Re[3]: [at-l] ATC ad policy

[Bob Cummings <ellen@clinic.net> (Bob Cummings)]

"what is your position on shelters and privies?" asks Kahley.

I think of them as necessary evils in that they serve to concentrate hikers and thus help avoid the
"sprawl" of random campsites. But I do not believe the limited civilizing impact of open shelters
and crude privies in anyway justify cluttering up the shelter walls and the trail with advertising
signs.

I totally reject the argument I hear again and again that because some things cause harm, the
intrusion of other harmful things is justified. The fact that lug-soled boots contribute to soil
erosion in no way justifies the use of mountain bikes and sharp-pointed hiking sticks. Nor does the
natural talking, singing, clanging of pots, that occurs when hikers gather at a shelter, justify the
intrusion of cell phones and boom boxes.

Weary