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Trail Mis-Management

Kamloops Trails Posted on by

A local hiker contacted us about some changes that have occurred in Mara Canyon recently.   His comments are provided here:

"I have a very concerning issue that I want to get out to the kamloops hiking/outdoor community, and your website seemed like the best place to start.

Last year I hiked the cinnimon ridge hoodoo trail for the first time. Far up into the canyon, past the hoodoos, we found an amazing juniper tree that spanned the creek bed. At first glance it appeared to be dead, but it clearly wasn't once you looked at all of the greenery at the top of the tree on the left side of the creek. I have attached a picture that I took that day.  

I found it very incredible how this tree was living here like this. I even put a rock beside it's root area to protect it from people walking on top of it (as the trail closely passed by)

Fast forward to March 2012, and I was hiking on the same trail with some family. I was excited to show them this really neat tree, and to my (honest) horror, some fool had cut right through it!!! This exposed the ugly truth that this tree was over 100 years old, potentially nearly 150 years. AAAAAAh! I am very very mad and saddened by this. There is no reason at all for this tree to have been removed. The trail went around it, and it was low enough to step over anyway. And besides, the trail lower down in the canyon presents many more challenging obstacles.

The rest of the pictures that I have attached to the email are the one that I took this year. They show the cut tree.

I noticed that there were other limbs trimmed on the trail. So I have two suspicions:

  1. some hiker thought they were doing us a favor by cleaning up the trail. If this is the case, I'm hoping that if you post a message about this on your site, then maybe they will realize that they need to be much much more careful.
  2. someone is planning on putting a downhill bike trail right down through the canyon. I don't really think this is the case, however it wouldn't surprise me as the trail probably would be really fun. However, obviously this trail is completely unsuitable for biking given the sensitive nature of the trail, and the fact that people are often hiking up it. I wanted to mention this, because if other hikers see bike tracks on the trail, then we'll need to act quickly to notify the downhill bike community that this trail is off limits.

Oh man, am I ever upset about this!! 🙁

On a more positive note, there is a second tree on this trail the spans the creek and is still living. Hopefully no one decides to kill that one too.

Also, if you do write a post about this. You might want to highlight the fact that this ecosystem is incredibly slow growing. Close to where this tree was murdered, there is another juniper nearly twice as large. I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 250 years old."

 

About KamloopsTrails

I started exploring this area in 1976 and I continue to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, I chose to share this information. Getting out 12 months each year, I continue to explore trails, tracks, routes, and waterways of the Kamloops area and beyond.

Comments

Trail Mis-Management — 4 Comments

  1. Doug … the tree may have been cut by a woodworker. Juniper wood is highly prized. I'd say the best eviodence for this would be the absence of the cut trunk.

  2. I am a member of the Kamloops outdoors/hiking community as well, and also a member of the woodworking community.  When I read the comment by Alan Vyse, I was taken aback somewhat, suggesting that the tree may have been cut by a woodworker.  Evidence in the picture indicates that the tree was cut, but the evidence in the picture also indicates that the top of the cut trunk was pulled downstream to clear a pathway, and is still layig in that position, still anchored to the ground by some of it's outer layer.
    None the less, I fully agree with the original post about what is happening in the canyon.  I have hiked up and down the canyon for several years, and the evidence shows that, even though this is the worst case, this pruning and trimming has been going on for years.  You can observe freshly pruned scars along with pruned scars that are years old, so this in nothing new.  Again, I agree with the original post in that the person or persons who have been doing this over the years might think they are doing the hiking community a favor, but in actual fact they are killing the canyon, and robbing it of it's beauty.

  4. This is indeed a sad story. Good to know there are other tree lovers out there. Hard to imagine someone destroying  something unique and totally irreplacable just because it was in their way. I sympathize.
    Leslie

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