You Know What Bothers Me?!

 Visit #1617, Sunday 6 September 26, 6:25-9:10 a.m., 5.3 miles, 5.2lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 60s, intermittent showers.

You know what bothers me?

It's not the signs someone tacks on trees calling me an asshole like this week,

It's not the newly fallen trees on the trail which mean bringing my chainsaw next week to keep the trails clear,

It's not the religious tract I found this week, and  I'm constantly finding here and there,

It wasn't the unexpected on and off rain this morning that I was unprepared for, leaving me soggy,

It's not the graffiti I frequently find and remove, such as this morning,

It's not the litter I picked up this week, and week after week,

It isn't even the Igloo cooler tossed into the woods at West Peak, which prompted me to drive up there to retrieve because it was too large and clumsy to carry.

"But you know what does bother me? You know what really makes me sick to my stomach?

For several of the past weeks I've put out my blog notices and asked many of you in the know about this logging project in Hubbard Park, a project which was encroaching on a hiking trail. I had hoped to do something to protect it. And I heard nothing but crickets in reply.

Now this trail is obliterated; completely unusable. It is history. The sample photos don't show the extent of the damage. The loggers took the gravy and left the bones when they could have been held to a higher standard.

Hubbard Park is my hot dog. To those that could have responded and perhaps helped to prevent this, you are nothing but ketchup.