Graffiti

[Lemni Skate]

I'm going to post one of my pet peeves. There is really nothing to be done about it so I'm just letting off steam.

I HATE graffiti in shelters (and on signs and other things along the trail). I don't really consider this a conservation thing as the shelters aren't natural, but I know how much work someone has put into the shelters and the graffiti seems to be disrespectful of the builders. AND it always snaps me out of my nature trance right back into civilization.

There are registers in the shelter in which we can write and it's pretty much anything goes. So I just don't understand people's desires to write on the shelter itself.

Graffiti on signs is even more irritating.

[fiddlehead]

It is another form of pollution.
To me it's not as bad as sound pollution or trash or black smoke pouring out of vehicles.

I sort of look at graffiti like those car racers who have graffiti splashed all over their cars and suits and stuff.
Up to them...................... Pretty ugly but it doesn't really bother me.

I guess it's easier to close your eyes than your ears, nose or mouth (breathing)

[Dr O]

kilroy was here

[Homer&Marje]

It's funny how the same people who bitch about how nasty shelters are and don't want to stay at them are the same people who will complain about the graffiti on the shelters.

Don't like it? Don't look at it.....don't stay there.....walk on past.

Shelters are an ugly box in the woods already. And I love them. Graffiti has been around in the human culture for thousands and thousands of years.

Roman gladiators used to carve pictures of themselves and their names on the walls of the Colosseum underground. Egyptians carved hieroglyphics on EVERYTHING. Don't ever go exploring old caves... the things those horrible people did to the wall 30,000 years ago might take you OUT OF NATURE too much.


Graffiti is HUMAN NATURE. I can't believe this argument is coming up again. Gonna be another fire storm for sure.

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[TrippinBTM]

Shelters are an ugly box in the woods already. And I love them. Graffiti has been around in the human culture for thousands and thousands of years.

Roman gladiators used to carve pictures of themselves and their names on the walls of the Colosseum underground. Egyptians carved hieroglyphics on EVERYTHING. Don't ever go exploring old caves... the things those horrible people did to the wall 30,000 years ago might take you OUT OF NATURE too much.

Graffiti is HUMAN NATURE.

I agree. It's cool to see the old ones, but for some reason people look down on the new stuff (need I mention Cubby 08?). I say it's alright, just as long as it's not on the trees, cuz that ain't cool. But in the shelter? Just good reading material. As Ed Abbey would call it, "the voice of the people" (mainly referring to bathroom grafitti, but same thing).

[Homer&Marje]

I agree. It's cool to see the old ones, but for some reason people look down on the new stuff (need I mention Cubby 08?). I say it's alright, just as long as it's not on the trees, cuz that ain't cool. But in the shelter? Just good reading material. As Ed Abbey would call it, "the voice of the people" (mainly referring to bathroom grafitti, but same thing).

I agree that I would prefer the trees be left alone but out west there are carvings on trees from local native americans that have been followed as maps of the woods for centuries.

White blazes are graffiti just so everyone knows. That makes purists the enjoyers of more graffiti than anyone HA!

[zoidfu]

A few weeks ago someone spray painted a giant phallus on the info board at the parking lot on 225. The lack of creativity was sickening

[emerald]

There is really nothing to be done about it so I'm just letting off steam.

There are things which can be done about it and more should be done. You have done something by making known to others how you feel about this issue. I'm not crazy about recurring threads since I'd rather see articles which are repeatedly linked or bumped by commenting upon them, but this is one I don't mind seeing every season.

I HATE graffiti in shelters (and on signs and other things along the trail). I know how much work someone has put into the shelters and the graffiti seems to be disrespectful of the builders.

Seems? It's more than disrespectful toward those who provide the recreational opportunity we call the AT. A significant portion of the labor is provided by volunteers. This form of appreciation strikes me as a slap in the face.

There are registers in the shelter in which we can write and it's pretty much anything goes. So I just don't understand people's desires to write on the shelter itself.

Graffiti on signs is even more irritating.

I don't know that "anything goes" is what's intended by maintaining organizations when they provide these registers, but what's written there not infrequently shows about as much restraint as exhibited by people who deface shelters, signage and beech trees on public property.

I sort of look at graffiti like those car racers who have graffiti splashed all over their cars and suits and stuff.
Up to them...................... Pretty ugly but it doesn't really bother me.

Bad analogy. Those who own the cars and other items you mention make a choice which is theirs to make for legitimate reasons including recognizing those who financially support them who then become known to race enthusiasts.

The AT isn't a motor sports race track. Visitors to public lands traversed by the AT seek an entirely different experience.

People who feel the need to express themselves with graffiti on these public lands should use their bodies, clothing and packs as their canvas where they have a right to put it. I might not like what I see, but I'd probably walk by them without comment although I would have that right.

Don't like it? Don't look at it.

I have taken issue with your statements on this subject before. Had I nothing better to do with my time, I would continue to respond to them until I take my last breath, but I have better things to do with my time. You shouldn't expect anything more from me this weekend other than what immediately follows.

Graffiti has been around in the human culture for thousands and thousands of years.

What you say is so, but that doesn't mean it's welcome on public or private property along the AT or that people who visit it are invited to share their artwork with other visitors who may not appreciate it and may even find it offensive.

