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Baxter State Park - New permit requirements for A.T. hikers

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    • Astro wrote:

      meat wrote:

      To be honest, none this phases me, it's been comin' for a few years now...no one should be super surprised.
      That is because you do not plan to complete a 2,189 mile hike this year.
      I guess it is my fault, I should have just hiked faster. :)
      Astro, your finish is going to be perfect. You must be so excited.

      FWIW, I think the real problem's will manifest in the next few years, this is probably a good year for you to finish.
      Lost in the right direction.

    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      meat wrote:

      To be honest, none this phases me, it's been comin' for a few years now...no one should be super surprised.
      That is because you do not plan to complete a 2,189 mile hike this year.I guess it is my fault, I should have just hiked faster. :)
      Astro, your finish is going to be perfect. You must be so excited.
      FWIW, I think the real problem's will manifest in the next few years, this is probably a good year for you to finish.
      TJ, Thanks for the positive perspective.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • IMScotty wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      My concern is more about the time than the $. Even though I am planning a week buffer, I am afraid that might get used up, and will be needing to get back on time.
      When do you plan on hiking? As a section hiker you should be able to beat the crowd. You should also consider reserving a campsite in the park. As a section hiker you should be able to control your arrival time better. When I do this I hope to be able to reserve a night at Chimney Pond at the finish. I think ending the hike with a walk over the 'Knife Edge' would be spectacular.
      If I am available I would be happy to help you with rides from Boston if you wish. I am planning my own hike, but I should be around until July 15th I think.
      I am planning to start in Hanover, NH on 6/25 (probably fly in to Boston on Saturday 6/24). Goal is to finish 8/4 averaging 10.5 miles a day. Never taken a Zero so far, but may if the weather is bad on a tough spot. Would like to be done by 8/11 (so a little bit of a buffer), and definitely have to by 8/17.

      I am sure the Knife Edge would be spectacular, but I believe it is a ways above my skill level.

      Thanks so much for the offer! I will send a message to you as we get a few months closer to see if you are still available. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • Okay, all seriousness aside...

      These are my recommendations for the leadership of the ATC about the situation at Baxter State Park:

      1) ATC Leadership -- Stop being so completely naive. You should know by now, already even, your amicable efforts have been for naught. I'll spell this out for you in plain English -- this isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing up north -- it's a viper up your pants leg. Bissell is intent on destroying the north end of the Appalachian Trail and already has a plan in place to accomplish that task. Motivation? Just to satisfy his ego, make his claim to fame and cement his legacy at the expense of the ATC and certainly to the detriment of the Appalachian Trail. Shut him down. Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.

      2) ATC Leadership -- Stop thinking about retirement. Get your can in gear. Protect the Appalachian Trail from any and all tinhorn sheriffs running you ragged, running you in circles, making you look like the fools you have been. Instead, act leader-like. Impose your will on any and all tinhorn sheriffs et. al. Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.

      3) ATC Leadership -- Begin insisting on copious notes being taken by staff and board members -- telephone calls, meeting notes, internal discussions. Everything. Not the usual "we had Kool-Aid and it tasted great with the donuts." The situation up north, in case you don't already know, it's gonna go bad. You in the ATC leadership trying to be friendly and be a get-along, back-slapping group is to the great detriment of your duty. What you've seen up north is just the start. Build the file so anyone in the future knows of your tireless effort to get the guy up north to come to a workable solution. When he doesn't, have the supporting documentation showing you have done all you could and you now need will imposed. Then request it -- make the request to have your will be imposed. Stop being run ragged by being the nice guys in the equation. Impose will. Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.

      4) ATC Leadership -- A few people from the Attorney General's office along with the appropriate Senators beats a nutcase Governor, a tinhorn sheriff and two pair any day. Get things lined up -- get prepared -- get your ducks in a row. Take the gloves off. Don't wait -- get stuff done today, not tomorrow, not next week or next month. Protect the Appalachian Trail.

      Do Your Job.


      Datto

    • I am 100% against any crazy nutball idea about moving the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail from Baxter Peak on Katahdin.

