Hikers losing access? Join the club.

Post date: Jan 26, 2012 10:35:13 PM

For the complete story see the below link, but to paraphrase a popular hiking trail is signed closed. What an outrage! But actually, it's the norm around the Eastern Sierra region. At MammothMC we think the feds should start checking hiker ID's and vehicle registrations in the trail heads similar to OHV. And, the more armed back-up, radios, tying shoe laces together, and enforcement the better -- a little intimidation can go a long way.

“Everybody just goes right around it,” said Brenda Viselli of Lexington, Ky., a triathlete who winters in the desert with her husband, Brian. “It's not stopping anybody as far as I can see. Everybody goes to the top. The view is unbelievable.”

“I just don't understand why they can't keep it open for another mile,” she said. “This is such a great place for people to hike. Look at all of these people working out and loving it.”

“I thought the gate was so cars couldn't get through,” he said. “What's the point of stopping? The trail's already here, so let it happen.”

"Fight between local hikers, feds escalates"(Palm Springs Desert Sun, 1/21/12)"As hiker displeasure with the closure of a portion of the popular Bump and Grind trail continues to simmer, another trail closure controversy has erupted in the mountains above Palm Desert. The federal Bureau of Land Management last week installed a sign prohibiting dogs on the uppermost half-mile of the Hopalong Cassidy trail to where a well-known landmark, a lighted cross, shines at night on private property in the Santa Rosa Mountains. Like the closure of the top portion of the Bump and Grind trail, the BLM action is designed to protect endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep populations...."http://www.ca.blm.gov/j5jd