View Full Version : Graffiti on the trail
Madpaddy
03-21-2014, 11:07
My wife and I decided we were getting tired of hikin' up north in the snow, so we took a break last week, headed down to Harpers and spent two days hikin' up thru the great state of Maryland to the Mason Dixon Line. We had a blast and enjoyed 60 degree weather on Saturday. We had heard that some idiot(s) had painted graffiti all over a section of rock north along the trail and were unpleasantly surprised to come across it in person. I believe it's at High Rock near the overlook...couldn't quite place it on the map for sure....beautiful spot before you start the descent into PenMar.....maybe this has been posted on here before, but I couldn't find it......what a stain on such a beautiful place...we were shocked and don't shock easy as a rule. I get that art has many forms and interpretation and I'm not oblivious to seein' it on subways or rail cars when I see those thing, but to scar the tapestry of tens of thousands of years or however long it's taken to carve out the natural beauty with aerosol cans!!!. Before I retired they used to pay me to hit people in the ring for a livin' ...I wonder if I would have come out of retirement if I had come across the idiots that did this live? So I guess I went to anger about it and the misses was very sad. Can't police the trail for sure but get a grip people if you can hear me.
No doubt they should be fined and made to do community service if caught.
My next new invention will be some kind of spray that adheres to paint and rocks and grows some type of algae to camouflage the graffiti.
No doubt they should be fined and made to do community service if caught.
My next new invention will be some kind of spray that adheres to paint and rocks and grows some type of algae to camouflage the graffiti.
Maybe give the Chia Pet people a call :)
On a serious note. I despise graffiti no matter where I find it. It is simply a crime against peoples property. I truly despise it in nature and on public property. Graffiti is a symbol of disrespect no matter where it is found. It is sad to me that we so easily accept some peoples disrespect of others.
Bagge Pants
03-21-2014, 13:05
graffiti on natural landscapes is the worse kind and my stomach turns when I see it in an otherwise pristine spot.. hopefully they're kids/idiots who do it and they'll regret it at a certain point. I see a lot of year dates, like "'88" scratched huge into boulders. I'm happy that kind of stuff seems to not be popular with these recent years. But, we do still see people writing their names, usually small though. If an adult gets caught marring rocks/trees then we should throw the book at them, fine and short imprisonment. If they're, scratching their initials and a heart into a park bench then a fine and/or community service.
I think there is an article about this issue in one of the ATC online magazines. They mention this very place if my memory serves me correctly.
The graffiti article can be found on ATC's website at www.appalachiantrail.org/docs/atj/atj-january-february-2014.pdf (http://www.appalachiantrail.org/docs/atj/atj-january-february-2014.pdf).
Suppose the only reasonable thing we can do is hope to catch someone in the act. Than take the time to follow them at a safe distance to their car. Write down the plate number and pay a visit to the local police to fill out a complaint form. Than get to court and be a witness. The final outcome could than be placed in the hands of a judge. Wonder if it would be a Federal Complaint or local?
MDSection12
03-27-2014, 16:04
That's not new, or even close. High Rock has been a party spot for a long time, and with that comes graffiti. The really obnoxious one was when Black Rocks was covered last year. I haven't been back, but I heard most of it was cleaned up. I expect it when near roads, but when these idiots hike two miles with spray cans it really makes me angry.
Weather-man
03-27-2014, 16:21
I saw some bizarre graffiti just out of the NOC, maybe a mile or so NOBO. The "88" mentioned is Aryan Brotherhood slang for Heil Hitler as H is the eighth letter in the alphabet. That's sad on more levels than just defacing nature.
Took a pic of the graffiti out of the NOC. Caught me off guard but I guess it's close enough to the trail head where anything is possible.
26545
turtle fast
03-27-2014, 16:40
The offenders should be fined, and forced to tediously scrape off the paint for hours under supervision.
Hay Rock (about 4 miles south of Daleville/220 on the AT) used to be covered up in graffiti. Not sure what kind of paint was used to camouflage it, but it's remarkably effective. Light brown color that blends very well with the rock and doesn't catch your eye significantly.
High Rock has been covered with graffiti for as long as I can remember. It's located along a road with a parking area and sees lots of use.
But your point is well taken, graffiti is wrong.
Yankytyke
03-29-2014, 19:15
High Rock is the local make out spot. Been covered in graffiti for decades. It's just 1/4 mile from site s a Federal site so suprised that it's so popular.
worst graffiti that I saw recently was some idiot scraping off blazes & trying to paint fake ones. These I saw last week just off Rattlesnake Road in PA.
Teacher & Snacktime
03-29-2014, 19:27
The offenders should be fined, and forced to tediously scrape off the paint for hours under supervision.
The "88" taggers should be forced to watch live footage of Auschwitz and other camp liberations until the reality sinks in. Many of the kids who say they support these things have no real idea of what they're endorsing. A reality check might help....ala Scared Straight. THEN make them clean it up.
High Rock is the local make out spot. Been covered in graffiti for decades. It's just 1/4 mile from site s a Federal site so suprised that it's so popular.
worst graffiti that I saw recently was some idiot scraping off blazes & trying to paint fake ones. These I saw last week just off Rattlesnake Road in PA.
Did you report this to the ATC?
HikerMom58
03-29-2014, 19:40
Hay Rock (about 4 miles south of Daleville/220 on the AT) used to be covered up in graffiti. Not sure what kind of paint was used to camouflage it, but it's remarkably effective. Light brown color that blends very well with the rock and doesn't catch your eye significantly.
