[pct-l] Trail Maintenance and Mechanised Transport

[Fred Walters]

I don't know about US, but in UK it is people walking that keep many paths
clear - not by "trail maintenance" but by just walking the paths knocking
vegetation and keeping it clear.  Allow MTBs on non-wilderness and the
wilderness sections will see a massive drop in hikers and thus need either
loads of trail maintenance or will deteriorate and disappear.  Will the
Mountain Bikers really participate in trail maintenance on large sections
they are not allowed to use ? and will the few remaining hikers really be
committed to maintain sections virtually nobody hikes ?

I remember reading one person's PCT thru' hike journal where they adopted
the principle that each day they must do at least on thing for "trail
maintenance" - be that trivial like removing a large stone that had fallen
on the path or a bit more significant like pulling back a branch fallen
across the path.  From reading other journals I suspect that such attitudes
are widespread.  So when you have 600 thru' hikers and loads of
section/weekend hikers all acting in a responsible manner to help the trail
that must lower the requirement on the more organised trail maintenance
crews.  Reduce those numbers and you increase the workload of organised
trail maintenance, though with fewer hikers interested in the trail, those
volunteers will become harder to find.  So you get into a "death spiral",
more maintenance required, fewer volunteers, deteriorating path meaning
even fewer hikers, even fewer volunteers, faster deterioration of path.
 Because you can be sure MTBers will not spend their precious time
maintaining distant wilderness sections when they could be out wizzing down
some slope somewhere.

Fred