Re: Proposed Mountain Quarry Trail

[BMcCrary27@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/30/98 7:45:11 AM Pacific Standard Time,
CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com writes:

<< We get very upset when there is
 a move to exclude horses from certain trails, and I can sympathize with
 mountain bikers wishing to share trails rather than have them designated
 exclusively for equine use, too.  >>

There are times when I am tempted to feel that I really don't want bikes on
horse trails, but when it's public land, we ALL are supposed to have the right
to use it.  In the words of my late mother, who brought us up on many great
philosophies (I can hear her voice to this day), "It's a poor rule that won't
work two ways."
 All I have to do is put myself in the other person's shoes and think, "would
I like it if the bike riders fought to keep the horsemen off the trails?"  I
would NOT, so somehow, we're all going to have to figure a way to get along
with each other.  The bike riders might consider the volatility of horses, and
the horsemen might consider trying to train their horses to accept bikes.  It
simply is not fair for one group to force exclusion of another group, whether
or not we like the kind of "vehicle" the other is riding.  We've had big
campaigns in our area to allow all kinds of riders access to public trails.
In this case, it was the hikers who wanted to exclude both horses and bikes.
They wanted their peace and quiet so they could meditate and experience the
wilderness. Of course, the trails had originally been roads built for teams
back in the 1800s, but that didn't register with the objectors.

Barbara