High Sierra Topix

A Washington hiker and mountain biker, both in their 60s, got into a brawl on a trail, leaving one in the hospital and the other in handcuffs, according to the local sheriff’s department.

Deputies arrived at a trail off Y Road in Whatcom County, about 115 miles north of Seattle and near the border with Canada, on a Saturday afternoon to respond to reports of a group fight and a stabbing.

They found Dake Traphagen, a 69-year-old from Bellingham, and a group of other hikers, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.

Traphagen told investigators that there had been an argument over right-of-way usage of the trail when the group was walking down and the biker was riding up, they said.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/washington-h ... %20Text%29

I am old enough to remember motorcycles in areas that later became wilderness. As a boy, we camped at Sheep Lake in the Seven Devils in Idaho, that did not become a wilderness until 1975. This lake in in a high cirque. One day a motorcyclist came over a high cross country pass, and rode down the scree all the way to the lake. It was a small cycle and he had to lug it over a talus field to get back to the trail, but he managed it.

If motorcyclists would do crazy stunts like that--and they did--how much more would bikers do with cycles that are light enough to "portage" around significant barriers?

Not to derail, but this issue brings to my mind something that I have wondered about for years - the status of dogs in wilderness areas.

Everyone who camps and owns dogs loves to bring their dog along. State and National Parks ban them from trails based on the risk of environmental impact. But since they are permitted in National Forests one can do the emperical "border study" and notice that, e.g., Ansel Adams Wilderness does not seem to suffer from more environmental impact than SEKI as a result of dogs (or comparing, say, La Tuna Park to Topanga State Park, and so on).

I wonder if anyone is aware of any policy movement to allow dogs in more backcountry areas? Is this something dog owners are organized about to any degree?

It goes without saying they must be on a leash, and I would even support requiring some kind of special permit with an educational component to the campfire permit process. Or even posting a special fee for environmental mitigation, if neccisary.

Every dog I've seen in Inyo over Piute pass was off leash. Day hikers/trailrunners. Mine will be on a leash until we hit the turnoff to Deso.
After that YOYO. He will have a remote collar in vibrate which he responds to well. It really depends on who we run into and how well behaved they are. It is the mules you have to worry about with dog.

Please stay on topic. Thanks.