Nordic Tracks: Don’t be a trail wrecker!

Cross-country skiers, snowshoers, snowmobilers, fat bikers, dog walkers, hikers and runners are hitting the trails to get some exercise and to enjoy the winter woods. Where these users share trails, there can be conflicts if people don’t know or care about their impact on the trails. An inconsiderate or uninformed user can wreck the trails for others.

Early this winter, we went snowshoeing on Albany’s Tin Mountain Conservation Center trails. Our trek started well until we encountered the tell-tale mark of a “bare booter” in the snowshoe track. Someone walked on it with no snowshoes, leaving holes where their boots had sunk into the deep snow, making the surface uneven to walk on. Abandoning the wrecked trail, we shook our heads at the lack of courtesy or knowledge of the bare booter and wondered if they had any fun post-holing. It must have been hard, exhausting work. How much easier it would have been to put on a pair of skis or snowshoes!