Shelter Graffiti

[emerald]

One of the reasons we know about the development of our ancestors minds is the graffitti they left on the caves they slept in.

No shelters will last as long as those caves where ancient troglodytes dwelled, not even the shelter on Blood Mountain. We have books, photographs, libraries and art galleries for that purpose.

graffitti is cool...certainly no worse a blight on the woods than the shelter itself.

Bulldawg, see post fragment immediately above for an example of a trolling post.

Mags, note how I quoted bfitz.

bfitz, hope you enjoyed your visit to Eagle's Nest Shelter. Thanks for using its register to record your visit.

We all know the purpose of shelters is to concentrate impacts upon an area chosen for its ability to absorb those impacts and thus discourage spreading the "blight" throughout heavily visited areas by those who don't know or refuse to employ LNT techniques.

[Lone Wolf]

wow. can't wait to write on a shelter soon. 99.9% of you won't see it.

[Mags]

Mags, note how I quoted bfitz.

Er sure. Good for you. You get the gold star. Congrats.

Until tomorrow boys. My shift is over..and so is this crappy day..

[emerald]

May tomorrow be better!

[Lone Wolf]

May tomorrow be better!

if you hiked any, maybe you would understand how the trail works, kid

[emerald]

Good night, Wolf.

[Lone Wolf]

Good night, Wolf.

so far, yes. you wanna discuss walkin' the woods? somethin' you obviously don't do? start askin'

[weary]

so far, yes. you wanna discuss walkin' the woods? somethin' you obviously don't do? start askin'

Come on, LW. It's just walking. What's to discuss?

Weary

[bfitz]

Bfitz:

Glad to see you so enthused about the prospect of graffitti bedecked trail shelters.

But tell us.....instead of tagging shelters in, say, Northern Virginia, what if these exact same "artists" decided to decorate private homes in Northern Virginia. Homes like yours, for example?

Would your enthusiasm for graffitti art be so fevered in this case, or would your advocacy of freedom of expression thru grafitti be at all dampened?

And if so, i.e. if you would NOT like to see your family's home decorated thusly, then why on earth do you think anyone wants to see a trail shelter treated this way?

At the end of the day, Bfitz, what's the difference?

Eh...all good questions...and there's a lot of different graffiti, can't say I've had equal appreciation for every piece I've seen, and the difference might be precisely that it's not my property. I'm sure plenty of folks didn't like it in ancient Rome either. But that's not exactly my point. I'm saying it's the nature of the beast...and I don't really mind. You wont ever catch me doing it though. If you know what I mean.

[Homer&Marje]

So if I'm reading this right then the maintainers in Georgia who put a fresh coat of gray paint over cartoon drawings of a mouse with a large penis and a multitude of scribbled notes speculating on the sexual orientation of other hikers thought they were doing a public service and were making good use of their volunteer hours.

But future art connoisseurs will consider that a desecration of significant cultural expressions? Well, I guess anything's possible. That's laying a big guilt trip on them, man. Being the sensitive sorts that they are, it's a wonder they can sleep at night.

I ain't seen any murals. Those efforts must be saved for another state or something. Maybe the GATC should be offended. Our shelters aren't good enough for trailside Michelangelos? What's wrong with us?

Because there aren't any murals, that I know of. Good observation of the obvious, but if an artist chooses one day to use a rock face for just that, I won't stop them.

I would rather the trail maintainers focus on things like, fixing the steps at Kay Wood Shelter so next summer if I go back it won't collapse on me and almost break my ankle. I never said that I agree that ALL of the drawings are appropriate, but sorry that's human nature to decide what is appropriate at the "current moment in time"

If it offends you. Look away. That's what I do. And if there is something I don't want my little brother in law to see I ask him not to look because it's rude and crude....and he listens and understands. But I also allow him to put his initials on a shelter wall if he wants to.

Imagine the scientific significance if someone today were to find a wooden shelter buried in the ground for hundreds of years, only to excavate it and find it covered in carvings with peoples names, dates, events, and drawings. The scientific community would, pardon my french, **** a brick.

Stonehenge isn't pretty by the way. Life is about perspective.

[mudhead]

Why do you feel Stonehenge is unattractive?

[Homer&Marje]

Because I have been there. Why do people find shelter Graffiti unattractive?

Did not say stonehenge was not amazing, a fantastic experience, mind blowing calculations on how druids got these massive pieces of stone to where they are. I said. It's unattractive. But it has cultural significance thousands of years later.

[sherrill]

Bfitz:

Glad to see you so enthused about the prospect of graffitti bedecked trail shelters.

But tell us.....instead of tagging shelters in, say, Northern Virginia, what if these exact same "artists" decided to decorate private homes in Northern Virginia. Homes like yours, for example?

Would your enthusiasm for graffitti art be so fevered in this case, or would your advocacy of freedom of expression thru grafitti be at all dampened?

And if so, i.e. if you would NOT like to see your family's home decorated thusly, then why on earth do you think anyone wants to see a trail shelter treated this way?

At the end of the day, Bfitz, what's the difference?

Isn't the difference that your home is private property? At minimum, trespassing could be cited.

Some cities and counties have graffiti laws that try to prevent defacing public property or at least give them legal grounds for prosecution.

Is a shelter considered public property? If not, who is considered the owner? Isn't it up to them to decide how to protect their property if graffiti is considered vandalism?

[saimyoji]

Some cities and counties have graffiti laws that try to prevent defacing public property or at least give them legal grounds for prosecution.

Yes, a good caning is in order. line 'em up.

[Lone Wolf]

looking forward to doing my first shelter carving this coming new year's at springer mtn. shelter

[NICKTHEGREEK]

looking forward to doing my first shelter carving this coming new year's at springer mtn. shelter

How much more can you screw up a shelter? Kinda like asking if skunk turds stink I guess.

[Lyle]

I do not contribute to graffiti in any setting, but I can appreciate some of it, if it is well done. Case in point, I ran across a very impressive cartoon in a shelter on Isle Royale years back. It was a 2' x 4' colour drawing of a "Wanted" moose. Very humerus, attractive, well drawn, and in no way offensive. I'm sure many parents pointed it out to their young children. I took a photo of it, but have not scanned it for sharing. While this was a very elaborate example, I also enjoy some of the other, less talented examples.

I do not care to encourage graffiti, but I can appreciate some of the well-done, non-offensive items. In general, most of it does not offend me.

[Lone Wolf]

i've been here http://www.nps.gov/elmo/

[Gumbi]

it must be great to have so much free time to bicker about something so inconsequential. that flotilla of trash is still out there spinning....

LOL You crack me up!

[mudhead]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:D...oord1850_e.jpg