I did a 23 mile run through my local mountains yesterday morning, passing through some campgrounds/popular hiking areas at many points.

First campground I run through, about 7 AM, campers are beginning to stir. Dad is trying to break an 8" thick limb off of an oak tree for the morning fire. Kids are stripping nearby yuccas of all dry material and have uprooted two 8-10' tall trunks, dragging them back to the fire pit.

Later on the trail, I notice someone took it upon themselves to chop down a 30' aspen in the canyon. There it was, laying across the stream, two feet from the stump.

Another trend I'm seeing with greater frequency is to leave bags of dog crap on the trail. Nice. Take the time to clean up after your animal, then leave the bag.

On my way out, in a heavily hiked area, I come across two teenage boys and a girl. One of the boys is carving names into a tree. They said hello as I passed. I said you don't have to ruin the tree. Offended and confused they said they weren't ruining anything. I kept running so I wouldn't be tempted to bludgeon someone with a river rock.

All in all, a beautiful run nonetheless...but one day, when I am King, these morons will pay.

The felled aspen - could this actually have been the work of beaver, by chance? Had the end of the stump been sharpened to a point?

Edited by blister-free on 04/27/2009 22:37:02 MDT.

I really can't understand people who pick up their dog siht and then leave the bag on the trail. I see it a lot too. It makes no sense.

"but one day, when I am King, these morons will pay."

Not to worry, Craig. Over the next generation or two, Mother Nature will do the job for you; So just kick back with a brew or three and enjoy the show. Rest assured, it'll be an Oscar winning performance with a cast of billions.

maybe an easter egg hiding gene mutation?

it does seem odd, to say the least

name carving in trees, while not something i've ever done or am apt to, doesn't seem particularly harmful

i did a cross country route off monitor pass once & came upon a grove of aspens with a lot of names & dates carved in them - some of the dates were from the mid to late 1800s. it was actually kinda cool to think about all those people, long since dead, and their shadows still lingering...

Tom - What planet do you suggest for best viewing?

Basque sheepherders from 1860 are WAY cooler than ill-behaved teens from 2009. But the former were not without their impact on the Sierra.

Either way, I'll continuously appalled by the trash left behind by people while "enjoying" nature, inversely correlated with ease of access. We call it the BCI... beer can index.

"Tom - What planet do you suggest for best viewing?"

Ticketmaster lists box seats on the International Space Lab at $100,000-transportation and libations not included. That would be my personal choice. Bleacher seats on Uranus
are going for $5; Transportation? If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Then there are though who prefer "theatre in the round".... ;}

This message is for Craig Wisner...

I was on facebook and got curious to know if I could find any old friends from Alhambra High...found a few people (Lane, Marc, ThuVan, Bobby, and some others), even though I didn't add any on, thinking they might not remember me, also considering my last name isn't the same anymore. I typed your name and couldn't find it...googled it to see if I wasn't typing it right....and I stumbled onto this site. Ha ha.... Anyways....just wanted to say "hi", and you are probably wondering who the heck I am. :) Not sure if you remember "Lynn"? Anyways...that's all....have a great day. :)

> Not to worry, Craig. Over the next generation or two, Mother Nature will do the job for you;


Aided and abetted by the morons who are not planning food supply and energy supply for a cooler future.