This is awesome news CalebJ. I just asked the hikers that hiked by there yesterday if they noticed all the graffiti on that rock. They didn't see any, they said. :banana The last time I went to Hay Rock, I felt sick looking at it... it was BAD!
MuddyWaters
03-29-2014, 19:41
I have heard of forest service personnel pressure washing graffiti off before.
There's probably 20 coats of alternating graffiti paint and the gray paint that covers it up on High Rock, MD. It's been like this as far back as I can remember.
Yankytyke
03-29-2014, 22:42
It's not bad enough that you'd get lost, just annoying. I've seen it in Gambrill state park down the road too on the Catoctin Trail. But your right I'll report it.
squeezebox
03-30-2014, 04:49
To hell with power washing etc, just push them off the edge
imscotty
04-29-2015, 13:21
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-graffiti-20150427-story.html#page=1
rocketsocks
04-29-2015, 13:55
what a bunch a idiots.
Pedaling Fool
04-29-2015, 14:13
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-graffiti-20150427-story.html#page=1
That's funny:)
I wonder if NPR and other like-minded news outlets will do a piece on the graffiti artists like they do on other graffiti artists, with the same accolades:Dhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=235570885
BirdBrain
04-29-2015, 14:15
There is a reason for this. I cannot type it here. When we go the way of the Roman Empire, we will all agree why. No words can be said to convince people now. No words will be necessary when it is all gone.
That's funny:)
I wonder if NPR and other like-minded news outlets will do a piece on the graffiti artists like they do on other graffiti artists, with the same accolades:Dhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=235570885
Only after been anointed as something special like Basquiat. Beauty is not in they eyes of the beholder, any more.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/arts-feature/9077681/collectors-love-him-critics-hate-him-what-do-you-think-of-jean-michel-basquiat/
Pedaling Fool
05-01-2015, 07:56
Interesting way to do graffiti http://www.bicycling.com/culture/commuting/wanksy-fights-potholes-penises?cid=NL_BIK_2107700_BIK_05012015_wanksy_pen ises
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/street-artist-wanksy-spray-paints-penises-around-potholes-to-get-them-filled-1.3055612
Warning, don't open links if you're easily offended by explicit art that depicts this :D
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/6/9/3/6/p1030742.jpg
imscotty
12-11-2016, 11:29
The First Case of Trail Graffiti?
I have been reading through my old Appalachian Trailway News and came across what may be the first report of AT graffiti problems. The following excerpt is from the January 1939 ATN, Vol. 1, No. 1 in the trail report section of Maine. It reads...
“In an effort to solve the problem of the defacing of the Trail Conference No. 1 sigh at the summit of Katahdin through the zeal of those who want to register, Mr. Edwards has proposed a summit register which will be installed at the time of the Conference. It is ,perhaps, too much to hope that this opportunity to write elsewhere will gain immunity for our sign. A.T.C. member Schmeckebier’s contribution in the form of a sign, “If you must write your name, write here,” apparently offended the sensibilities or excited the cupidity of some climbers, for both the sign and the post disappeared. It is unfortunate that the purpose of the sign could not have been understood, so that it would have been spared. A suitable post, to replace the present somewhat temporary post, is being made and will be installed with due ceremony at the time of the Conference.”
The Conference referred to here was the Ninth Appalachian Trail Conference which was to be held in August 1939 at Daicey Pond ‘under the shadow of Katahdin.’
The long view (from a geologist) is that the paint will wear away long before the rocks will, so their efforts were in vain.
saltysack
12-11-2016, 17:20
Interesting way to do graffiti http://www.bicycling.com/culture/commuting/wanksy-fights-potholes-penises?cid=NL_BIK_2107700_BIK_05012015_wanksy_pen ises
http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/street-artist-wanksy-spray-paints-penises-around-potholes-to-get-them-filled-1.3055612
Warning, don't open links if you're easily offended by explicit art that depicts this :D
http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/files/6/9/3/6/p1030742.jpg
Here the other.....[emoji15]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161211/9e5dc94e5d8b45296f03c84f5dbcb397.jpg
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
PatmanTN
12-11-2016, 17:58
ATC Graffiti:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Misc/i-sRJs3X6/0/XL/DSCN9718-XL.jpg
Lone Wolf
12-11-2016, 18:14
ATC Graffiti:
https://photos.smugmug.com/Misc/i-sRJs3X6/0/XL/DSCN9718-XL.jpg
exactly....
MuddyWaters
12-11-2016, 18:49
most common graffiti on the trail
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRtUyE6Czcr6oqH5CuRtt31_aPGug71D YqzAeToZIG4t68nP6D6
bstiffler
12-17-2016, 23:56
wasn't there a girl our west or in CA who was convicted of graffiti in multiple national parks and banned rom them a couple of years ago?
wasn't there a girl our west or in CA who was convicted of graffiti in multiple national parks and banned rom them a couple of years ago?
Yes. I don't recall the details of her punishment. Banned from National Parks for a few years and some other trivial stuff. Google knows.
Wayne
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
most common graffiti on the trail
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRtUyE6Czcr6oqH5CuRtt31_aPGug71D YqzAeToZIG4t68nP6D6
And let us not forget the trail itself. Thankfully, nature's always fighting to reclaim what's rightfully hers.