      Why change in order to just settle for some ugly stepsister mountain when the Princess is at hand? Just so a crazy park ranger can get famous?

      Instead, resist. Resist the tinhorn sheriff up there at Baxter who's just trying to create a name for himself.

      Shut him down. Impose will on the clod. Set him straight on what he's going to be doing, then check to make sure he does it.

      ATC Leadership -- Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.


      Datto

    • I believe the ATC has focused on promoting the trail over managing for to long. Note sure if nubers = funding.

      Baxter is a quasi-State Park. Set up for preservation of wilderness formost. Their ball, their rules" Bissel has no reason to cooperate with the ATC. Tension had started bwfore Jurick & ATC promotion of his hike kinda spurred this fight. Numbers are likely to keep climbing. Most hikers are not the problem, just a small percentage of "entitled ones" whom consider rules don't apply to them. This is made more visible via social media. Even the ATC demanding data for the cap. Baxter is pretty close to a private property. Owned by the state but manged by seperate board due to deed.

      I just hope powers to be can work to find a solution. Numbers need to be limited to a sustainable number. Yet the ATC & ALDHA promotes a number of celebratins along the trail that concentrates them. Eliminate support fo kick off & trail days. Support & recognize side routes, like BMT. I firmly believe in a joint use permitas I mentioned previously.

      In my opinion ATC continual promotion of the trail is like overbooking an airline. Call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye.

    • Okay, envision me as Tom Hanks in the movie "Big"...."I don't get it".....I don't need the merit badge for completing 2100 miles...if I did 2050, or whatever, made friends for life, survived all the shyt you have to endure, had a time of my life and made memories to keep until they plant me in the ground...I'm satisfied.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • I prefer to judge a person as/when I meet them. Sometimrs sterotypes are true, ut more often not. I was raised in New england in MA. I don't have the Boston nasal accent. I have learned that all white people from the south don't belong to the KKK. I EVEN MET SOME THAT HATE OKRA! Since moving south I learned I no longer qualify as a Yankee. That term is reserved for visitors. Since I moved there I am a :Damn Yankee". I traveled extensively throughout this country & found we all have something in common. If you traet each other with respect you will get the same in return. I've spent time drinking with workers like me to mega rich. We all want the same things in life. Mostly providing better life for offspring. Even in standoffish areas, most want the same things & just think it's best kept private.

    • LIhikers wrote:

      Does that mean you don't want us to take any of your posts seriously????

      I'm always a pretty serious guy -- count on seriousness. Below is the hiker shuttle I was talking about for Baxter. The two ladies that own this shuttle service are very hiker friendly too. They're planning on having a special hiker offering called the Baxter Peak-A-Booty Package. Two nights in a bunkhouse and rides with The Booty back and forth all the way to Millinocket. As an extra bonus since there's no cell service in Baxter, waiting hikers can just listen for the faint sound of Can't Touch This from over the hill at Katahdin Stream Campground. It'll be like neighborhood kids running for the ice cream truck.

      Now before m'man Jensen goes off half... I mean, gets upset, I already have suggestions for the re-write of Baxter Rule 1.3 -- "Champagne, parachute pants and touching are prohibited. No exceptions."

      Datto

    • Honestly, if you guys don't take advantage of their Booty Rewards program, you are missing out. I keep my Booty Card zip-tied to the strap on my hiking pole just so it's always handy.

      I had forgotten about that ZUP license plate. We must have laughed for a half an hour afterward. No more difficult hitch-hikes for us -- we'd simply hike to The Booty.


      Datto

    • this is really a minor problem; ya get to BSP and you either finish or you don't. and if ya don't ya come back later and do so.

      there is the possibility of a much bigger problem that would affect hikers more.

      if the GSMNP ever required thru hikers to meet the same rules and regulations as all other hikers it would stop thru hikers in their tracks.

      right now everybody -- except thru's -- have to reserve a specific shelter on a specific day.

      thrus get a permit that basically gives em 8 days to get thru the park. stay at any shelter they want. and if its full -- camp nearby. no other class of hiker can do that.

      so what happens to the thru who can't get into the park? can't really hike around it. it's a mighty long shuttle; ya wouldn't want to road walk it.
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • Astro wrote:

      I was planning on having my middle son and best friend meet me at Baxter to summit in August.
      Now it looks like it might be better to drop that and just plan to wing it with the other hikers.
      NO, please don't abandon your plan. I have full confidence that it will work out. You definitely don't want to regret not having this special time/venture with your son that you will both treasure for the rest of your lives!!!

