[pct-l] Poor ol' Kearsarge....

[Birgitte Jensen <bjensen4@juno.com>]

><< > Some National Forest areas, like the Kearsarge Pass trail, 
>So much for the wilderness experience!  I think I'd rather see a few 
>bear boxes, then have all the trees litered with posters.

   Sly, the Kearsarge Pass Trail is so heavily-travelled (people jog up
it in street clothes, tourists wander up a few miles just for the
heckofit, and it's reputed to be the "easiest" eastside entrypoint) - and
"heavily-travelled" is almost synonymous with "trashed" nowadays, sigh -
that nobody savvy expects a Wilderness Experience there anymore. They
just get an early start and put the whole place behind them on the way to
someplace more wildernessy. Too bad, because it's such lovely scenery,
but I guess that's part of the problem. Everybody/his brother wants
gorgeous alpine vistas and lakes, high-elevation parking (toilets and
running water, too), paved-road proximity to a town (Independence & Lone
Pine), and gently-graded low-milage hiking on well-maintained trail next
to a creek or lake. The Kearsarge Pass Trail fits the bill to a T - to
its ruination. It's a b*tch to get a same-day permit during quota season,
too.
    Slightly farther north and south are the Sawmill and the Shepard Pass
Trails. Perfectly-good trails (but not as perfectly-groomed), quite safe
(but steeper/rockier), much less water, no elaborate camping area at the
(much lower elevation) TH, which means hikes of 5-6,000'+ gain to the
passes, &  dirt roads to the TH. You gotta be responsible with your food
_everywhere_ in the Sierra, but on those two trails there is no need for
special restrictions, and it's easy to get a same-day permit for them
almost any time. Needless to say, the scenery isn't to be sneezed at
either...
    I beg everybody's pardon for stating the obvious: if one insists on
taking the (cushiest) Route Most Travelled, you one can't insist on
having the same "wilderness experience" somebody else gets by working a
little harder....
     BTW, the flyers aren't a substitute for bear boxes. They're a
desperate last-ditch plea by the land managers for people to use the
(required) bear canisters if they insist on camping along the short
distance to the pass. Yes,  that (and other LNT info,  is "available" in
every RS and on the internet, etc, but oddly, folks just don't seem to
"notice" or something, since they continue to trash the place and feed
the bears.....     bj

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