mooning the cog train on Washington

jrichard said:

I sympathize with environmental principles of some of the mooners

Click to expand...

I appologize at the outset for putting this out of context. But, this has to be one of the funniest things I have ever read.

Paradox said:

I appologize at the outset for putting this out of context. But, this has to be one of the funniest things I have ever read.

Click to expand...

Heh... I guess that the last sentence was a bit too subtle, no comments yet.

jrichard: not missed, but some puns are best left hanging out there in the breeze

I like the cog. It's been in my life since I was a small child. I would look in amazement up at the Rockpile seeing the smoke billowing (hey, what do I know, I grew up in Berlin! ). I also moon the cog because it makes me feel free: above the clouds, laughing, feeling alive. No political statement. Just childish fun - no political statement. I think that my uncle felt the same way. That's all.

Live free or die.

A very close friend of mine, whom I nonetheless admire, found it amusing to moon the traffic while crossing the Mass Pike on the AT out in the Berkshires. I did not share in her ceremony for reasons well expressed by sierra and forestgnome. There are a lot more ways to have fun.

There are also better ways to express opinions about either the Cog, which I happen to like for what it symbolizes as a transportation tool and the joy it gives many who cannot ascend on foot, or the Mass Pike, which I happen to feel is a great convenience but, as part of the interstate highway system, a colossal environmental and land use failure. Expressions about either in the manner described are futile.

You have to admit, though, every time "mooning the cog" comes up, it sets records for hits and posts ... is there something anal retentive going on here

I know there are many who hate the COG and it sure does make its presense known. That being said, its tucked away such that the impact is minimal if you ask me. Although I lived at the base of PIkes Peak (CO) which also has a train to the summit, that train is electric I believe, very quite and not a puff of smoke, I would definetly like to see those style of trains on the Rockpile, maybe that would be a compromise.

SkierSteve said:

The Cog railway is an abomination.

Click to expand...

The only difference between the Cog Railway and a hiking trail is one of quantity, not quality.

I'm reminded of an old George Carlin joke. Why is it that people who drive slower than me are inconsiderate idiots and people who drive faster than me are reckless jerks?

David Foreman wrote a great article in Backpacker many years ago advocating that wilderness areas be left unmapped. He argued that the only way to experience wilderness was entirely on its own terms. Taking the argument to it's end, maps are abominations too (if you drive the same speed as David Foreman).

I look at the Cog Railway in much the same way that I view old stone walls in the middle of the forest. It's a living reminder that what we consider to be wilderness (small 'w') and the land that is designated as a Wilderness Area (big 'W') were once neither.

In terms of filth and dirtiness when in the Whites, I'm much more concerned about the smog that I breath in (cars and power plants) and abandoned toilet paper roses (idjits).

I do not think that mooning the Cog (or most anything else) is such an offense that the mooner should be classified as a sexual preditor and put on "Megan's List". However, I believe most mooners are looking for the moon-ees to be offended and to have some sort of negative reaction otherwise they would not even consider the act. Public nudity and waving one's privates is considered a crime and I believe $125.00 is a pretty fair assessment (pun intended) of the offense.

Gee... if enough mooners are caught in the act, we might not have to pay the WMNF parking fee.

Opinions

I just caught up with this thread and all I can think of is the old adage:

"Opinions are like asses. Everyone's got one, and they all stink!"

KDT

i guess once winter hits the passengers on the cog will be singing
"blue moon"........

Part of my last post must be revised upon reading this thread. Sorry, Giggy! I labelled those who moon the cog, but it's just the act that I find, yes, offensive.

I'm sure most who moon the cog are otherwise civilized. But this act is not. If you are mooning your teenage boys, your fellow hikers, or fellow travellers, it is meant as amusement between freinds, and therefore not offensive. However, to moon the strangers, who have not wronged you, is offensive because that is the intent of the act.

By the own words of cog-mooning sympathizers/advocates here, the intent is "I hate the cog", or the riders or owners. The riders are offended because it is the same as a middle finger salute to them.

I would gladly share my post-hike ale and chocolate with a mooner, just don't expect a high-five upon the retelling of the mooning of the cog.

But as I said earlier, isn't there some tension b/w hikers and the cog owners? I've read here that it had to do with a lack of revenues to the cog, but I now wonder. Why would the cog owners extend any courtesy to those who disrespect the customers?

forestgnome said:

Why would the cog owners extend any courtesy to those who disrespect the customers?

Click to expand...

Indeed, but it's possible that the answer is that they see the differentiation between those who park and those who moon, and that they decide not to broad-brush the whole group for the (perceived) offenses of a subset.

I agree with you fg that it is an inherently disrespectful act (by definition). I would add a guess that, in order to be interpreted as intended, however, a sense of humor or perspective (not taking things too personally) is required.

I can see circumstances in which I would be offended as a rider, but I think I would probably ask for confirmation of the target of their message. "Are they mooning me, or could it be something else?"

It's easy to see the valid points on both sides of this argument. The Cog is quaint, but it's an ecological mooning to the whole area, whether on the ground, in noses, ears, lungs or trees. If they could clean it up and take away the sensorial insult that the thing is, I'd find its quaintness (and utility for the mobility-impaired) more compelling.

And mooning does have a sense of humor; it's not just a middle finger.

I've never done it, but I think I side with the mooners on this one.

And if I saw an LEO trying to prosecute such an act while trailhead parking lots went unprotected, I think I'd be tempted to cite him/her myself there & then. Now THAT's offensive!

Fun thread!

Oh, yeah! No doubt the soot-laden filth belched by the cog is offensive as well. On my last hike around Mt. Clay I was treated to a lung full of the disgusting smoke. Not pretty! I just think we can catch more bees with honey than with poison.

As Dave Metsky states, the cog is eventually changing out the engines to something less polluting, but I'm not sure that the topic accordingly becomes surreal, because I'm not willing to bet that the mooning will stop when the black, sooty filth becomes history. We'll see.

Happy Trails

forestgnome said:

By the own words of cog-mooning sympathizers/advocates here, the intent is "I hate the cog", or the riders or owners.

Click to expand...

I do not believe that any of my comments would lead anyone to this inaccurate conclusion.

For some reason or another I had never been as close to the cog as I was this past weekend (prob because I'm there more in winter)... The massive plumes of black smoke pumping out of it truly felt physically sickening and I can now see the strong sentiments against it.

I did not moon it, but did feel like an animal in a safari as we walked by the flattened faced tourons inside.

The new smokeless diesel engine for the cog railway is nearing completion. It was supposed to be inaugurated on Labor Day but the usual production problems have slowed down the completion a bit. It should be finished by the end of the year. For pictures of the production go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Boondeck/COGRAILWAY/photo#5113803901972094498

Nepal to ban nudity, .... on Mount Everest

I just couldn't help myself

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070926/K092602AU.html