      Datto wrote:

      Okay, all seriousness aside...

      These are my recommendations for the leadership of the ATC about the situation at Baxter State Park:

      1) ATC Leadership -- Stop being so completely naive. You should know by now, already even, your amicable efforts have been for naught. I'll spell this out for you in plain English -- this isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing up north -- it's a viper up your pants leg. Bissell is intent on destroying the north end of the Appalachian Trail and already has a plan in place to accomplish that task. Motivation? Just to satisfy his ego, make his claim to fame and cement his legacy at the expense of the ATC and certainly to the detriment of the Appalachian Trail. Shut him down. Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.
      When I read the attached document from BSP, one of my thoughts is that whoever wrote that is mimicking someone who lies with impunity . . . er loves using alternative facts.

    • Trillium wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      I was planning on having my middle son and best friend meet me at Baxter to summit in August.
      Now it looks like it might be better to drop that and just plan to wing it with the other hikers.
      NO, please don't abandon your plan. I have full confidence that it will work out. You definitely don't want to regret not having this special time/venture with your son that you will both treasure for the rest of your lives!!!

      Datto wrote:

      Okay, all seriousness aside...

      These are my recommendations for the leadership of the ATC about the situation at Baxter State Park:

      1) ATC Leadership -- Stop being so completely naive. You should know by now, already even, your amicable efforts have been for naught. I'll spell this out for you in plain English -- this isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing up north -- it's a viper up your pants leg. Bissell is intent on destroying the north end of the Appalachian Trail and already has a plan in place to accomplish that task. Motivation? Just to satisfy his ego, make his claim to fame and cement his legacy at the expense of the ATC and certainly to the detriment of the Appalachian Trail. Shut him down. Protect the Appalachian Trail. Do Your Job.
      When I read the attached document from BSP, one of my thoughts is that whoever wrote that is mimicking someone who lies with impunity . . . er loves using alternative facts.
      They may have learned that from the news media.
      I may grow old but I'll never grow up.

    • It's past 5pm ET again. Has anyone seen the ATC's backbone? It's probably around here someplace. Look in the closet where the trail smoothers are kept -- see if it's hanging on the wall to the left.

      Not there? Huh. We'd better order another from Amazon. Who's got Prime?

      Hey, if it shows up on eBay, someone let me know.

      ATC Leadership -- What are you going to do when that Bohemian corporal up north wakes up in a bad mood one day -- and no one without a Maine driver's license is allowed to climb Katahdin?

      If you phone it in and walk away from Katahdin you'll be seen as the negligent derelicts who gave it away.

      I'll make this easy for you. No other place in Maine -- now or in the future -- is worth a hoot as the endpoint to the greatest footpath in the world. Don't spend a moment looking for a Katahdin replacement.

      Stand up and protect the Appalachian Trail. Stop wussyfooting around.

      Do Your Job.


      Datto

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Datto ().

    • ATC Leadership -- How hard can this be?? Put out a statement on the ATC website saying this:

      "The Appalachian Trail Conservancy will protect and defend free passage by AT hikers on the existing Appalachian Trail corridor from the Abol Bridge area to Baxter Peak on Mt. Katahdin."

      Done.

      Do Your Job.


      Datto

    • Datto wrote:



      I'll make this easy for you. No other place in Maine -- now or in the future -- is worth a hoot. Don't spend a moment looking for a Katahdin replacement.
      puhleeze. while i hope that K remains the terminus, to say that no other place in maine is worth a hoot is patently ridiculous. maine is a beautiful state and there are plenty of alternatives if it comes to that. if K goes away in about 10 years people will miss it about as much as they miss mt. oglethorpe.
      2,000 miler

    • max.patch wrote:

      f K goes away in about 10 years people will miss it about as much as they miss mt. oglethorpe.

