Workin' for Wilderness
Six volunteers hiked up Trail Canyon armed with shovels, rakes, a pick and of course a couple of cameras to get some stuff done at a beautiful spot named Cave springs. Now you Charleston locals you know that Cave springs is one a few places that you can get water along the trail . A few folks have been camping close to the springs and user created trails are sprouting up everywhere. Someone has hooked the piping back up to one of the springs but some of the old used piping was sticking up and laying exposed. The PVC it was cracked, plugged up, and sticking up out of the ground like giant alien bug antennas from a 1950's horror movie... a real eyesore. So Friends of Nevada Wilderness volunteers hiked in and removed the old pipe (we left the one piping system that still works, so water still flows to the trough). Volunteers also removed the campfire rings and naturalized four of the campsites that were right on top of the springs. Volunteers also concealed some of the other spring piping to keep the area looking natural. I suppose that some backpackers don't realize that we're not the only ones that need water; animals need water too. Camping at a spring not only deprives animals of much needed water , but it also increases the probability of lots of human waste & trash will eventually damage the spring area (yuck!). I know that no one wants to do the wrong thing, we just need to get the word out to folks. So practice a little "Leave No Trace", please carry out your trash, bury your waste properly and camp at least 1/4 mile from any spring. The animals will love you for it.
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Special thanks to John, Bill, Carl, Pat, Mike and John, who made the long hike up the trail and made a huge difference for the wildlife that call the Mt Charleston Wilderness home.
