Trail maintenance etiquette

Nice to see - congrats, cooperhill. And thanks, Barkingcat; it is nice to see the work well done.

I think it is largely communication that's the issue. A fellow I used to know who worked for the DEC pro trail crew would often complain that other crews (Adirondack Mountain Club) would do the spring maintenance on trails in his area without his knowledge; then he and his crew would budget time and carry equipment to find the work already done. So all our groups should share our plans and schedules, I would think.

The other communication issue is the small segment of folks who think that ONLY THEY know how to do it "right" and that everyone else shouldn't move a single stick for fear of making some kind of mistake. I see well done and poorly done maintenance all the time here in the Adirondacks, and it seems to me anecdotally that the share of poorly done work is about equal, regardless of whether the group is "Pro" "trained" "official" or whatever. Some areas are just difficult to maintain, due to soil, water, trail route, etc.

WRT clogged waterbars...

I would no sooner walk past a clogged waterbar without clearing the jam than I would a piece of litter without picking it up (except for TP!) and carrying it out. An exception would be if I am doing a very long hike and want to conserve energy. Note that unclogging a waterbar is not the same as cleaning a waterbar thoroughly.

Waterbars can re-clog quickly. Recently I hiked two trails on which spring maintenance--including waterbar cleaning--had been performed. Both had waterbars that had become clogged with the recent rains. So, yeah, I will continue to unclog jammed up waterbars whenever I encounter them and wish more people would do the same!

Stinkyfeet said:

WRT clogged waterbars...

I would no sooner walk past a clogged waterbar without clearing the jam than I would a piece of litter without picking it up (except for TP!) and carrying it out. An exception would be if I am doing a very long hike and want to conserve energy. Note that unclogging a waterbar is not the same as cleaning a waterbar thoroughly.

Waterbars can re-clog quickly. Recently I hiked two trails on which spring maintenance--including waterbar cleaning--had been performed. Both had waterbars that had become clogged with the recent rains. So, yeah, I will continue to unclog jammed up waterbars whenever I encounter them and wish more people would do the same!

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Nice, I feel the same way. Even though I'm not an adopter, having done a lot of these trails so often, I feel a sense of ownership. When I'm ascending and I come across a pool of water 5 inches deep covering the whole trail, I clean the clog and on the descent, the trail is dry, feels good.

sierra said:

Nice, I feel the same way. Even though I'm not an adopter, having done a lot of these trails so often, I feel a sense of ownership. When I'm ascending and I come across a pool of water 5 inches deep covering the whole trail, I clean the clog and on the descent, the trail is dry, feels good.

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That's hard to argue as well. I can't imagine the minimal damage people could do by clearing a water bar could come close to the benefits of getting the water off the trail.

I think people not trained could really mess up brushing, blazing, etc., but kicking out a water bar or pulling a tree off the trail is rarely going to cause more damage than ignoring it will.