And This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Summer of 2013 found me excitedly exploring Point Reyes National Seashore for the first time. I camped just outside the park in Point Reyes Station and drove most days through the small community of Inverness and their iconic shipwreck, the S.S. Point Reyes.

The S.S. Point Reyes has been stranded on a sandbar in Tomales near town for as long as anybody in town remembers. Photographers and tourists stopped to photograph this very picturesque derelict of a ship.

That is until recently.

Oh folks will still be able to stop and see the wreckage but the wreckage is greater than it used to be because of some unthinking fools who thought a cool picture was worth the risk. Read an article describing what happened here.

Steel Wool Spinning has gained in popularity over the years as a photographic gimmick. Set fire to steel wool and spin it around on a string as sparks fly of in arc - it creates really cool photos that get lots of likes on FaceBook and Instagram.

The problem is, well, those sparks. They spinning is casting off sparks of molten hot steel. They burn when they land on skin. They burn when they land on dried wood, grass and other burnables. They don't just evaporate into thin air. And when they land on something, they don't just disappear.

All too often, photos of spinning steel wool are made in our wild places. Places that are protected, places that are sensitive, places that could burn. And even if the sparks from spinning steel doesn't set off a fire, there is still the matter of the bits of steel left behind. This is basic Leave No Trace Principles - leave a place as you found it.

A friend once posed this question (and this goes towards biologicals too). Ask yourself - would this/these bits of steel wool be here if it wasn't for me? If the answer is no (and generally the answer to this question is no) then it doesn't belong there and you need to pack it out. Period. Little bits of steel left behind are littering and damaging. Even if you can't see them, they're still destructive by adding elements to the land that weren't there to begin with.

But if you find you must spin steel wool for a cool photo, do me a favor. Look around you and imagine this space as your home. Would you spin burning steel wool in your home? Then maybe you shouldn't spin it here either.

At this point the National Park Service is considering removing the S.S. Point Reyes as it's now a safety hazard. And that is sad for photographers, tourists and residents alike.

Breaking in Bonnie

Royal Creek 7/14-7/15/07 7 miles

My friend Bonnie has been listening for years as I regale her with my exploits in the woods. We had been hiking together, but Bonnie was ready for the next step - she wanted to go on an over-night expedition. So I planned a trip to Royal Lake on the Olympic Peninsula. It is 7-mile trip in to the lake - a respectable distance for me and a place I had been eyeing for several months. I also figured Bonnie, who is in good shape would also be able to manage.

On Saturday morning, I picked her up and we made our way to the trailhead. We started off strongly as we head up the Dungeness River, stopping to admire the rushing water as it roared down the valley. We began feeling our packs soon after the junction with the Royal Lake trail. A few rocks next to a sliver of a stream gave us an inviting welcome for a rest and a snack. But our way was becoming slower as the moss under the trees became more dense and covered everything in a thick green carpet.

As we passed 3500' marked with a sign warning campers not to use fires beyond this point (stoves only), I became a little worried that Bonnie might not make it all the way, we still had a bit of a climb to get to the lake. And after we met up with hikers heading back out with the news that wee had probably another 4 miles to go, I made the decision that the next suitable campsite we came across would be our home for the evening. Soon, we found a spot located a little downhill from the trail and not far from the creek as it splashed over rocks and around fallen trees.

Someone previously had used the area, if not as a camp but as a toilet and had left their toilet paper littered behind a tree. I will in a later blog expound on the Leave No Trace principles. I would have loved to give that lecture to whoever left the TP blooms. Bonnie couldn't resist and quickly busied herself burying the mess. As she was doing that, I noticed a fly convention a few yards from our tent. I had to investigate, because I would hate to find out if wee set up camp in an area frequented by bears. But what greeted me was something even more disturbing - an aborted animal fetus.

Before you ask, no, I did not take a picture of it. I just couldn't make myself. For the rest of the trip though, Bonnie and I referred to this little spot as the aborted fetus campsite. Nothing bothered us that night as we laid in the tent reading, and at least for me, it was a restful slumber. Sadly Bonnie was on a slope and kept sliding into the wall of the tent. The next morning, I lounged out by the creek while Bonnie caught up on a little more sleep. But soon it was time to pack up and head back home.

It's amazing how hiking out is generally easier and quicker than hiking in. We were out in almost no time. We didn't make it to our destination, but Bonnie had a good taste of backpacking and is starting to plan her own excursions into the woods.

Trail Etiquette #1

Denny Creek 7/10/07 4 miles

One problem with living so close to an urban area such as Seattle, where the citizens love to be in the outdoors is you run across what Michael & I term as casual hikers. Casual hikers are the folks who wake up on a Saturday, see that the sun is shining bright and decide that a hike might be just what they should do for the day. So with no planning whatsoever, they strike out for that trail a friend told them about for a nice little walk in the woods. It's not that casual hikers a bad, but they can become their own worst enemy when in trouble. Luckily most casual hikers survive their day in the woods and relate their enjoyment to co-workers on Monday.

But casual hikers are also going to be most likely to ignore or be ignorant of hiking ethics - the greatest of which are the Leave No Trace principles. I can go into those in greater detail at a later point. A common courtesy though, which I met up with on this mid-week hike up the Denny Creek drainage, is a question of right of way.

I was told several years ago that hikers, climbers, and other adventurers who are heading uphill have the right of way. Meaning, that if you are heading downhill and another hiker is heading uphill,, then you step aside, stop, and allow the uphill adventurer pass with a wave and a smile. This does not mean you plow right past them thinking they will step off for you. The main reason for this? It takes a lot more effort to regain your pace as you head uphill, where downhill momentum isn't as hard.

So please, next time you are on the trail and someone approaches you as they're heading uphill, do the courteous thing and step off the trail to wave them on. In the meantime, the image above was taken overlooking Keekwuhlee Falls.