Hey, soldier, get off my trail!
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 02 June 2011 12:33
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
Joyce Cheney loves hiking. She especially likes Barr Trail and the Incline in Manitou Springs, Waldo Canyon and Section 16. Four of the most popular trails in the region.
One thing she doesn’t particularly like is sharing those trails with members of the military on training runs. Or the groups they train in. She especially detests seeing some of them smoking and dropping butts.
Why, she wonders, can’t they train on the thousands of acres at Fort Carson or the Air Force Academy?
“I, personally, am not pleased that the military is using heavily-used recreational trails for training exercises when they have thousands of acres of base land available,” she told me.
“I see small groups of military every single time I go hiking. I talk to them. One time, one of them told me: 'We just had to do 10 miles.’ These are forced marches. I’d rather they keep their forced marches on base.”
Even worse, Joyce said, is seeing some of those folks smoking after a run.
“The last time I went there was a lit cigarette lying in the trail,” she said. “At the very least, if they are going to use a trail, they’ve got to pick up their cigarette butts and make sure they are out.”
Someone who is pretty familiar with area trails is Susan Davies, executive director of the Trails and Open Space Coalition.
Davies said it’s true the Incline and Barr Trail seem to attract a lot of military who need to stay in top shape between tours in the mountains of Afghanistan or the grueling terrain of Iraq.
“It’s pretty common, but so what?” Davies said. “They are using it like everybody else.”
In fact, her husband looks forward to meeting soldiers on the Incline.
“He takes great delight when he can beat them to the top,” she said. “They are half his age.”
And as much time as Davies spends with her family on area trails, she said she’s never encountered the smoking problem.
More common, Davies said, is seeing members of the military helping build and maintain our trails.
“I think a lot of them are as enthusiastic about the trails as we are and a lot are giving back,” Davies said.
For example, in recent weeks Air Force Academy cadets have volunteered to perform maintenance projects. (I’ve posted photos on my blog of Cheney and of the cadets.)
“They’ve done miles of cleanup,” Davies said. “And we’ve had a lot of soldiers from Fort Carson doing trail work at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.”
Still, Cheney would like the military folks reigned in. Especially the smokers in camouflage.
“I wish they’d train somewhere else,” she said. “But I most wish they’d keep their cigarette butts, especially their lit cigarette butts, elsewhere. Like in their pockets.
“What can we do to ensure that these soldiers get strict instructions to pack their butts out and consequences if they don’t?”
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