      Ha, you're joking, right? Of course you are. Yoo finny guy.

      Well I suppose we can also just round off the Boston Marathon to an even 26.0 miles and skip those last few hundred insignificant yards to the finish. Who would care in Boston, right?

      And let's also move the finish line for the Indy 500 out on Speedway Avenue someplace and just call it the Indy 470. Who would care, right? I mean, Speedway Avenue is pretty nice.

      And we could get ADM to pay for the change necessary to call it the Amber Waves Of Beans to promote the Textured Vegetable Protein Act Of 1999. Furthermore...

      There's this strong idea of tradition in America. Somewhere you have to draw the line to indiscriminate change manipulated by only a few for their own special purposes.

      This is that point.

      Katahdin has been the designated northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail for more than seventy years. And just because an insignificant podunk park ranger wants to make a name for himself with the people of Maine you're saying we should walk away from "The Greatest Mountain"? Whaashicht! Excuse me, I had a loose booger at your joking idea. Let me clean that off for you with a Tide schtick.

      For AT hikers who've never seen Katahdin, that mountain is massive on the distant horizon (literally and figuratively). It's the highest mountain in the state of Maine. On a clear day you can see Katahdin from well over a hundred miles away. Any other place in Maine is a peanut and a who-cares in comparison. What AT hiker in their right mind would settle for an also-ran, who-cares peanut? What AT hiker in their right mind wouldn't laugh at that podunk park ranger and give him the ol' Mustard-&-Custard-You while busting out laughing. He's a dick.

      Katahdin is the one and only spot for the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Period.

      Make that Bohemian corporal wannabee up north comply with free passageway for AT hikers from the Abol Bridge area to Baxter Peak on Mt. Katahdin. Then make him pay for keeping the corridor free and clear of any and all obstructions including his mouth. In fact, I'll call up there to Baxter and hang the phone up on him just so he knows who's boss.

      We'll let ADM fiddle with the Maine peanuts if they want to. Katahdin and the AT corridor inside Baxter stay as-is.


      Datto

      The post was edited 2 times, last by Datto ().

    • jimmyjam wrote:

      Da Wolf wrote:

      move the terminus
      move it after I finish. then I'll have a good excuse to tell the wife why I need to do it again.:-)
      JJ, that is the same thing I was thinking.

      Finish at the Big K this year, then if I can arrange a 2020 Thru I am more than willing to do something else.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General

    • datto, you do not seem to understand that if the ATC goes in with both guns blazing and starts telling BSP how to run their park, that the logical BSP response will be to do away with the 3,150 exceptions they are making available to thru-hikers and make thru-hikers follow the same rules of access as everyone else. then where ya gonna be?

      the ATC and BSP need to come up with a plan that is acceptable to both. if not, then this is a legal issue that is gonna be settled in a court of law argued by $500 an hour attorneys. i'm no attorney, but i can predict how this is gonna play out.

      the ATC argues that the AT is a national scenic trail with the termini at springer and katahdin and that access to both must be made available to all.

      BSP argues that they are proud to have K as the northern terminus, and any thru hiker than wants to climb K can do so just like any other individual, and they have the right to determine the procedures that allow access to the park.

      the court is gonna rule that K remains as the northern terminus. they also rule the BSP has the right to manage the park as they see fit and that thru-hikers can not be discriminated against. they will allow BSP to require thru-hikers to meet the same criteria to climb K as everyone else; i.e. the 3,150 exceptions are not required to be offered by BSP.
      2,000 miler

    • A reasonable analysis of the situation Max.

      But really Datto, cannot we all just try to get along. The mentality that thru-hikers deserve special treatment over everyone else is what got us in this pickle to begin with. It is nice to receive special treatment, and both the Smokies and BSP have been accommodating in the past. Rather than wear out our welcome, perhaps we should just try to get along and let the ATC keep working with these entities to get them to accommodate the special needs of AT hikers as best they can.

