This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Ranger Smiley Dave Extinguishing the Fire
Photo Credit: Ranger Bob Elsinger

This morning, I hiked up the Millbrook Ridge Trail to get up to Hawk Watch to help with the daily count. When I got up to the Viewing Area, I looked toward the south as the trail continues towards Millbrook Mountain and I saw three teenage to college-aged kids (2 males and 1 female) trying to head down the Millbrook Ridge Trail back down to Trapps Road. But not only were they just trying to bushwhack and not using the actual trail (clue #1), but they were carrying large backpacks with an exposed tent bag and large rolled up sleeping bags (clue #2). When they were slipping and sliding down on the "Not the trail" path they were going, I mentioned to them to stop and follow the blue blazes so they could safely get down to the Trapps Road. The girl replied, they were fine and that they went this way yesterday. After hearing that, I asked them, "Oh so did you camp up here YESTERDAY, cause you know camping is NOT allowed on the Preserve." And clearly said, no. Then I stated, "Oh, so carrying around a tent and sleeping bag on all your day hikes is a thing..well that's bold. No camping is allowed." Then she gave me a dirty look and continued down the trail with the two males. 

Bahh, seeing people like that and interacting with people like that really makes me so aggravated with how people do not follow rules and really do not respect wild places and the outdoors where other people also recreate. After they headed down the trail, I texted a ranger letting them know what had just happened and went about my HawkWatching til noon. When I left, I got a text from the ranger I alerted earlier asking more about the three hikers I had seen that morning. Confused, I responded asking why. And their response was that there was smoke being observed on the Ridge and was called in from people in town (in the Foothills). When the rangers responded to the call, they discovered that a fire was made 300-yards south of the Hawk Watch and it was still smoldering (not properly put out) and whoever made it used green wood (which made it so smokey). Bahhhh, hearing that made me even more aggravated and I was totally kicking myself to not have acted more on this situation. Not that I could have done more than try and hold them in the spot I saw them in or follow them down to the parking lot and call a ranger, but how was I supposed to know a fire was also made?! I did not see or smell smoke from Hawk Watch. People like that are the reason why we have some fires on the Ridge that are not natural and why we cannot have nice things. I wish people would learn and respect the outdoors the way most of us outdoor enthusiasts and recreationalists do.

TheChristyBel