Print Edition: December 29, 2007

Courtesy goes a long way on the Cadillac Pathway

Imagine you’re hosting a party in your home. You work hard to make all the preparations, including having your carpet professionally cleaned so your home will look its best.

Looking forward to an enjoyable experience, you rush to the door when the first guest rings the bell. "Welcome" is barely out of your mouth when a huge, dripping wet Golden Lab shoots past you followed by your brother-in-law in muddy shoes. Into the living room they go leaving a sopping, dirty trail behind.

"Stop," you cry, "don’t you realize what you’re doing? Take off your shoes and get that dog out of here. You ought to know better!"

"Pipe down," replies your brother-in-law, "it’s no big deal. I like wearing my shoes inside, my dog goes where I go, and you can have the carpet cleaned again."

What would your reaction be to this scenario, exasperation and dismay? If so, you have an idea of what it’s like sometimes for the volunteers who groom the Cadillac Pathway for cross country skiing.

For example, about ten days ago the volunteers spent hours grooming the trail and then went out to ski their handiwork. What they found was that on three sections of the ski trail all their efforts had been obliterated almost immediately. On one section a person had walked down the middle of the newly groomed pathway with a dog. A second section had been mangled by (presumably) a hunter who stomped down the trail and then veered off into the woods. Finally, a third section had been flattened by people on showshoes. To say the volunteers were crestfallen would be an understatement.

Now, I know the Cadillac Pathway is a multi-use trail and that it’s open to the public. I’ve heard all the justifications by non-skiers about why they should be able to do anything they please on the trail. Usually, the argument goes that ‘I’m a taxpayer and no one has the right to tell me what I can and can’t do on a public trail.’ I understand all that and my response is that such an opinion is technically correct. However, we’re not discussing legalities here, we’re talking about exhibiting some basic common courtesy toward your fellow citizens. Certainly, you have a basis in law to be selfish and if that’s your attitude nothing I can say in this column will change your mind.

On the other hand, I’d like to believe that if you give people information which allows them to do what’s in the best interests of their friends and neighbors they’ll do the considerate thing rather than the inconsiderate. Those are the people who might find this column worthwhile.

The Cadillac Pathway is set up for cross country skiing during the winter months and it’s a huge asset for our community. Just look in the parking lots on a typical winter Saturday and you’ll see scores of cars from not only the Cadillac area but from downstate and out-of-state too. From a purely economic perspective, the Pathway is a tourism lure and hence money generator for the local economy.

Beyond that, it’s a phenomenal resource for our local citizens, young and old alike. Having a groomed cross country ski trail just minutes from downtown is a wonderful recreational plus for everyone who lives here.

The pathway is groomed by local volunteers who donate their time and spend hundreds of hours each winter, at no taxpayer expense, making the trail a consistent and safe place to ski. The least rest of us can do is to acknowledge their efforts by adhering to some common sense "rules of the road" so the trail can be enjoyed by all who trek there.

The key thing to remember is that by damaging the track the groomers set you make the trail more dangerous for those who follow you. Walking on the trail punches holes in the surface and creates something akin to potholes. Dogs walking on the trail not only pock mark the surface but also tend to leave yellow patches and brown deposits right where skiers schuss. (I’ve skied through a steaming brown pile on occasion and it is not pleasant.) Snowshoes flatten the trail so completely that it’s often impossible to control your skis, a terrifying prospect on downhills.

The basic principles of Cross Country Ski Etiquette posted on the bulletin boards at each of the Cadillac Pathway trailheads clearly spell out the common courtesies that if followed would result in the best ski experience for everyone on the trail.

  • Follow all posted rules.
  • Be courteous and helpful to fellow skiers.
  • Dogs are not welcome on the trail. If you ski with a dog, break your own trail.
  • Downhill skiers have the right of way.
  • Slower skiers should yield the track for faster skiers.
  • Keep to the right when meeting oncoming skiers.
  • Keep clear of the track when you’re not skiing. Don’t stop at the bottom of hills or blind intersections.
  • If you must walk, do so at the edge of the trail and out of the track. (I might add that if you snowshoe, do so a few feet away from the edge of the groomed path.)
  • Repair damage from falls.
  • Carry out rubbish.

    • As has often been said, there’s a time and place for everything. Although the Cadillac Pathway is technically multi-use, the main winter use is for cross country skiing. Since the XC season lasts just a matter of weeks, surely people who prefer to use the trail for other activities could step aside for this brief period of time and let the skiers have their day. Surely, too, skiers themselves could observe basic etiquette so the trail remains safe and enjoyable for all. It’s just common courtesy.

    Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com.  Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews. 

     

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