      Now is not the time for the nuclear option.
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”

      John Greenleaf Whittier

    • Here's why being soft with Bissell & Company will never work.

      Bissell has been an AT Hiker-Hater for a decade. He's the Anti-AT Hiker. He is making the ATC Leadership, the nice guys, look like fools. That is his long-term plan in order to cement his glorious legacy -- he wants to be known as the guy who kicked the AT out of Baxter to preserve it only for the people from Maine (Outsiders Not Welcome Here). His predecessor was the same and I witnessed aggressive, severe anti-AT ranting behavior for no reason -- on more than one occasion from that previous maniac. Both have been / are determined to ruin the AT -- both are cut of the same cloth. The current rube up north is just a little more cagey than his predecessor but certainly of the same ilk. The ATC is just now, just recently, trying to come to terms all of this. Finally.

      Q: Why does the ATC keep hitting itself in the leg?
      A: It feels good when they stop.


      Here's why being soft with the ATC Leadership won't likely work.

      The people who compose the leadership of the ATC are very naive and easy manipulated. I don't mean the ATC Leadership is dumb. Rather they're just not worldly in dealing with podunk maniacs and Bohemian corporal wannabees. That's why the ATC is being spun around like a marionette by Bissell & Company. It's become so apparent during the last year+ since I first made the claim Bissell & Company is trying to ruin the AT. Even more so today -- at an accelerated rate. Bissell's probably coming up on his idea of retirement soon and he doesn't want to leave office until the AT is kicked out of Baxter. There is a hint -- just a hint -- the ATC may be realizing this is true and the ramifications of what that may mean. There is no time to lose -- Bissell has already shown he can easily fool the ATC Leadership so there can not be any let-up on getting the ATC Leadership in gear to take a stand and Protect The Appalachian Trail. The ATC Leadership must make handling the "Bissell Situation" (it's not really a Baxter situation) their Number One Priority for 2017 and move quickly to prevent Bissell from trying to destroy the Appalachian Trail in the north.

      Here's why retaining Katahdin as the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail the only option for the ATC Leadership to consider.

      The weak will always believe doing the right thing is too difficult.

      1) There is huge (Yuge?) legal precedent and case to be made by the ATC / Justice Department proving a permanent specific easement has already been granted to the ATC, the Appalachian Trail and to AT hikers. This easement granting -- both tacitly as well as explicitly -- by Baxter State Park has been in place for more than seventy years. Only recently (the last 16+ years) has favoritism been given to Maine residents over AT hikers and implicit disgust been shown categorically toward AT hikers, for no other widespread reason than:

      a) Bissell doesn't like AT hikers of any type and thus wishes to ruin the Appalachian Trail and prevent AT hikers from utilizing the permanent easement of the Appalachian Trail through Baxter.
      b) Bissell has unnecessary control-freak personality issues with AT hikers for no good reason and consistently over-reacts to anything AT related in order to diminish the role of the Appalachian Trail within Baxter State Park.
      c) Bissell is trying to make a name for himself with his cronies. He's wanting great fame and accolades from Maine Residents for having lived his meager life at a sacrifice and the destroying of the AT through Baxter is his chance to gain that fame and notoriety. All at the expense of AT hikers, the ATC Leadership and the Appalachian Trail.

      This proves categorically the problem is not with Baxter State Park -- the problem is Bissell (and his cronies).

      By the way, this entire situation really isn't about AT thru-hikers -- their actual true numbers are insignificant. Bissell is deliberately making numbers up about AT thru-hikers with no valid measurement. See (as I remember) the March 2016 Outside Magazine of Bissell shooting his mouth off quoting completely laughable quantities of AT thru-hikers in order to inflate what he believes to be the cause of all his woes. Of course, mosquitoes, black flies and rain are all caused by AT thru-hikers. Everyone knows that, right?

