed weeks after the fires were 100% contained, fire crews
> were gone and and the trails were cleared of obstructions.  In McCloud fire
> zero inches of trail was affected.  When I arrived to Belden (Chips fire)
> two-foot green shoots have already sprouted from the burned vegetation.
> About 8 miles of trail south of Hwy 70 (not affected by the fire) was still
> closed.  At the Chester ranger station, just 7 miles from the trail head,
> the FS people were telling me that the trail was closed north of Hwy 36 and
> through Lassen NP (only about 10 miles of trail in the North part of Lassen
> NP was actually closed and people were camping two miles north of Hwy 36 in
> camping trailers right next to PCT).
>
> Last year 14 miles of Deep Creek trail (one of the most beautiful sections
> in S. California) was closed (and was still  officially closed early this
> year) due to "land slide and a damaged bridge").  The bridge over a dry
> creek had some minimal damage to one of the handrails and locals were going
> by the dozens every day across the "dangerous" landslide to the hot
> springs. Have you seen pictures of the 2011 class wading through raging
> whitewater rivers knee deep (and sometimes waist- deep) or crossing those
> streams over slippery logs?  I would say that was much more dangerous than
> a slightly damaged hand rail across a dry creek and yet the trail was not
> closed due to safety reasons.
>
> If you have these concerns as  I do, please write to the administrators of
> these National Forests (or the USDA) and DEMAND explanations AND copies of
> policies and regulations that allow cows to roam free and crap in OUR
> drinking water in designated wilderness areas.
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