Sycamore, This Saturday Ron showed me a drafted letter, that supposedly you people at the meeting decided should be sent to Brad. By my understanding, this letter suggested to the USFS that since the Route # 3 trail will continue to used by certain folks, that the DCV group will offer to help the USFS put this trail in a condition acceptable to them, and will not, as a group, advertise this access route. Now I see what you discuss above is contrary to that ? The Route 3 trail has " never " been a threat to the springs. Few people use it. The vast majority of the visitors to DCHS go through the Bowen Ranch, the vast majority of anybody who does degrading acts to DCHS, comes through the Bowen Ranch. This has just shown itself to be another fantasy scenario, which emenates from the Bowen Ranch Business. I wonder Sycamore, have you ever walked the Route 3 trail, did you see " anyone " if you did. Did it feel dangerous to you :-) The fact is the USFS Parking lot, at the beginning of 3W02 is isolated since essentially Route 4 to Route 3 is the only route of real consideration to it. A route that is four wheel drive territory past the parking area of the Route 3 trail. For those that do not wish to pay some local, private landowner money to go to the public place of DCHS, Route 4, to Route 3, and hiking the Route 3 trail makes complete sense. Now I've heard the bogus arguments about how this way of going makes things to easy. Thats nonsense, you Sycamore, and your buds, are hiking to DCHS by the easiest, and fastest route. It takes longer to reach DCHS by driving the 3+ miles around the Ranch and then hiking the Route 3 trail. Thats a lame argument. Also, the Route 3 trail, on any of its length, does not present an errosion problem, especially to the Bowen Ranch trail. I have seen that little draw, where the Route 3 trail goes up a couple hundred feet in elevation to the small ridge above, in extreme rain condition, like you have never seen Sycamore. Extensive El Nino winter rains, and the worst of all by far, occasional huge thunderstorms, like the one that brought all the black mud in to Deep Creek a few years ago. I was there that day, one half hour after this storm went through then proceeded off to the east. There were still big piles of hail all around. The canyon the Route 3 trail follows was way over the natural banks with runoff. Nothing associated with winter storms compares to that kind of erosion. The canyon that the Bowen Ranch trail follows had numerous waterfalls cascading, and it eroded so much material that it temporarily blocked the flow of Deep Creek where they meet. The hillsides in the whole are had signs of errosion that was amazing to see. I walked down the way of the Route 3 trail that day. What did I find where this Route meets the Bowen Ranch trail on that grand day of enormous errosion. What did I find Sycamore, nothing. Not even so much as a gully from that small draw. The gully is not long enough to get any significant errosion or damage. That hillside consists of very porous, sand like materials which absorb water very quickly, any amounts of rain. This nonsense that the Route 3 trail is going going to cause the Bowen Ranch trail to get wiped out and both trails, like some Malibu Mud flow will go sliding down the hill in disaster is pure fantasy, it ain't gonna happen, ever. So your little Bowen Ranch Cheerleading club will continue to spin your web of fantasies about the merits, and the dangers, presented by this trail, but the reality is that it presents a reasonable walking path for those accessing around the Bowen Ranch. The USFS, will decide what is in thier best interst regarding this trail, as for me, I have a variety of access options, and only use this trail occasionally these days. I do not depend on this trail, that the Bowen Ranch Crew, is so eager, for obvious reasons, to see eliminated as an access option.
