mooning the cog train on Washington

[markv]

Apparently police have been fining hikers. I don't know if anyone here participates in the mooning tradition, but i thought you might care to be warned, since it seems the police didn't bother to warn anyone.

Here are the threads i read about this:

http://www.trailforums.com/index2.cfm?action=detail&PostNum=23125&Thread=1&roomID=7&entryID=80529

http://www.trailforums.com/index2.cfm?action=detail&PostNum=23012&Thread=1&roomID=7&entryID=80347

happy hiking!

 

[dr_wu002]

Has it become such a problem that they have police officers riding on every Cog excursion now? I heard once that somebody shot at one of the mooners from the Cog but nothing about tickets being issued. I wonder if it was actually a police officer that shot at the mooner.

It seems that, to be apprehended, these people must've been standing like, right near the tracks or maybe even on the tracks. I can't see a chase happening on the rocks out there.

-Dr. Wu

 

[swamp]

I agree with Wu. I'm comforted by the fact that crime is now so rare in the North Woods that the police require excursion train trips to justify their employment.

 

[dvbl]

Apparently police have been fining hikers. I don't know if anyone here participates in the mooning tradition, but i thought you might care to be warned, since it seems the police didn't bother to warn anyone...

Excellent.

 

[dr_wu002]

I agree with Wu. I'm comforted by the fact that crime is now so rare in the North Woods that the police require excursion train trips to justify their employment.

I'm no police officer so I wonder if I'm using the correct technical terms: I wonder if they are sending out 'decoy' Cog Trains which look like the normal Cog but are in fact high-tech S.W.A.T Cars. They could have sophisticated surveillance equipment that would relay information to police officers hidden in strategically placed bunkers set near trails and along the train tracks. Just a thought.

-Dr. Wu

 

[giggy]

wouldn't it be the forest service? not the police?

personally, I would rather see more time catching someone that matters - like the dirtbags breaking into cars at trailheads. I can take a bare arse on my hike more than a smashed windown on return. and if they got the time to ride the cog up and down - they got the time to stake out trailheads.

this won't stop the folks carrying on the mooning tradition

refuse, resist and moon on

 

[McRat]

Let's say a hundred or more people were to 'mass moon' the Cog as a protest... wouldn't that be protected speech?

I can even hear the rallying cry - "they can have my buttocks when they pry them from my cold dead fingers!" Ummm... maybe that slogan needs more work...

 

[dr_wu002]

wouldn't it be the forest service? not the police?

personally, I would rather see more time catching someone that matters - like the dirtbags breaking into cars at trailheads. I can take a bare arse on my hike more than a smashed windown on return. and if they got the time to ride the cog up and down - they got the time to stake out trailheads.

this won't stop the folks carrying on the mooning tradition

refuse, resist and moon on

Well, a lot of people might not agree with you on this one. I see this as more morality and decency vs. worldly possessions. Many people will see the former as being very important while the later are just things that insurance will cover and you can buy at the store. You can't buy morality at the store and decency comes at a price, hence the increased police presence on the Cogs.

-Dr. Wu

 

[onestep]

I think the people of the cog should unite and moon the mooners!

Actually, maybe if this catches on then the cog people will ride naked on naked hiking day...

hummmmmm, better scrap this idea.

 

[vegematic]

...personally, I would rather see more time catching someone that matters - like the dirtbags breaking into cars at trailheads. I can take a bare arse on my hike more than a smashed windown on return. and if they got the time to ride the cog up and down - they got the time to stake out trailheads...

The solution is obvious. We need to start mooning those high-risk trailheads.
-vegematic

 

[MikePS]

BTW, great photo at the AT Cafe in Millinocket of a cog mooning- don't tell the cops Thanks to those civil disobedients for their work !

 

[SherpaKroto]

Well, I first mooned the cog with my Uncle when I was 11 (or 12?). Last mooned it on an aborted Presi Traverse in '05 in rainy, cold conditions (as some of you who were there are trying to forget ) I can't seem to walk by without doing it. It's a pretty high price to pay though, so I might have to re-think that, should I ever get there again

Wait, isn't NH's motto "Live Free or Die"?

 

[dr_wu002]

It's a pretty high price to pay though, so I might have to re-think that, should I ever get there again

$125 isn't that expensive for something that you truly believe in. Imagine hearing this kind of talk when they signed the Declaration of Independence.

Wait, isn't NH's motto "Live Free or Die"?

Maybe that's why they shot at my friend when he did it.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Kevin Rooney]

The solution is obvious. We need to start mooning those high-risk trailheads.
-vegematic

I think you're on to something here ...

 

[yardsale]

Alternatives to mooning

Well, if mooning is a problem we could implement an *educational action* i've been contemplating over the years. First we subtly gather up bagsfull of the coke dust littering down wind of the cog. Then gather at some appointed time on the up-wind side of the cog, nice and close, wave nice to get everyone's attention.... well you can fill in the rest.

 

[SherpaKroto]

$125 isn't that expensive for something that you truly believe in. Imagine hearing this kind of talk when they signed the Declaration of Independence.-Dr. Wu

Well, I think that comparing mooning the cog to signing the Declaration a bit of a stretch. I put it more in line with going a mile over the speed limit. $125 would be excessive in that case.

As to mooning the cog: it's just something I've always done. It's an opportunity to be a kid again.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Maybe that's why they shot at my friend when he did it.

-Dr. Wu

Frank - are you really certain someone shot at your friend? Your posts are so prone to embellishment I sometimes find it hard to determine where the facts end and flights of fancy begin.

Firing a weapon at someone is a serious event. If it had happened, you'd expect it would have been reported in the newspapers.

Would you mind sharing some facts, like Who, Where, What and When? (We know the Why...)

 

[dr_wu002]

Frank - are you really certain someone shot at your friend? Your posts are so prone to embellishment I sometimes find it hard to determine where the facts end and flights of fancy begin.

Firing a weapon at someone is a serious event. If it had happened, you'd expect it would have been reported in the newspapers.

Would you mind sharing some facts, like Who, Where, What and When? (We know the Why...)

I guess it could have been a camera; I have a tendency to get overly excited about things.

In terms of facts vs. fantasy, if anyone could help me with that I'd appreciate it.

-Dr. Wu

 

[Orsonab]

When you look around the summit during the summer you start to realise that there are some very full moons out there ...

Perhaps it's best that they stay hidden....

 

[trailbiscuit]

I have a friend who heard about such fines shortly before he passed by the Cog the other day. Since he's a semi-professional hiker, he doesn't really have the extra $125 kicking around, so he refrained from mooning the choo choo. He was pretty bummed about it because he been looking forward to it. He trudged on not feeling that great about the day. Then it donned on him as he headed up Mt. Clay. He hadn't mooned the Cog, so the world just wasn't right. So, from the summit of Clay he mooned the Cog. From that point on, he said he had one of the best hikes of his life. So, maybe we're all supposed to moon the Cog.