Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board PCT - danger in theTehachapi's

Hi All -
I read this on another board today...if it's true, that's some messed up s--t!

The United States Forest Service temporarily closed a section of the Pacific Crest Trail after hikers discovered dozens of crude devices bristling with exposed nails on the trail on the south side of the Tehachapi Mountains at Tylerhorse Canyon, Wed., May 5.
The Forest Service, the Kern County Sheriffs Office and the Bureau of Land Management launched a cleanup and investigation, closing the section of trail between Hwy. 138 and Tehachapi Willow Springs Road.
“This closure is in response to the discovery of dangerous objects on the trail,” the Forest Service, lead agency in the investigation, said in a press release May 7. “Although these harmful objects were found along approximately a quarter mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail near Gamble Springs, in Sequoia National Forest, a longer section of trail surrounding it must be closed due to geographic access points.”
The press release said that a Forest Service crew would work over the weekend to remove the trail hazards, and it “will reevaluate the temporary closure on Monday, May 10, 2010.”
A group of 13 hikers --the vanguard of almost 1,000 who are expected to pass along the trail in the next several weeks on their way to Canada -- came across the devices.
In about a 100-yard stretch of the trail, hiker Scott Williams said, someone had strung up barbed wire across the trail and posted numerous signs saying: “Warning: Firing range” and “No trespassing.”
A shooting target was placed in the center of the trail, Williams said, and broken glass littered the ground.
“If a hiker stepped on (one of the devices) with a tennis shoe, it's like a booby trap,” Williams said. “Most were lying in the trail. About five or six were buried. We kicked them up so people can see them.”
He saw “20 to 30 “ of the devices.
“The trail (there) is an absolute danger,” Williams said.
Investigators ultimately found 50 of the devices.
Several investigators compared the devices to punji stake traps that caused so much harm to U.S. troops in Vietnam.
The devices -- nails and all -- were painted brown for camouflage in the dirt and shadows.
Williams brought one of the devices into Tehachapi and gave it to Sgt. Richard Wood of the Kern County Sheriff Tehachapi Substation.
Wood said investigators who went up to the remote site by Jeep to inspect the situation on the afternoon of May 6 found "about 50 similar spiked devices in the vicinity of the trail."
Wood said the 4-and-a-half-inch-high items are made of concrete poured into a cup topped with three small nails that stick out about two inches.
The Pacific Crest Trail in that section rides a ridge at about 6,000 feet in elevation.
The location of the discovery is at approximately mile 548 of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail that runs from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Trail locations are measured in miles from Mexico.
While no suspect has been named, the Sheriffs Office suggests a possible motive.
“It appears the devices may have been buried to discourage illegal off-road riding,” said Sgt. Wood in a May 7 media release.
He said investigators “do not believe the devices were planted to cause harm to hikers or horses.”
Residents in the area have been battling the illegal encroachment of off-road vehicles, but they have been scrupulous in adhering to legal means to keep the riders from devastating the landscape and obliterating the trail.
The organization ORV (Off Road Vehicle) Watch Kern County has organized a series of meetings over the past several years with state, county, federal and local agencies to address the situation.
The rmeetings have generated increased enforcement on targeted weekends and some arrests, but the level of frustration is growing.
“It’s like the wild wild west,” area resident Brandi Dunn said.
In Nov. 2009, ORV Watch Kern County told authorities about broken glass, rebar embedded in the ground, spikes and barbed wire traps in the same section, said organization spokesperson Mesonica Piecuch, but this time it’s worse.
“It is booby trapped beyond belief. It’s awful,” said Piecuch, who hiked up Friday for a look.
She said the nails in the cups were “three or four inches long” and the cups were “buried just under the surface.”
The nails could go through a horse’s hoof, she said.
“They were absolutely meant to do someone some harm.”
ORV Watch Kern County “absolutely condemns any actions that would harm people on PCT,” Piecuch said in a press release.
The appearance of new devices on the trail, she said, “is one more indication of how serious and out-of-control the conflict between landowners and illegal riders has become. I wish that the agencies we contacted had acted upon this information sooner.”
The Pacific Crest Trail hikers who approach the trail over the weekend will have to contend with the closure. The largest wave of the season’s hikers is expected to arrive at the Tehachapi segment of the Pacific Crest Trail in the next few weeks, and the city of Tehachapi is a major rest stop.
The hikers -- dry and tired from the long stretch of desert -- usually hitch a ride into Tehachapi from the trail so they can rest in a motel, eat in a restaurant, pick up supplies at the Post Office and enjoy the amenities of Tehachapi before beginning the Sierra Mountains phase of the journey.
The close-knit PCT hiking family alerted others of the potential danger May 5, putting out a notice on the web sites that feature up-to-the-minute information about trail conditions.
The Pacific Crest Trail, Williams said, “is one of the premier trails of the world. People from every country in the world come to hike it…to come upon this is a black eye for an American international trail.”
In spite of the unsettling discovery of the spiked cement cups, Williams, 57, of Martinez, Calif., is enjoying his first PCT attempt.
“It's a beautiful trail,” he said. “I was stunned by the beauty of the desert mountains.”

TehachapNews.com

Looks like several user groups need to sit down over dinner and talk it over.

Remembered this, when I pulled



these out my motorcycle tire today. (Flated last Saturday on the way to the Owens Peak Wilderness.)

Obviously, someone was up to no good.

When $#&* like this happens, I have evil thoughts about becoming one of those rebels who goes out and tears up the desert wilderness. (Seen the Owens Peak Trailhead lately? And the tracks heading up Backus and Owens and 5 Fingers?)

I don't want that to happen. I'm rather proud of the fact that I don't break the rules unless I don't know I'm breaking the rules. (Missing Wilderness signs, etc.)