      2) The Appalachian Trail is the greatest footpath in the world and a national treasure of the United States. Any organization -- Bissell or otherwise -- attempting to undermine that value will be looked upon with great disdain by the courts. Bissell won't have a case if the ATC Leadership will just grow a spine and stand up to the ignorant clod.

      3) If the ATC Leadership abandons Katahdin -- The Greatest Mountain, the highest point in Maine dominating the horizon -- and trots out the lipsticked-box-of-rocks replacement, here's the blow-back directly onto the ATC Leadership:

      a) AT hikers and activists will see abandoning Katahdin as an egregious act of negligence by the ATC Leadership. That act alone will translate into increased future conflict between hikers and the ATC and will significantly reduce long-term membership. While some vocal old-timers (here and elsewhere) may not care because they'll likely be passing on soon, people in their twenties and early thirties -- the recognized future for the ATC -- are going to see the ATC as a Blackberry. Directionless, leaderless, certainly spineless and conflict-ridden. It's dead Jim -- it'll be a way worse impact on the ATC and the Appalachian Trail than the future facing the golf course industry in America.

      b) If the ATC Leadership abandons Katahdin, every single stinking tinhorn park ranger and land owner is going to see how weak and spineless the ATC has become and begin their own efforts to make themselves notable and famous. Hey, if that chump Bissell can get away with it, maybe my own park ranger status can be inflated all the way to fame too ! Then when it's time to negotiate / renegotiate leases and property costs and who knows, down to janitorial services maybe -- everyone is going to see an available piece of the pie from the ATC and begin pursuing it. It'll greatly weaken the ATC's bargaining position(s) in the future. All this because some dolt park ranger up north wants to become famous at the expense of the ATC and with the compromise of the Appalachian Trail. It'd be outright madness for the ATC Leadership to abandon Katahdin as the northern terminus. It'd just be so much easier to put Bissell into his place, make him gladly do what is expected and call it a day. Maybe have lunch catered in too.

      c) Money is not the problem -- the ATC is rolling in money -- millions. If the ATC isn't going to use a little of that money for this cause, what the heck is all the wad of cash for? Gold plated donut dunkers at the staff meetings? Protect the Appalachian Trail -- that's one of the primary missions of the ATC Leadership. Use the money. Take the gloves off.

      d) Moving the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail to some other undermined location would be expensive for the ATC to undertake (and a needless undertaking at that). It'd be considerably easier and less costly to just show Bissell & Company who's boss, keep the AT ending at Baxter Peak on Katahdin and spend the savings on efforts like trail maintenance or keeping the AT Databook up-to-date and accurate.

      Who has the rye and pickles?

      Datto

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Datto ().

    • I agree Katahdin is n icomoc end for the trail. I also believe the ATC dropped the ball when entitled hikers & their numbers became noticable on the trail.

      What I see is someoe (Bissel) standing up for what he believes. Baxter was set up as wilderness first, recreation second. I don't gree on the way he set his limits up, but he is looking towards the future (seen by adjusting his numbers upward & setting a limit) He isn't a dictator he has a board he has to answer to. I believe a well thought out letter to them would have a lot more impact than any rant in any forumn. I don't believe I have seen an address on here or TOS as to where to send one. Don't you think an emotional setter why Katahdin was so special for you as a hiker will cry more weight than a rant on social media?

      I lived on an Island off th coast of New England for 14 years. Their attitde and accent were like Mainers. It took a long time if ever to become a part of the community. Working within them reapt far better results than butting heads with them!

      AS far as the best trail...Get out & hike some more. LT predates it. PCT has better view, CDT hs more wilderness...Best is defined by how one specifies it.

      Datto wrote:

      Here's why being soft with Bissell & Company will never work.

      Bissell has been an AT Hiker-Hater for a decade. He's the Anti-AT Hiker. He is making the ATC Leadership, the nice guys, look like fools. That is his long-term plan in order to cement his glorious legacy -- he wants to be known as the guy who kicked the AT out of Baxter to preserve it only for the people from Maine (Outsiders Not Welcome Here). His predecessor was the same and I witnessed aggressive, severe anti-AT ranting behavior for no reason -- on more than one occasion from that previous maniac. Both have been / are determined to ruin the AT -- both are cut of the same cloth. The current rube up north is just a little more cagey than his predecessor but certainly of the same ilk. The ATC is just now, just recently, trying to come to terms all of this. Finally.

