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[jammer]

That basically what they are considering, but without walking the blue tagged path, I am not sure where it goes.  At first, you can see it beside the road, but then it sort of disappears uphill.  Next time I am there, I think I'll take the time to walk it.

[ed_esmond]

Sorry, but the new trail still doesn't make the most sense to me, for lots of reasons... we can do better. Maybe.  Let's think outside the box a little? 

i think you're "preaching to the choir."   all of your suggestions make perfect sense to me (and i'm guessing they make sense to the rest of the climbing community.) 

it is not the climbers you need to convince.  in my experience with the rumney climbing community,  when things need to be done; the core group steps up and produces action.

the trick is to get the usfs and the local town government to "think outside the box..."

warning small rant to follow: 

in my experience, the people who work for the usfs are well-intentioned and knowledgeable, but they are primarily bureaucrats and actual resource management is secondary. their priorities are 1) to protect the usfs bureaucracy, 2) slavishly comply with federal regulations, and finally, 3) protect and manage the forest resources.

a perfect example of this is when they told mark sprague to stop his trail building work up to the "triple corners/hinterlands" area.  the old trail followed a steep drainage gully.  with every climber footstep and every rainstorm it became even steeper and more eroded.  for years we had talked about how this trail needed to be re-routed and "hardened up" to protect the surrounding area. 

the usfs couldn't or wouldn't devote any resouces to it, so mark decided to take on the project by himself. mark did his usual stellar work.  the usfs, when they learned of the work told him to stop because of concerns about "rare and threatened species."  they didn't send their own trail crew, they didn't even send out a botanist to look at the area he was working in.  they just said: "stop...." 

if there were threatened plants in the area, the herds of climbers that stumble up and down this gully would surely step on them, but there is no regulation about that....  but there is a regulation about building a trail near areas that may have protected species. 

protection of the plants wasn't the real focus of the usfs's action, their onlyl concern was to comply with the regulations.

end of rant

i'm not sure it's the climber who need to do better in this situation.  my advice:  if i you really feel strongly about this, spend your energy bugging the usfs and the town government.

respectfully,

ed e

ps, as to parking situation: if the lots are full, too bad.... go somewhere else.  if cars are parked in the road illegally, the local cops should ticket and tow....

[M_Sprague]

The blue flagged trail starts at the main parking lot then runs through the woods to a point below No Money Down, at which it then angles down to the road to get around ledge. A lot of grading will happen here so it should end up much more walkable then it is now. The trail then continues from the small parking lot running along parallel to the road to the shoulder that runs up towards Armed and Dangerous. At this point most would take the Short Cut Trail that heads up towards Armed, but breaks left and along above the 5.8 crag, then to a point above the Monsters Crag where there is a junction taking you right up to Bonsai or left towards Darth Vader, Waimeia etc. This is  flagged with mostly blue tape and will be upgraded.. There is also a presently more faint and partially blue and pink trail that leads from the Short Cut trail that continues the traverse under Monsters crag and brings you to the big boulder near the beginning of the current road to waimeia trail, and from there into the Black Jack Boulders and the crags west.

From the point where the Short Cut Trail starts and heads up away from the road, the blue trail will also continue running parallel to the road to the base of the 5.8 crag.

So far, the above is all funded and will be built/upgraded. The RCA supports this and is looking forward to it's implementation.

Presently unfunded is the further extension of the blue trail running  along parallel to the road from the base of the 5.8 crag to the trail leading to Waimeia. This idea is still up in the air as to it's feasibility. The RCA has passed along the opinion that this extension is not needed and would be too costly and destructive to warrant. Hopefully people will get their butts off the road and use the Short Cut Trail and any need for the extension will be mute. In the mean time, the FS asked that we please leave the tags up so it can be studied.

Please pass information about the Short Cut Trail to fellow climbers and encourage them to get off the road. Also, If you are going to meet a friend at the parking lot, make an effort to leave one of your cars back at the church/ library parking  in the village ( or maybe even at the shopping center nearer to 93). They have been offered for our use (and you will save a parking fee too). There have been way too many numb brains parking all over the road lately and standing in the middle of the road on the corner chatting. Personally, I think the Rumney police chief has been extremely patient. If I were him I would be tempted to run through with a plow every once in a while to clear the road.

[jammer]

Thanks for the info Mark.  Maybe a simple addition to the map Ward made that is displayed at the kiosk, showing the trail would help.

