Hi fellow Outdoorsmen,

Today I wanted to chat a little bit about what I think is important for us: stewardship!

Hiking Trail Stewardship

I bet you're wondering what the hell I mean about stewardship? That has been something that I've been thinking about for several months now, but really started to act about it before I could determine what I meant.

In this area, what I'm referring to is trying to not only clean up the trails that we use for hiking, be it to just do hiking or often in my case, a little hike to get to a fishing spot with my son. That hiking and cleaning has many different aspects to it though, not just cleaning up the trash which is a given and obvious thing. What I've also been making a point of doing is keeping the trail in fucking check!

There is one thing that annoys me, and that's when a hiking trail gets really overgrown. I don't know if that's just a grumpy old man type of thing, but if I see w well worn hiking trail, one of the things that confuses me is why people let the shit at the periphery of the trail get out of hand?! It's a hiking trail, it's meant to be used. The least we could do is keep the trail a little bit manicured!

I think a little bit last year, but really starting this year, I've made it a point to always keep a pair of garden scissors with me when I'm out on my hikes! I trim those fucking trees and bushes back with a vengeance. I don't go nuts and trim it right down to the base and let the thing die. No I trim all of the branches that are facing the hiking path that are going to whack me in the face or hit my son when he's walking in front or behind me. I think this is an important thing that we can do to keep the trails in good working condition!

Not many people love to go down into an area and just go straight up bush whacking and creating their own hiking path. Yeah I enjoy it every now and then but for me, it's not as fun because I'm worried about the shit I can't see, namely the fucking ticks that are all over the damn place in that situation. At least on a hiking path, I have less chance of getting a tick because I'm walking along a path that's pretty well shaped and there usually isn't much to give the sons-a-bitches a spot to get into me. We also have been wearing a healthy layer of essential-oil based, DEET free bug spray that supposedly the ticks hate. I have had good luck with it so far, and namely the little man has been good with it as well so that's a win.

To the original thought about the post though, I think that it's important for us to take care of the hiking trails, the fishing spots, the places that we like to go and that means not only cleaning up the human trash but also doing a good job of keeping the trees and nature elements at bay. We all know how quickly nature tends to grow back, so it's important to be able to take a hiking path and just walk on it with our pair of scissors and just clip the things that are going to hit us. I think this type of management is also healthy and helpful for the trees. I think when we actively shape a plant like a tree, it helps them grow in directions that do not get in the way of things that don't want it there, such as humans for example.

The main thing I have to do now is get the little man a pair of his own scissors! He is always taking mine which is fine with me, except that I'm always going back on the trail or fishing spot and cleaning up the stuff that he couldn't reach just yet lol. He's growing like a weed himself though, so it won't be very long before he will be as tall as me, and taller!

What do others think, am I wrong in thinking that we should be actively managing these wonderful natural areas? Or should we let it go wild and have us adjust to the wild element of it?

^-CmplXty. _{Real human written content, never AI.}

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