Originally Posted by Lone Wolf
Never saw a sign per say. But it is advertised at the Pierce Pond shelter that I recall.
I think the point is one unobtrusive sign OK, a bunch of blaze orange ones, not OK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by A-Train
Steve the Ferryman had a sign and a blazed trail cut down from the AT to his place in 2003. Is this still there and has anyone from MATC ever done anything to end this?
yup, for sale too.Isn't his place closed now?
WALK ON
but the NPS says NO signs, not local clubs playing favorites
ayup:
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/show...&imageuser=314
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Hey Sly, when were those orange signs there? I've never seen anything but a business card when I've gone through each year....except in '02 when there wasn't anything and I took the wrong path for a while.
If I was disappointed in anything in the 100 mile wilderness, it was that I almost always see people drive right up to where it's taken me days to walk. It's not all that hard to hitch a ride out of the area. I've known a few hikers who started sobo hikes that had enough and had no problems getting out. I also know people who drive in and leave food drops at several road crossings.
Those are fine people out there at White House Landing. I was hiking with a friend who left a headlamp there accidently and when I walked into Abol Bridge Campground, Linda said that Linda Ware had had it flown in when Katahdin Air stopped by. She went out of her way to make sure the headlamp was at Abol Bridge Campground waiting on us.
That's exactly the kind of hiker friendly people I want to be around and will support.
Stumpknocker
Appalachian Trail is 35.9% complete.
Yes, still there as of '06. I don't know the answer to the second half of the question.
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Not sure, I'm just going on what Weary said. WHL wasn't an option when I passed through in '98. Everything else about WHL sounds good but as I've been saying all along, I have a problem with over signage (especially commercial on public lands) and over blazing. If I make it back to the 100 Wilderness I'm sure I'll check out WHL.
Since you've been there just about every year since 2002 and didn't notice them, maybe Weary needs to answer your question.
There were business cards in the Bake Oven Knob shelter for a private B&B the last time I was there (a week or 2). They mentioned reservations required....
hmmm. that's OK though? weary?
seems the MATC condones signs for select businesses
All I know about WHL is the periodic discussions at meetings of the Board of Directors of MATC.
The issue is usually brought up by Rick St. Croix, who is overseer of the final 60 miles of the trail in Maine, and who with his wife Rachel maintain several miles of the trail in the Wilderness and in Baxter Park.
Rick is a very dedicated worker on behalf of the trail. As Overseer he recruits and supervises the work of a couple of dozen trail maintainers. His day job is as a blue collar paper mill worker.
After his last complaint MATC persuaded the Ranger from Harpers Ferry to pay a visit. The signs over the years have been up and down, so I'm not surprised that some hikers didn't see them in years past. Rick has taken the signs down. Maintainers have taken the signs down. The rules say the maintainers are supposed to remove everything left on the trail, or in the shelters.
I don't know anything about other signs in Maine that may, or may not, be legal.
Weary
if the ATC targets 1 service provider then they should target ALL providers equally in regards to signage and blazing in the AT corridor. reading this thread gives the impression the MATC has a beef against WHL specifically and other places in maine that have signs up are overlooked
LW,
As you know, different sections of trail are maintained/overseen by different humans. What bugs one human a lot might not bother another human at all. The AMC's mid-wilderness recreational development at Little Lyford Pond has cut multi-use trails inside the AT corridor, even intersecting the AT itself and posting AMC signage, with no complaints at all from the MATC, for instance.
Last edited by TJ aka Teej; 07-22-2008 at 13:26.
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Weary, part of Ranger Remelay's job is to make trips into the field year-round all along the AT corridor. You make it sound as though he was summonded from West Virginia to come all the way to Maine to deal specificaly with this one single complaint. That wasn't the case, was it?
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
Were they posted next to the fax machine? You know, to make making reservations easier?
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
So far AMC has been the most responsible neighbor of the trail in Maine. All of the new intersecting trails have been approved by MATC and the National Park Service, which owns the corridor lands.
All have been reviewed by Dave Field, former president of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and MATC's official contact with AMC. I'm chair of the Maine Chapter, AMC, Maine Woods Initiative committee. So far AMC's cooperation has been great.
I'm especially pleased that early worries about major development in the wilderness have proved to be unfounded. I'm not sure whether my recommendations -- or simple economics -- have been deciding principles.
But I've been extremely pleased with the AMC decision to rebuild existing sporting camps, rather than doing new construction. It's my prediction that the nonprofit AMC rebuilt camps will soon give hikers their best experience of the trail in Maine as it existed 60 and 70 years ago.
I suspect they won't be serving one pound, $8 hamburgers -- but that didn't happen in the 30s either. MATC crews are building a new shelter on the new AMC lands this summer.
AMC is not my favorite organization. But we should provide praise when praise is deserved.
Weary
So the beef with WHL has to do with direct competition with the MATC's approved AMC pro-huge-revenue recreational development at Little Lyford? 60 or 70 years ago, was it normal to pay $77 a night (tax not included) for a one-night bunk at a camp in Maine? And that's not even at the recently constructed main lodge! This anti-WHL crusade comes down to the MATC taking sides with the drive-up SUV/$80 Chardonnay set v. the hike-in boots/$8 burger bunch? Perhaps WHL should've funded several MATC retreats at their place. But that's just my opinion, your mileage may vary.
I think we might best serve the thread's topic to keep the focus on reports from recent year's first person contacts with Whitehouse Landing.
Last edited by TJ aka Teej; 07-22-2008 at 14:25.
Teej
"[ATers] represent three percent of our use and about twenty percent of our effort," retired Baxter Park Director Jensen Bissell.
well they know most hikers carry cell phones, and there are cell towers all along the kittatiny ridge.
I've not yet had the opportunity to hike the "wilderness", but have done the rest of Maine. I even maintained a section there in the 1970's. As long as the signs are not orange and just give distance and direction I'm all for them. There are way too many real intrusions on the trail to get your undies in a bunch over this. Also, while some have not liked WHL because of price or a bad experience, I'm glad hikers have places like this they can use. Hikers always expect Walmart prices with Four Seasons service.
There are so many miles and so many mountains between here and there that it is hardly worth thinking about
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