[pct-l] Stuck on Stupid off-road incusions et al

[matt at mattmaxon.com (matt maxon)]

Wayne
"Any idiot could plainly see that the road was impassable "

But you missed the most important fact these guys where not just ANY idiots,
these where 1st class sub-morons, of the gorilla class, though not Darwin
Award winners (yet) they certainly do deserve an honorable mention.

But in all seriousness. If people want to get involved in stopping these
off-road incursions, you need to document the encounter with photographs, it
is best with photos of the license plates, vehicles, and people, or a
written description but the vehicle license is the key. and as they say in
real estate, Location, Location, Location

You'll have to be persistent with the authorities, some being more
interested in pursuing the offenders than others but it's a start.

The fines are minimal though and not much of a deterrent. I would like to
see the offenders pay for the damage to the trail and facilities and
prosecuted for vandalism. If I rode my motorcycle up on the State Capital
grounds and did doughnuts on the lawn and crashed through the flower beds
I'd be arrested and prosecuted and made to pay for the damage, I don't see
the difference.

Some simple language in some federal legislation would help in identifying
these people by requiring vehicles on federal lands to have a clearly
visible registration number on it front and rear with very stiff fines for
not complying $5000 or some such thing. Bicycles are considered vehicles and
as such would also have to be registered.

Prosicuting for the damage would far exceed any fine as tearing up a mile or
two of trail would cost many thousands to repair

Cheers
Trail90


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Kraft" <wayneskraft@comcast.net>
To: "PCT List" <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 7:04 PM
Subject: [pct-l] Stuck on Stupid


> Many years ago I drove up to what is now a large parking area next to
> the PCT where it crosses US Hwy 26 near Wapinitia Pass just south of
> Mt. Hood.  My objective was to cross country ski up the road to Frog
> Lake Butte which started at the parking lot.  There was at least
> eight feet of snow on the road and piles and piles of fresh powder.
> I could see right off that breaking trail was going to be a chore.
> There were three families in four-wheel-drive rigs in the parking
> lot.  I said "Howdy" as I passed by. I figured they were just having
> themselves a little rest stop.  A few hours later I returned from my
> sojourn on the Butte and as I reached the parking lot I noticed quite
> a bit of noisy activity.  I paused in the shadows to survey what it
> was that I was about to ski through and this is what I saw:  All
> three of these experienced outdoorsmen had decided to drive up the
> road to Frog Lake Buttes.  They had advanced no more than 50 yards
> when all three of their vehicles mired to the axles in soft snow with
> nothing beneath them for traction but more soft snow.  Cable was
> strung everywhere from their attempts to winch themselves out of this
> quagmire. It was clear even to an untrained observer that the group
> had failed to include among its number anyone with a degree in
> engineering.   Bark was stripped off a couple of fir trees and,
> through doubtless prodigious effort, a cable had been strung up and
> over a high branch on one of the trees.  Despite considering the
> situation from every possible angle I could not discern by what
> thought process these woodsmen had concluded that it would improve
> things if they could somehow winch a Jeep CJ-5 up into a fir tree,
> but that appeared to be the plan.  (If any of you have seen the movie
> "The Gods Must Be Crazy" you will have an appropriate image in
> mind.)  The male members of the party were covered in snow up to
> their tonsils and had obviously been learning all about post-holing.
> The kids had commenced to bawling their fool heads off.  The women
> folk were huddled off to one side discussing who would use which
> divorce lawyer, reviewing the finer points of getting restraining
> orders, plotting how to protect their interest in the community
> property double-wide and the like.  The dogs had swum out to the
> plowed parking lot and were pretending they didn't know the homo
> sapiens stuck in the snow.
>
> I considered my options and decided on a course of action.  I let
> loose a whoop and skied straight down the fall line.  When I got
> close I veered off into the trees and commenced skiing big
> looptyloops around their rigs, ducking under their cables and acting
> for all the world like a happy little otter.  I pulled to a stop in
> the midst of the chaos and, with a wide grin, I remarked, "Man, what
> a beautiful day! The snow just gets deeper and better the farther you
> go up the road! You guys are just gonna LOOOOVE the view from the
> top!  But you better quit fooling around down here and get a move on
> 'cause it'll be dark and freezin' cold 'fore much longer." Then I
> skied off to my car.
>
> Now, so far as I know there was no law at that time prohibiting these
> gentlemen from driving up the Frog Lakes Butte Road except, of
> course, the laws of physics.  Any idiot could plainly see that the
> road was impassable and, even if you were tempted to give it a go
> anyway, only a flock of itinerant morons would precipitously commit
> all three vehicles to the enterprise at once.  My point is that
> ultimately there is really nothing you can do to stop stupid people
> from abusing the PCT.  You can't stop them with signs because they
> will misread and/or misunderstand them, assuming that reading is a
> skill they've mastered to any degree at all. Most of them are easily
> distracted and I would guess that posting signs at trail heads with
> arrows pointed in some direction other than the PCT and bearing the
> words "Nudist Camp" would greatly reduce the problem.  Ultimately
> though, your hard core, illiterate, scoff-law moron will learn only
> by associating his or her misbehavior with a viscerally nasty
> experience.  It is in the administration of such lessons, carefully
> calculated to stop short of death or serious physical injury, to
> which our creative energy ought to be directed. By way of
> illustration, recall the situation Bill Bryson recounted in his book
> "A Walk in the Woods" in which Bryson and his friend, Katz, were
> literally forced out of a shelter on a stormy night by a group of
> obnoxious morons.  As they walked away from the shelter, Katz proudly
> displayed the laces he had surreptitiously purloined from the boots
> of the bull goose moron of the group.  Yes, that's the sort of thing
> I mean.
>
> Wayne Kraft
>
>
>
>
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