[pct-l] Why California’s Trails Are Disappearing From Our Maps

[Jeffrey Olson]

A couple years ago someone recommended the Theodore Solomons Trail as a 
lower elevation bypass of the John Muir Trail.  There is even a 1987 
trail guide to this path in what is called "The Middle Sierra" written 
by Dennis Gagnon.

I hiked a part of the trail in 2010 near the Middle Fork of the SAn 
Joaquin River and it was only faintly there. It was overgrown with 
poison oak and brush, or simply absorbed back into the forest.  I would 
say that less than 5% of the trail is visible, and I got good at 
guessing where it "would/should" go.

I have a 1962 edition of the Starr's Guide to the JMT, and there are 
many trails listed not on any current maps.  There's an ongoing 
discussion of lost trails in and around Yosemite Valley and the Park on 
a local forum (http://yosemitenews.info/forum/list.php?3).

This disappearance of trails is one of the consequences in the 30 year 
shift in tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to the middle 
class.  I remember hiking in the 50s with my family in northern 
California and meeting trail crews contracted by the forest service.  
They are long gone for the most part...

Jeffrey Olson
Rapid City, SD