Quoting Rodney: Can't we all just get along.

Those of us who like to ride within the rules have every right to be out there.

I'm a little more pissed than I would usually be because my local shop now wants $60 to fix a rear flat, so I spent a good part of the day hunched over pretending I was a motorcycle mechanic (Obviously I'm not very good with a wrench.) instead of being out in the hills (although I did get up 5 Fingers late this afternoon).

Jeez Richard, that sucks!
But I'm glad you weren't pulling those out of your feet!

Stacy

I was planning to go there soon. If I ever find one of those in Bessie's tires, I'm enlisting Mesa Tactical to take a few counter measures. None of my wheeling friends have ever left a place worse than we've found it. Just the opposite, in fact.

I knew this was too good to be true:



Twice in the past few years, this 4WD road has been open. I keep hoping that it's been "cherry stemed." It was cool being able to ride up to Heller Rocks and beyond.

There's a fantastic wildflower slope up there.

There's been a work crew up there for at least the last few weeks putting up a wire fence. Another example of tax dollars being wasted. How long do you think that's going to last if the bad boys decide they want to get to the other side?

I don't think it's been opened in the sense that the BLM has changed their position on its status. People pull up the wilderness boundary sign, and sometimes its left beside the road. Not very subtle.

Am surprised the BLM doesn't simply put a barrier across the road, like they do elsewhere. Perhaps because it's needed for fire control access?

Or, they just do this...

ATV tracks all over the place the day I saw this damage at the Owens Peak Trailhead a while back.

There was a "fence" (a couple of logs nailed together) across the above 4WD road. I'm pretty sure whatever they put in place will be gone is a short while.

More of my tax dollars being spent on things I disagree with :-(

I don't condone boobytraps, but as a PCT hiker, there have been lots of problems with m0t0rb1kes in that area.

From Kelso Valley Road north the trail was a series of endless moguls from off road use. On Piute Mountain a fat-wheeled bike had left a 6-inch deep rut down the middle of the trail for several miles. Near Tylerhorse Canyon there are so many illegal tracks the PCT is almost impossible to locate, and on one slope the trail tread is completely gone on a 45-degree sidehill. Trail signs, no vehicle signs, and area closed signs are frequently removed or destroyed.

In several areas they've told me they "didn't see" a sign at the trailhead. In fact, what they did was cut a new trail several dozen yards from the official trail to go around the signed trailhead, coming back to the PCT in a 100 yards or so.

But in the case mentioned, I suspect the actions were taken by landowners, not by hikers. The PCT community was very upset by the boobytraps, and it was a thruhiker who reported them to the law.

"citizen" with the most BLM leased acreage - Conrad Hilton.

The problem here is the ORV.The orv leaves the land in worse condition everytime.The orv crowd is violating the law and causing destruction.Maybe the only thing that will stop them is implementing a seizure/forfeiture law whereby if you go where you aint supposed to be you lose your vehicle.Fences are no deterent.

As you drive through red rock canyon on the 14 there is an orv area and the destruction to the landscape is tragic,predictable and progressively worsening.That this is seen as a legit activity is beyond me.

Cant people do anything without the internal combustion engine(jetski,snowmobile,atv,powerboat)?Must they drag it into every corner of the earth just like their cellphones and texting addiction?
I find it astounding that people who fight traffic during the work week and all the stress that it brings,will actually double down on weekends by not only driving a long distance to a remote area but towing another internal combustion engine vehicle via a heavy duty trailer for the mere purpose of driving that machine as aggressively and fast as possible in that remote,quiet area.The irony and absurdity is stunning.
If people cant see,enjoy the beauty of the landscape and the solitude without destroying it then they dont deserve to be able to use it.

Hey Hitrek,, Some of us hikers also like to dirt bike ride and some of us on this site are not pro sierra club tree huggers..
Back away fron the politics.. Its all about balance brother, moderation.. To much of anything is no good. Hell look what happend to trail camp on whintey. 6 years ago it was a turd field. Now its almost clean.. Same deal goes with the dirt bike crowd. Respect were you are and follow the rules.
Thats all Im saying.

So in order to have 'balance' we must accomodate destructive activities to counter non destructive activities?Illogical.Why dont we bring back smoking on airplanes cause its unfair to deny smokers their habit and their right to impose that dangerous smoke on us?

HiTrek, you are entitled to your opinion, but you would be better served if you had an INFORMED opinion.



Time to go plaster some NRA stickers on my JEEP....

My thoughts excactly.... Cant smoke in planes, stores,parks,beaches,bars,apartments.
Whats next, cant go out and hike without a permit ??
Oh never mind that is in effect too.....

It's pretty hard to misunderstand that. You actually mean that you advocate breaking the law and trespassing on protected land, and then if confronted, will use guns on federal employees to make your argument?

You can undertand why someone would set tire traps if that is what they are dealing with.

No Ken. What I meant is that HiTrek has made a false statement "all people using ORV leave the land in worse condition." Obviously, you are biased. Your comment regarding using guns on federal employees is laughable. The NRA is one of the few organizations working to uphold our first amendment right to bear arms. I don't see anyone on this forum complaining about all the damage that was done and is still being done by mining operations! Sheesh. I guess this is how wars get started.

I found the gov't documentation discussing the fence that's being put in... 4.5 miles of wire to stop the Tresspassers and Hillclimbing Highpointers, etc.....

One Ranger to make sure the law is obeyed. (If I can find it again, I'll post the link.)

And other Law Enforcement Officers with the potential to patrol the area.....

I'm laughing out loud.....

And yes, I do have the right to expect the gov't to make some land available for me to ride my OHV when I feel too lazy to walk.