Nice Trail News

Anybody who spends any time someplace once called "off the beaten path" realizes just how beaten most backcountry paths have become.  The last 10+ years have seen a dramatic and appalling increase in renegade ATV trails.  Some of the most egregious of such trails are those made by bubble brained bubba boyz whose claim to fame is "high marking."  They are proud to say their machine can go higher and steeper than anyone else's machine.  It's actually a variation of the age-old male "size thing" except it is played out on your public lands.  At least the snowmobile people who engage in High Marking leave no trace of their frivolous so-called sport.  Those who practice this arcane activity in the Sonoran Desert create nasty natural resource damage what can last a lifetime or longer. 

And so it is that we read with great interest an article by one of our Journalism Faves, none other than Joanna Dodder Nellans, in the Prescott's "Daily Courier" newspaper.  There's a major trail on what we Verde Valley people call "the back side of Mingus" that's known as the Great Western Trail.  It's quite a famous trail, actually.  (Click here for the Wiki on the GWT.)

Naturally, there's a vicious High Marking spot along the GWT back behind Mingus.  No doubt this spot would have become ever more damaged if not for a rescue/intervention effort by some thoughtful and caring motorized recreationists.  Back in early October, a group of about 20 off road enthusiasts teamed up with some help from one of Smokey's Gang (AKA:  the USDA Forest Service) and installed water bars, moved boulders and otherwise did whatever they could to heal the destruction wrought by the High Markers. 

We love these kinds of stories.  The key "between-the-lines" factoid here is that it was the motor heads themselves who sought out the Forest Service to do the project.  Smokey's Gang wisely took them up on their offer.  It's interesting to note that Smokey's Gang wasn't looking for volunteers to help heal this spot--it was the motor heads themselves who got the ball rolling.  The Forest Service is usually more than willing to stand around wringing its collective hands about off road damage.  However, Smokey is typically long on talk and short on action when it comes to dealing with the often disastrous affects of unchecked off road abuse.

We sure hope more off-road people step forward to mitigate the destruction of the bad actors in their crowd.
This story represents a very positive development.  Thanks, Joanna, for your time and professional effort in featuring this vignette.  And, thanks, of course, to those 20 some people who made this nice trail news happen!

Click here for Joanna's story as it appears in The Courier.  If and when that links fails to work, you can click here for a copy we printed to PDF and archived in our Google Docs.