EISPIRATEN

My son and I hiked up to Cucamonga Peak on Saturday. Someone had painted stripes on the rocks and trees along the trail all the way up to the saddle.

Anybody know what up? It's a designated wilderness area after all.

Pix are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 656119050/

Dave G wrote:My son and I hiked up to Cucamonga Peak on Saturday. Someone had painted stripes on the rocks and trees along the trail all the way up to the saddle.

Anybody know what up? It's a designated wilderness area after all.

Pix are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21042415@N ... 656119050/

My guess is it was not done with authorization - no way the San Bernardino Rangers would allow that. I'll bet some folks on here would love to catch the person who did that in the act. The strange part is that it's so easy to follow that trail what's the point - just follow all the other hikers going uphill? It's a highway on the weekends going up Ice House Saddle.

When they start painting the plants you know it's a complete idiot - someone that has the education of a first grader (I shouldn't be that mean to the first graders, sorry)

Glad to see you taking your son up to Cucamonga, it's far enough off the beaten path to enjoy some solitude away from the Saddle where a major portion of the hikers stop and head back down. Looks like the hike was fun and the pictures (other than the trail tagging) are great Dave, thanks for sharing.

There has been some graffiti on a few rocks at the very start of the trail - probably left by the non-hikers that you see at the creek. But, now some idiot has tagged the trail!? It would not do for me to carry a handgun while hiking. I would have to open a private cemetary to bury my own dead. What do you expect when you can hike for whole years without every seeing a ranger on the trail? If there is going to be some sort of administrative change for the forest, I would like to see armed rangers on patrol practicing smash mouth, in your face, law enforcement.

On a happier note, good luck to your son on Whitney.

My son, hiking buddy & I hiked Ontario, Bighorn and down to the Cucamonga saddle on Saturday, returning to Icehouse Saddle via the usual trail - I think we passed you, Dave.

We got lucky on the way to Ontario & saw a male Bighorn sheep - watched him run off in full flight. Awesome!

The beauty of the weather & the turning of the trees color to vibrant yellow was nearly offset by the multitude of orange stripes on rocks & trees left by some mindless fool.

I saw this two weeks ago when I was in IHC. At that time it was a white stripe (I don't remember if I saw any orange stripes). Some were on rocks and some were on trees and it went all the way up to the saddle. I was in IHC yesterday and now there were the orange stripes. Some of the stripes were huge swaths on the rocks. I kept thinking, this can't be right. Then on the way down, just above the wilderness boundary sign, we met a ranger with a wire brush trying to remove the paint from the trees.

IHC is turning into a dump. Almost no one yields to uphill hikers. The downhill hikers just keep going and they walk right in the middle of the single track trail without even looking at you, saying hello or even making any effort to give you any room.

Tim I agree. There is NO trail etiquette on the IHC trail. Too many people going up and down. Do you think this is because the fires have driven everyone over to this area? I too was questioning the white and orange stripes on the rocks and trees. Just another mindless destruction of the forest with graffiti! Just my 2cents

Things will change once Chunky Bananas shows up to do some winter projects. EVERYBODY yields to a gorilla in ice gear.

Chunky Bananas is your enforcer.

That's not tagging, that's the work of some asshat group leader.

simonov wrote:That's not tagging, that's the work of some asshat group leader.

simonov - You may be right. Taggers don't make stripes. They do gang signs and slogans. Also, I can't imagine the average gang member hoofing it up that 15% grade all the way to the saddle. This abomination was done by someone there to hike. But, what would be the point for a group leader to mark the trail? A blind man could hike Icehouse Canyon.

Is there any way to remove the paint from the rocks? You can scrape paint off trees, but will the painted rocks need decades of weathering to get rid of the stuff?

RichardK wrote:

simonov wrote:That's not tagging, that's the work of some asshat group leader.

simonov - You may be right. Taggers don't make stripes. They do gang signs and slogans. Also, I can't imagine the average gang member hoofing it up that 15% grade all the way to the saddle. This abomination was done by someone there to hike. But, what would be the point for a group leader to mark the trail? A blind man could hike Icehouse Canyon.

Is there any way to remove the paint from the rocks? You can scrape paint off trees, but will the painted rocks need decades of weathering to get rid of the stuff?

The only guess I can think of is nighttime hikers...but like you said Icehouse canyon should be able to do it without even one marker even at night with a flashlight.

This unabashed douchebaggery must end.

you can't cure stupid

I found this article at http://mtwhitneyhiking.blogspot.com dated October 18. It's the first explanation that makes sense.

I'd Like to Draw and Quarter the Idiot(s)

I convinced my friend to go slumming with me up Icehouse Canyon. Little did I know I how accurate that statement had become. Both of us had commitments later in the day and were just looking to move the muscles.

Just before the avalanche debris field, we started to see spray painted blazes which continued the 2-mile marker then picked up again at the upper Chapman Trail Jct. and continued to the saddle.

We were both convinced this was done by a regular user or users of the canyon to permanently blaze the trail to assist them in winter getting to the saddle. During the winter, many people wander about in search of a trail rather than follow the contours of the ground. Most of these folks travel the canyon every single weekend.

So, if you are planing to use Icehouse Canyon in the coming months be prepared for this stinking eyesore.

great photos Dave! so sorry to see the markings of a sociopathic visitor to the mountains. i refuse to call the perpetrator a regular hiker they are more like an irregular invader of what should be a lovely canyon.

Liam, you done splendid! at this rate, you will be able to hike Whitney and have fun all the way to the top. your dad makes a good hiking buddy doesn't he? Dave, i love seeing you share the mountains you love so much with your son. making memories that will last a lifetime and training up another fine mountaineer!...

Assholes are still at it. This looks like fresh paint to me:

Time to go pick up some grey paint. I wanna get rid of that shit.

Someone obviously took a wire brush to a few of the rocks in the lower part of the canyon, but it doesn't come off that easily and the dipshits came back and made new blazes with white paint.

Time to post up and wait...