As for the cars in the road ... oh, the local police have been giving out tickets.

[bmbuffy]

what ever happened to first come first serve. the lot gets full as is too bad. climbing is a luxury.

[JakeDatc]

Mark..    So the main Blue trail i supposed to go UP  5.8 crag  (past Raven, Arm&hammer etc) correct?      Kate and I took an adventure and went along the lower blue trail at the bottom  from Ashbury park and it was quite the bushwack    

in other trail news  the hike from Pulse to the top of Orange crush  over to Bonsai is a really nice hike.   saw a nice small slab.  too small for any routes though.   TONS of Lady Slippers.. nice to see a fairly rare plant doing well on the mountain. 

[M_Sprague]

Jake, the blue trail goes up, like you were going to armed and dangerous, but breaks left before you reach the main Cliff. There would also be a trail running parallel to the road to the 5.8 crag. You could then go up like you described and rejoin the blue flagged trail, or The Short Cut Trail, as it will be called in the new guide, above the 5.8. The FS also is contemplating continuing the trail parallel to the road, which is flagged in blue also. Confusing? The FS likes to flag with blue tape.

[JakeDatc]

yea... we were going to hike it down from bonsai and monsters to see where it was suppose to begin  but chose the tried and true way instead.   Once it's in the book it will get broken in and more apparent  so that will be good.

STILL  TONS of people walking on the wrong side of the road.   one group of 4 was ALL the way across the freaking road.  kate yelled at them but we were up in the woods so they turned their heads and then kept walking... freaking idiots.

someone local could see if they could put a sign on a good metal signpost   with a description and pictures of how you are supposed to walk.  RIGHT at the meadows side driveway exit  and at the small lot.      Like   ^ | : | v     

[M_Sprague]

Maybe we need a couple of grandmotherly/fatherly crossing guards on weekends to guide the climbers like little kids going to school

[old_school]

What about some kind of sub-atomic transporting machine like they have in the future?  We could just beam ourselves to the Crag of choice! 

I know I know....too expensive!!! 

[jammer]

What about some kind of sub-atomic transporting machine like they have in the future?  We could just beam ourselves to the Crag of choice! 

I know I know....too expensive!!! 

I kind of liked the boots Spock was wearing when he decided to talk to Kirk as he was climbing!  Less expensive?

[crazyt]

Watched a couple get ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road. $74. WTF Ticket read something like "not yeilding to vehicular traffic" Since when do peds yeild to cars?  Granted, ped traffic on Buffalo road is heavy at times but the mentallity that peds are the issue is lame. If they're going to ticket folks for BS like this then there needs to be crosswalks at trail entrances and standard protocol of yeilding to peds. With those things in place they could better enforce the issue. The locals that complain about people in the road need to get a life and slow the F down.

[old_school]

Watched a couple get ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road. $74. WTF Ticket read something like "not yeilding to vehicular traffic"

What?? Are you shi@*ing me?? 

The locals that complain about people in the road need to get a life and slow the F down.

Yep...unreal!!! 

[Admin Al]

Watched a couple get ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road. $74. WTF Ticket read something like "not yeilding to vehicular traffic"

were they walking side by side on that narrow road? just because you're a ped doesn't mean you can be a jerk!

[JakeDatc]

Watched a couple get ticketed for walking on the wrong side of the road. $74. WTF Ticket read something like "not yeilding to vehicular traffic" Since when do peds yeild to cars?  Granted, ped traffic on Buffalo road is heavy at times but the mentallity that peds are the issue is lame. If they're going to ticket folks for BS like this then there needs to be crosswalks at trail entrances and standard protocol of yeilding to peds. With those things in place they could better enforce the issue. The locals that complain about people in the road need to get a life and slow the F down.

Gee.   sounds like they didn't read my Mtn project  thread or perhaps they would have had a clue about NH state laws.   I think it is a good thing and will add this to the thread.    Same as with people parking on the road.   it seems as though hitting them with tickets is the only way to make people listen to the rules.   

Being on the wrong side is dangerous and causes issues for the people walking and the cars trying to deal with them.   If you can't see the cars coming then you are more likely to be further in the road.  this means they have to go around you.  which on that road means putting yourself in danger of oncoming traffic.   

I agree climbers and locals need to slow the hell down while driving on that road  but that is a separate issue that should also be addressed with speeding tickets until folks get the idea.