I know Brad Burns had expressed his disfavor with that trail and indicated that he was interested in " putting it to bed " in his words. Also I learned through various conversations that Mike Castro was furious about "that trail ", " that trail " was traveled by all the " Bad " people who had not entered the area through the flawless screen of the Bowen Ranch Toll Gate. Yes, if only all the " Bad " people would pass through the Bowen Ranch and hence become good folk, after of course they payed thier toll tithe which ensures the cleansing process. The Reality is, that trail was walked by few compared to the masses that continuely come through the Bowen Ranch so each of you will make your own accessment as to why Castro considered " that trail " such a problem. Anyway, I don't know who did this destruction. If this was the USFS effort to " erase " a trail, I call it a dismal failure. I really find it hard to fathom that this would be the means the USFS would use to restore a landscape, by butchering the native plants in the vicinity of a small trail. As Laughing Bear indicated, someone with the ability to discern footprints should reasonably be able to recognize some prints of the person or persons who did this ugly deed, but matching those prints to a subject I think would be a difficult task. My friend Dan felt that the effort was an attempt to widden the trail but if you look at the damage, that idea just doesn't add up. I noticed boulders piled along the entrance to the trail at the top and big dead branchs piled on parts of it near its bottom. Also in various places you can see what looks to be some sort of damage done by a shovel in lengthy portions of the trail. Who ever did it, they destroyed decades old natural vegetation that provided a wonderful desert scene along a simple walking path. An insensitive and disappointing bit of destruction by any measure.