      Q: Why does the ATC keep hitting itself in the leg?
      A: It feels good when they stop.


      Here's why being soft with the ATC Leadership won't likely work.

      The people who compose the leadership of the ATC are very naive and easy manipulated. I don't mean the ATC Leadership is dumb. Rather they're just not worldly in dealing with podunk maniacs and Bohemian corporal wannabees. That's why the ATC is being spun around like a marionette by Bissell & Company. It's become so apparent during the last year+ since I first made the claim Bissell & Company is trying to ruin the AT. Even more so today -- at an accelerated rate. Bissell's probably coming up on his idea of retirement soon and he doesn't want to leave office until the AT is kicked out of Baxter. There is a hint -- just a hint -- the ATC may be realizing this is true and the ramifications of what that may mean. There is no time to lose -- Bissell has already shown he can easily fool the ATC Leadership so there can not be any let-up on getting the ATC Leadership in gear to take a stand and Protect The Appalachian Trail. The ATC Leadership must make handling the "Bissell Situation" (it's not really a Baxter situation) their Number One Priority for 2017 and move quickly to prevent Bissell from trying to destroy the Appalachian Trail in the north.

      Here's why retaining Katahdin as the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail the only option for the ATC Leadership to consider.

      The weak will always believe doing the right thing is too difficult.

      1) There is huge (Yuge?) legal precedent and case to be made by the ATC / Justice Department proving a permanent specific easement has already been granted to the ATC, the Appalachian Trail and to AT hikers. This easement granting -- both tacitly as well as explicitly -- by Baxter State Park has been in place for more than seventy years. Only recently (the last 16+ years) has favoritism been given to Maine residents over AT hikers and implicit disgust been shown categorically toward AT hikers, for no other widespread reason than:

      a) Bissell doesn't like AT hikers of any type and thus wishes to ruin the Appalachian Trail and prevent AT hikers from utilizing the permanent easement of the Appalachian Trail through Baxter.
      b) Bissell has unnecessary control-freak personality issues with AT hikers for no good reason and consistently over-reacts to anything AT related in order to diminish the role of the Appalachian Trail within Baxter State Park.
      c) Bissell is trying to make a name for himself with his cronies. He's wanting great fame and accolades from Maine Residents for having lived his meager life at a sacrifice and the destroying of the AT through Baxter is his chance to gain that fame and notoriety. All at the expense of AT hikers, the ATC Leadership and the Appalachian Trail.

      This proves categorically the problem is not with Baxter State Park -- the problem is Bissell (and his cronies).

      By the way, this entire situation really isn't about AT thru-hikers -- their actual true numbers are insignificant. Bissell is deliberately making numbers up about AT thru-hikers with no valid measurement. See (as I remember) the March 2016 Outside Magazine of Bissell shooting his mouth off quoting completely laughable quantities of AT thru-hikers in order to inflate what he believes to be the cause of all his woes. Of course, mosquitoes, black flies and rain are all caused by AT thru-hikers. Everyone knows that, right?

      2) The Appalachian Trail is the greatest footpath in the world and a national treasure of the United States. Any organization -- Bissell or otherwise -- attempting to undermine that value will be looked upon with great disdain by the courts. Bissell won't have a case if the ATC Leadership will just grow a spine and stand up to the ignorant clod.

