Please don't vandalize trail signs

imported
#1

Once again I see that someone in this years crop of through hikers has taken it upon themselves to sharpie -up our trail signs.

This happens every year, and it gets tiresome.

Here’s a hint to the sharpie dude: If someone as dim as you can find the way, then the people who come behind you will find the way too. Got that? The arrows and “PCT’s” aren’t helpful - they are vandalism.

And yes, if someone has made it all the way to Stevens Pass and STILL doesn’t know that Trail 2000 is the PCT, they should leave the trail NOW.

Daniel Smith

#2

I haven’t been on that trail in 2 decades, so I don’t know exactly what was done, but it is kinda comical that trail signs are more likely to be where the trail is obvious & confusing junctions are more likely to be unsigned, at least in my experience. One part of the CDt had about a dozen trail signs on a fence where trail was ridiculously obvious, but nothing at a junctions where I often ended up backtracking for hundreds of yards…also, it was sometimes very well signed for southbounders, but bupkis in the other direction. I very often left a cairn or rock arrow for the folks behind, because thru hikers just ain’t got the time to try various directions: & yes, it can be life or death when you are down to your last crumbs of food ! I got nothing bad to say about any other trail maintainers; but it’s just ironic or weird how often the junctions are the most unmarked parts of trail (here & in other parts of the world too).

gingerbreadman

#3

I think it’s more often the case that a trail junction features a sign unrelated to the PCT, or CDT, AT etc. And sometimes the sign predates the designation of the NST in that area, so doesn’t make explicit reference to it and, for whatever reason, the trail organization hasn’t gotten around to (or been able to) replace or modify the sign in an official capacity. I don’t know that there’s much of this sort of thing still going on in PCT land, and it’s no excuse for Dudley-do-right to go marking up trail signs in permanent ink (or carvings), but I think it might explain some of the motivation l-d hikers sometimes feel for leaving a breadcrumb in their wake.

blisterfree

#4

I understand the motivation, I just wish they would stop. Like I said, if you’ve made it into northern Washington, and STILL don’t know that “Trail 2000” is the PCT - you need to pack up and go home.

And, I understand the urgency and the need for speed in through hikers, but that’s no excuse to mark up what are, in many cases, historic trail signs. I’ve been looking at these signs my whole life, watching them slowly age and weather - then one day “PCT” and directional arrows are scrawled on them. WTF???

Long after the through hikers adventure is over the locals will still be hiking the trails, admiring the handy-work of these “helpful” hikers.

Daniel Smith

#5

Speaking from experience, there must be a thousand ways a thru-hike can make a person temporarily insane (all while having the time of their lives). The worst fetishes are the ones that negatively impact other trail users. But you’ll rarely reach into their hearts and minds with they’re in the throes of their madness. Better to reach next season’s hikers before they too go rogue. Perhaps the PCT thru-hiker permit could be used to convey the rules of the road, with pointed examples from previous years of which behaviors not to emulate.

blisterfree

#6

Daniel,
While I agree overall with not marking up signs you are making a huge leap that it is thru hikers that are marking or needing the help after walking all that distance. For every thru hiker there are likely 10 section hikers and a hundred weekend or a thousand day hikers. I could certainly see where some less experienced hikers would think that other need help. You see this all the time in high traffic areas of yosemite. Folks will duck a trail where anyone with half a brain could easily follow it.

Gg-man

#7

Hey Daniel, go -bleep- yourself. you don’t know who did it so don’t come here pointing fingers. Thru’s are the last of your worries. go find a weekender who is cooking up a fire, burning their trash, craping in campsites, loggers cutting down old growth, drunks unloading their beer cans, snowboarders who have gallons of toxic waste used to manicure their runs, snowmobilers who empty their crapy lubricants on fresh ground, and all the other crapy things that destroy our wilderness. Go BLEEP Yourself and get a life because most thru’s practice a high level of wilderness ethics of LNT.

hellkat

#8

Weirdly, the only place this is EVER done is along the PCT. Believe me, I’ve hiked thousands of miles of trail in Washington and a) this is a relatively new phenomenon and b) it only occurs along the PCT.

So, sure, their might be something mystical or odd about the PCT that screws with the minds of day hikers and makes them scribble stuff on the “Trail 2000” signs, but I doubt it. More likely it’s slightly demented through hikers, or maybe some foaming at the mouth retard like hellkat. Hard to say definitively - it really could be either.

Daniel Smith

#9

The only thing mystical or odd is your logic. Once again, don’t go pointing your finger at PCT Thru’s without any evidence or proof. If you ever find someone marking a sign then let us know, we will take care of our kind. These are some of the best stewards of the wilderness and your jealousy only shows your contempt for others who have achieved what you can only dream of.

hellkat

#10

What’s the issue here anyway? The whole point in a sign is to indicate the direction to follow - if the sign isn’t clear enough to follow without additional markings, it ain’t doing a good enough job! If the trail is easy enough to follow in the first place, it begs the question as to why there’s a sign at all…

I don’t have any problem with added helpful information - in fact, I can think of plenty of occasions where it was very useful out on the AT. What annoys me is when people “tag” things with their signature. I don’t want to see your stupid name everywhere I go!

Lighthouse