If this artwork is really contributing something of value to society, put it in a museum where everyone can see it. Otherwise, display it on your own property or in your own home.

Graffiti is HUMAN NATURE.

So is urinating. Shelters aren't an appropriate place for it either.

[Homer&Marje]

So is urinating. Shelters aren't an appropriate place for it either.

But a tree of the side of the trail is? Your logic is skewed. Tear down every shelter and you'll stop the trend. That would be a shame for those who enjoy the three walls and a roof sometimes.

Don't care what's on the walls of a box in the middle of the woods. Again. Don't like it? Don't look at it....and walk on by.

[Lemni Skate]

The issue for me is respecting property...even public property. People give up a lot of time to build a shelter. Some people work their whole lives and when they die they have a little bit left to will to the ATC or one of the clubs and that pays for the shelter. Some of us pay dues and make other donations and then somebody defaces it. It doesn't matter whether I like shelters or not. If you want to write all over a shelter then buy some land, build a shelter on it and have at it. The it's human nature argument would mean we should tolerate people putting graffiti on anything. Why don't we just put it on your car, the local church, the local school, the rim of the Grand Canyon, or the White House?

Like I said, there's not much to do about it, but if I'm helping in a small way to finance the building of the shelters, I think it's okay for me to say I don't like the graffiti.

Next time I see somebody doing it, I'm going to ask them if I can write all over their tent or backpack.

[Alaskanhkr23]

As a graphic artist myself,I dislike How people draw,paint,carve things in the shelters,wiley is all carved up and drawn on.Why the need to do these things beats me,but i guess the people need attention

[Pedaling Fool]

But a tree of the side of the trail is? Your logic is skewed...

Keep digging that hole

[turtle fast]

Graffiti has no place on the shelters or on the landscape itself. Yes, I have seen the historical graffiti from the late 1800s and the 1910s carved on mountain top rocks, but was not the trail established to combine oneself with the WILDERNESS as much unspoiled as possible? To protect the area for future generations? I just love to see the giant marijuana leaf on a trail shelter along with male and female anatomy on the walls. Get real people....leave the shelters alone and especially the natural landscape. I hated to see spraypainted graffiti on the rock ledges by the NOC...the only ones and NEW!!!

[Skyline]

Those who don't have a problem with graffiti at shelters or on trail signs, or worse yet contribute to said graffiti, should be consistent.

They should also not mind when someone "tags" their own cars or their homes.

Someone spray painting or carving on a building, vehicle, sign, or anything else that doesn't legally and solely belong to them is a criminal act. Unless of course they have the express written consent of the owner(s).

In the case of shelters, the owners would be a combination of the maintaining trail club that built and maintains it, in tandem with the landowner which in most cases is a governmental unit.

In the case of their homes or vehicles, that would be the shelter graffiti vandals and their apologists themselves. Y'all gonna give me permission to "tag" your stuff?

[Chaco Taco]

A few weeks ago someone spray painted a giant phallus on the info board at the parking lot on 225. The lack of creativity was sickening

The lack of creativity with the shelter graffiti is sickening. All it is is someone writing there names.
Defacing something that does not belong to you and something that people work hard to build, whether you like them or not, is disrespectful. Walk by? Still have to see it when I walk by. It isnt art! Profanity and genitals are not art. So if you walk up on someone spray painting a shelter built by the Hardcore crew, you wouldnt say anything??

[Chaco Taco]

White blazes are graffiti just so everyone knows.

They are blazes!!! That is why they are called blazes!!! They arent called white graffiti.

[Purple]

do you suppose that the Native Americans were angry with their brothers when they scribed their names "history" on the rock walls in the west. I mean really ... what would we know about ancient tribes if it weren't for their "graffiti". What will men of the future know about us "hikers" hundreds of years from now. Just think maybe one day your great-great-great grandson/daughter will walk through a small park in the middle of town and see your name carved into a tree or on a log from a fallen shelter and say "THAT WAS MY GREAT_GREAT_GREAT GRANDFATHER/GRANDMOTHER!"

My husband carved our initials on an old oak in the park behind the Youth Museum on Paulsen Street in Savannah in 1984 when were first started dating. I went back there 8 years ago, after he died. The tree was gone, he is gone ... don't comdemn someone for creating "memories", it maybe all someone has left of a wonderful experience. After all, if it wasn't for the graffiti, how could some of the hikers prove they were ever there.

[Lone Wolf]

I'm going to post one of my pet peeves. There is really nothing to be done about it so I'm just letting off steam.

I HATE graffiti in shelters (and on signs and other things along the trail). I don't really consider this a conservation thing as the shelters aren't natural, but I know how much work someone has put into the shelters and the graffiti seems to be disrespectful of the builders. AND it always snaps me out of my nature trance right back into civilization.

There are registers in the shelter in which we can write and it's pretty much anything goes. So I just don't understand people's desires to write on the shelter itself.

Graffiti on signs is even more irritating.

i don't see the big deal.

[Hooch]

They are blazes!!! That is why they are called blazes!!! They arent called white graffiti.

Chaco, don't sweat homer, he's just a poor lonely troll looking for attention. All you end up doing is having a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

[shwn354]

Don't sweat the small stuff, and this definitely falls in that category