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2019/06/15

Tried to Move Road Fork/ Whipple Work Week, Dispersed Camping, Timeline, Failure

Three years ago, I was asked to request that the BTA move it's Road Fork/ Whipple Work Week back from July annually to June.  I explained that this could be difficult because Buckeye only has one crew to spare for this region.  We do it at the height of the growing season and that moving it back to June could entail the Buckeye Trail Association having to field a second crew. 

Well, I did it.  And all of those were concerns at the BTA, there was another.  The BTA expanded to include more work weeks elsewhere.  As a result, it was impossible to move Road Fork and Whipple's back.  I'm not sure if the outside understands just how big the BT is?  I'm certain that National Forest Service's view is deficient with it, however, that's not really their fault because this sort of data only resides currently on my computers. 

They think that the forest has truly dispersed camping when it comes to distance hikers, but they're missing a number of factors.  They have to do with the balance between Buckeye's very fixed amenities, the terrain in the Marietta Unit and the intent of the hikers, which influences where they disperse camp.  And I think that there are these unauthorized campsites on wonderful terrain because the hikers over the decades independently reached the same conclusion and that's what cased them to be well impacted?

The Hiker Hurricane was about 2 years ago (I think).  The three year plan for this region entailed stabilizing the Whipple Section.  That was done.  The second year was supposed to be for maintenance and using my section supervisor credentials to improve the trail adoption numbers for it.  But Year 2 was a dud.  I'm a Disabled Vet.  When my housing situation hit the fan in Year 1, I withdrew back to Painesville.  In May of Year 2, I purchased a 29 year old motorhome.  But it's expenses and mechanical needs exceeded my abilities.  The hiker hurricane hit that year.  In Year 3, I can't remember what happened then?  But in the winter, my family has a mechanic friend and we spent 4 months working on the motorhome and got me in Far SE Ohio on May 7th.  I've been here ever since.

While I was having difficulties, there are certain people who I don't entirely trust around both within and without.  And sometimes, some in the BTA can be impressionable to failure.  With exceptions, I kept my whereabouts a secret for the most part.

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