<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 10:52 PM, Sean Staplin <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:seanstaplin@gmail.com">seanstaplin@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Travis, I like your take. I am planning on hiking the CDT in the next couple of years and what attracts me to the CDT is the uncertainty and organic nature of the experience it offers. I would much rather follow a compass bearing than look through the woods for another piece of flagging tape.<div>
<br></div><div>Cheers<div><div class="h5"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 10:18 PM, Travis Naibert <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tnaibert@gmail.com" target="_blank">tnaibert@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Though I like the idea of trail maintenance and trail markers in some<br>
locations (such as meadows with no obvious exit point, unmapped<br>
4x4/ATV road intersections, etc.) I would be horrified to hike the CDT<br>
and see neon tape in the trees every 100 yards. I just hiked the trail<br>
last year, so I don't consider myself an old traditionalist, but one<br>
of the great things about the CDT is that it is not the type of trail<br>
that you plug in your ipod/pick a lunch spot exactly X.X miles<br>
away/put your map away/and walk zombielike (well, except for the road<br>
walks). The best part about it is that it is a participatory adventure<br>
involving constant attention to the landscape and to the<br>
maps/guidebooks (shout out to Ley and Wolf, thanks!). And, no offense<br>
to Lynne or anybody else, but if you think that <60 hikers a year<br>
walking through an area following tape is going to create a permanent<br>
trail in the arid rockies you are mistaken. The reason that the trail<br>
is so hard to find in many places, even those that the forest<br>
service/BLM has "maintained", is the low number of hikers that<br>
actually hike the trail. This includes very low numbers of day/weekend<br>
hikers on many parts of the trail. I, for one, consider that part of<br>
the appeal of the CDT and don't mind the bushwacking that may be<br>
required often. If I wanted a well manicured trail that is well<br>
trodden I would repeat my PCT hike, which is packed down by hundreds<br>
of thru-hikers and thousands of day/weekenders, instead of just a few<br>
dozen people a year.<br>
<br>
The other problem with neon tape is that in some places it will<br>
attract the wrong kind of use (ATVs, Dirtbikes, etc.)<br>
<br>
I do really like the wiki idea though. This past year Freebie made a<br>
CDT 2011 facebook page and most of the SOBOs were on it and some NOBOs<br>
too. We all posted trail conditions, water info, town<br>
conditions/restaurant and hotel deals, etc. It was neat to get to town<br>
and see what the people ahead of you were posting. I think this would<br>
be cool on a wikipedia page, as it could get updated year to year.<br>
<br>
I have a "lesser proposal" than Lynne's adopt-a-section. What if the<br>
CDTS sent a half dozen CDT emblems to each hiker who orders a<br>
guidebook or becomes a member and then people could "adopt" one or two<br>
or six difficult and/or unmarked trail junctions while they are hiking<br>
by putting up an emblem. This way the route would organically become<br>
less difficult without having to see neon tape all over the place. I<br>
carry a sharpie when i hike to make notes for other hikers if needed.<br>
It would be useful for writing alternate route junctions on the CDT<br>
markers, too.<br>
<br>
Suspect (2011)<br>
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