The Unholy Trinity

I'm going to preface my remarks by saying I hike.  I'm fortunate to work really close to a great trail system (SoMo) that allows me to sneak out for an hour to clear my head and get some exercise in.  It's not a bike ride but it might be the next best thing.  Typically, there are three things that set me free:

• People that trailblaze
• People that drag their trekking poles
• People that use motorized transport on the trails

I feel like I am being an elitist and that isn't what I'm attempting to do here.  All three are bad for the trails.  To put things into context, this week is Thanksgiving week which means that there are a ton of tourists and people that just simply don't know better here in town on the trails. 

As I'm hiking today, I come upon a group of people including small children up on a ridge that has no trail leading to it.  I'm sure that the intent was to get a view to show off to the kids and to snap some selfies.  Great.  There are two issues I have with the trailblazers.  A.)  Our desert is composed of cryptogamic soil, also referred to as biological crust soil.  You see, here in Arizona, our soil is a living, breathing thing.  When you cross cut off the trail, you're killing our soil.  If you walk on it, it takes GENERATIONS for the soil to recover.  The second thing that gets to me about these knuckleheads is that,  on a daily basis, we have people that have to be rescued for doing the very thing they were engaged in.

Trekking poles on their own don't drive me nuts but there are those that drag the poles across the dirt creating a mini trench.  I'm sorry, but if you're walking across a flat surface, do you really need the support that a trekking pole is going to give you?  Answer is "NO".  Pick the damn things up!!!

Idiot number three is the guy I run into on an Ebike.  I think I might get some flak for my opinion here but the right for mtb'ers to use the trail has been hard fought over.  The concern that I have is that if Ebikes access the trails, how long until all mountain bikers are kicked off.  The concern is that, through the misinterpretation of the Wilderness Act, mountain bikers are already being kicked off of trails, since the Act interprets mountain bikers to be using "mechanized" transport, which the Act prohibits.  If Ebikes are allowed, how long until you have guys riding dirt bikes tearing the trails up and we all get kicked off.

I probably need to adjust my tampon and have a beer.  Rarely am I pissed off after being outside but today kinda tweaked me.  Sorry about the rant.