      3) If the ATC Leadership abandons Katahdin -- The Greatest Mountain, the highest point in Maine dominating the horizon -- and trots out the lipsticked-box-of-rocks replacement, here's the blow-back directly onto the ATC Leadership:

      a) AT hikers and activists will see abandoning Katahdin as an egregious act of negligence by the ATC Leadership. That act alone will translate into increased future conflict between hikers and the ATC and will significantly reduce long-term membership. While some vocal old-timers (here and elsewhere) may not care because they'll likely be passing on soon, people in their twenties and early thirties -- the recognized future for the ATC -- are going to see the ATC as a Blackberry. Directionless, leaderless, certainly spineless and conflict-ridden. It's dead Jim -- it'll be a way worse impact on the ATC and the Appalachian Trail than the future facing the golf course industry in America.

      b) If the ATC Leadership abandons Katahdin, every single stinking tinhorn park ranger and land owner is going to see how weak and spineless the ATC has become and begin their own efforts to make themselves notable and famous. Hey, if that chump Bissell can get away with it, maybe my own park ranger status can be inflated all the way to fame too ! Then when it's time to negotiate / renegotiate leases and property costs and who knows, down to janitorial services maybe -- everyone is going to see an available piece of the pie from the ATC and begin pursuing it. It'll greatly weaken the ATC's bargaining position(s) in the future. All this because some dolt park ranger up north wants to become famous at the expense of the ATC and the compromise of the Appalachian Trail. It'd be outright madness for the ATC Leadership to abandon Katahdin as the northern terminus. It'd just be so much easier to put Bissell into his place, make him gladly do what is expected and call it a day. Maybe have lunch catered in too.

      c) Money is not the problem -- the ATC is rolling in money -- millions. If the ATC isn't going to use a little of that money for this cause, what the heck is all the wad of cash for? Gold plated donut dunkers at the staff meetings? Protect the Appalachian Trail -- that's one of the primary missions of the ATC Leadership. Use the money. Take the gloves off.

      d) Moving the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail to some other undermined location would be expensive for the ATC to undertake (and a needless undertaking at that). It'd be considerably easier and less costly to just show Bissell & Company who's boss, keep the AT ending at Baxter Peak on Katahdin and spend the savings on efforts like trail maintenance or keeping the AT Databook up-to-date and accurate.

      Who has the rye and pickles?

      Datto
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    • Forgot -- Here's the short version:

      Simple doesn't necessarily mean easy.
      Doing The Right Thing doesn't necessarily mean easy.
      Not Doing The Right Thing always means weakness.

      Keeping the AT ending at Baxter Peak on Katahdin is the easy road and is clearly The Right Thing. It's already there and in-place -- no changes necessary. Just enforce, by whatever means necessary, the easement Baxter has implicitly/tacitly/explicitly granted to AT hikers and the ATC over the last 70+ years.

      Why do things the hard way?


      Datto

    • My observation and experience sees the problems getting Bissell all wound up (besides the Jurek situation) are being caused by Miscreants and Malcontents arriving with a backpack in Baxter from big cities south of Baxter. I'm not sure those types of people could be guided by the ATC -- those people would be trouble no matter where they happen to be.

      Bissell mistakenly claims those Miscreants and Malcontents are all AT thru-hikers (although I see someone at least tried to educate Bissell so now he's calling them long-distance hikers because they started at Monson, ME which is still an incorrect label).

      When I see Bissell making claims of thousands and thousands of AT thru-hikers ruining the landscape, I just laugh and then figure out how to prod the ATC into action/more action/The Right Action.

      Note there is no deterioration of the landscape when the zillions of Maine residents go up Katahdin (which is easily the majority). It's only when AT Thru-hikers supposedly go up Katahdin when the "fragile alpine ecosystem" goes bad.

      This is one of the best examples showing Bissell & Company have a plan and that is to kick out the AT from Baxter.

      It would be so much easier to enlighten Bissell with a precedent claim on the existing AT easement than to try to move the whole northern ending of the Appalachian Trail to some other unknown location, redo maps, answer the telephone calls, "No it doesn't go there anymore." and fend off all the rabid AT hikers who are going to believe the ATC is negligent is abandoning Katahdin.

      Let's just make it easy and keep the AT right where it's at, then educate Bissell about the precedents of long-term easements granted over seventy years.

      Mountain-Mike wrote:

      PCT has better view, CDT hs more wilderness.

      The PCT and the CDT certainly have spectacular views -- no doubt about that.


      Datto

      The post was edited 4 times, last by Datto ().