Don't abuse rain-soaked trails

Santa Barbara News-Press 4 January 2005

John (Jack) Mithun

Letter to Editor

A loud and fast motorcycle was coming down the McMenemy Trail in Montecito. It was the first clear day after many days of heavy rain.

As I hiked up the trail, I could see the extensive damage the thoughtless driver had done to the rain-soaked trail. Runoff water already was gushing down deep ruts that his thick, knobby tires had dug in the center of the trail. In his rush to get down, he had also cut corners on on many bends, digging deep tracks in the wet hillside.

After a short while, I had to give up my hike because he had chewed up the trail to an unmanageable mess.

What goes on in the mind of someone like that? It's as if he were saying: I don't give a darn about nobody or nothing.

Apparently, some people would prefer to sit on a seat, burn gas and destroy our trails rather than getting on their feet doing some healthy exercise.

When our natural resources and environment already are stretched to the outmost, it seems some people don't mind pushing them even closer to the edge.