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This is a plea to whomever keeps trying to make muddy crossings easier out at Carvins Cove by throwing sticks into them to please stop, or at least be smarter about where you attempt to do this. When you do this anywhere that water needs to flow through or even intermittently drain through, it may seem better for a short time, but what happens is the water just starts going around the pile of sticks and makes even more mud on either side. So now you have a bigger mud pit, with the added pleasure of some embedded sticks and logs hidden within.
I am particularly thinking about a stream/drainage crossing, the first one you hit when heading back on Schoolhouse less than half a mile after you pass the picnic table with the "vista Point" sign. It used to not be all that bad, (about a foot long muddy section a couple of inches deep at most), but then someone got the idea to throw some sticks in it (perpendicular to the trail, parallel to the flow of water) to build it up and make it easier to cross. Well, that worked fine for a little while, but then exactly what I described above happened. To remedy this, someone threw more sticks in, and the same thing happened, and the affected area is even wider. A buddy and I finally pulled the sticks out a few months ago and it got a little better, but then a month ago some idiot threw a bunch more back in! So now what use to be about a foot-wide muddy crossing a few inches deep at most is currently a big pile of muddy sticks with a good three feet of DEEP mud on either side! So yesterday I spent about 20 minutes in 6+ inches of horse-churned gloop completely clearing everything out of there. Immediately I could see the water start draining out of the muddy sections on either side now that the water could drain where it wanted to all along due to the pile of sticks not being there.
There are a number of other places where this is happening, though not as severely. Comet is one example.
So, next time you or someone you are riding with is tempted to throw some sticks into the mud, please think about whether water is going to need to flow around it.
Thanks.
I am particularly thinking about a stream/drainage crossing, the first one you hit when heading back on Schoolhouse less than half a mile after you pass the picnic table with the "vista Point" sign. It used to not be all that bad, (about a foot long muddy section a couple of inches deep at most), but then someone got the idea to throw some sticks in it (perpendicular to the trail, parallel to the flow of water) to build it up and make it easier to cross. Well, that worked fine for a little while, but then exactly what I described above happened. To remedy this, someone threw more sticks in, and the same thing happened, and the affected area is even wider. A buddy and I finally pulled the sticks out a few months ago and it got a little better, but then a month ago some idiot threw a bunch more back in! So now what use to be about a foot-wide muddy crossing a few inches deep at most is currently a big pile of muddy sticks with a good three feet of DEEP mud on either side! So yesterday I spent about 20 minutes in 6+ inches of horse-churned gloop completely clearing everything out of there. Immediately I could see the water start draining out of the muddy sections on either side now that the water could drain where it wanted to all along due to the pile of sticks not being there.
There are a number of other places where this is happening, though not as severely. Comet is one example.
So, next time you or someone you are riding with is tempted to throw some sticks into the mud, please think about whether water is going to need to flow around it.
Thanks.
