What would you do?

[bandana4me]

On Wednesday I took my puppy (he will be 1 this month) for a walk on Mt Willard. Now granted it wasn’t the best of weather, but it is the kind of day I like to test equipment and my abilities in foul weather. You know those beautiful White Mountain days wind 40+ mph, freezing rain, 22 degrees outside......

So here is my question:

At what point during a hike up a small mountain with a well defined, packed down trail do you need the “safety (?)” of marking the trail by breaking and bending living trees? I was amazed that someone thought that they would not find their way back down without marking the trail. Is it worth killing (ok a stretch) trees to mark trails? These were not branches hanging in the trail mind you, they were trail markers.

Personally, if I had to mark a trail I would turn around and head out.

Now my curiosity is what would you do, mark a trail or turn around?

BTW we had a great day on the trail, I enjoy having Wednesday and Thursdays off!!!

 

[marty]

Just my humble opinion: I would never bend or break branches on a tree to mark my way, period. If someone needs to do that, then that person shouldn't be out in those conditions.

Marty

 

[Tom Rankin]

Just my humble opinion: I would never do bend or break branches on a tree to mark my way, period. If someone needs to do that, then that person shouldn't be out in those conditions.

Marty

Abso-freaking-lutely! Am I correct that there are few if any junctions on this trail?

If you have to leave some signs, use bread crumbs, or stones, or dead wood, but breaking living trees is ridiculous. If we all did this, the trails would be 100 feet wide in no time!

 

[rocket21]

Abso-freaking-lutely! Am I correct that there are few if any junctions on this trail?

There is one actual live trail junction on that trail, which is an earshot from 302 and a few feet away from a kiosk. It's a pretty straight forward trail in my opinion.

 

[RoySwkr]

There is one actual live trail junction on that trail, which is an earshot from 302 and a few feet away from a kiosk. It's a pretty straight forward trail in my opinion.

There is a minor second junction near the top at the overgrown side trail to the flume, a lot of people don't even see it

 

[dug]

Being right outside the Highland Center's door, I would bet that would be the cause.

I cannot imagine doing what was done in that area. Around my house, I did that while clearing a trail, but that was on my own land.

 

[evilhanz]

There are some situations where it might be wise to use avalanche wands to mark a route, but not on something as small and well-defined as Willard. You can still see where the old jeep road was rerouted many years ago, but I would think even a novice could tell the difference in winter.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Ever been to the Highland Center for an evening dinner meal? If so ... look around carefully at those people - they're not the typical hiker crowd you'd expect to see at a place like Mr. Pizza in Gorham or even Pinkham Notch. The AMC pitches the Highland Center to a different demographic.

Am not suggesting that the person(s) who marked the trail in such a manner was staying at the Highland Center, but it's quite possible.

A good friend of mine told me of one of her old childhood friends who is so acclimated to city life that green spaces, like lawns, terrify her. Hard to believe. So, somewhere in the spectrum between that person and Neighbor Dave is likely the person who did the twig bending.

 

[sierra]

I stop in the Highland center on occasion for coffea and to use th bathroom( nice facilities) and I agree with kevin R. I rarely see people in there that look like mountain climbers imo, besides when everyone you see is carrieing rental gear thats a dead give away. plus there always seems to foriegn woman in there and I need my dose of culture every now and then.

 

[BobC]

Breaking branches is silly. I'd just use a chainsaw.

But seriously....if you really felt like you had to mark a trail on Mt. Willard (which is pretty pathetic), find some sticks/branches that are already broken off and stick them straight up in the snow or something. Or tie some orange tape to the branches and remove it on the way down. There's gotta be a less destructive way to mark a trail.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Breaking branches is silly. I'd just use a chainsaw.

Another good reason not to leave your pack in the col. It has your chainsaw for trail marking ...

On a more serious note - if this had occurred high in the krumholz it would have been one thing, but down low like it was, chances are it will grow back in 2 or 3 years.

I once saw orange florescent surveyers tape hanging down from branches on the Franconia Brook trail - it's the section of trail that runs about 1/2 mile along the brook, just before the Wilderness trail crosses the bridge. It's the beginning part of the Owls Head 'whack called the Fisherman's trail. In any case - these weren't bits of tape; rather, they were 2 or 3 feet long, dangling down. It was pretty awful, and it was on a trail. But, I guess someone needed it in order to feel safe.

 

[Jasper]

Never on Willard

It just blows my mind that people feel this insecure in the woods that they have to do this.

On second thought, maybe the majority of people are that insecure and inexperienced.