All in a Day’s Work: Muddy Trails and Mythical Beings
By Lily Grinhauz, GVLT Big Sky Watershed Corps Member
Hello eager readers! My name is Lily, and I am the Big Sky Watershed Corps member serving with GVLT.
My position involves a broad scope of responsibilities, including but not limited to volunteer coordination and projects, trail construction and maintenance, data collection, and getting to know the people of every hardware store within a five-mile radius. I’m the person you may have seen on the trails collecting counter data and installing signage.
In previous years, Big Sky members have spent the winter at their desks, setting up the volunteer calendar and getting a head start on event prep. However, this unseasonable weather has thrown a wrench in my planning. Instead of a mellow few months indoors, I’ve been spending the bulk of my time outside, trying to mitigate the damage on extra muddy trails and hunting the most elusive creature in all of Gallatin Valley: the Poop Fairy.
Legend has it that the Poop Fairy has been around ever since the first trail in the county was established. Its main source of joy (or income, it’s unclear) is picking up and disposing of droppings left on the trail. Much like gifts left below shrines, Poop Fairy believers leave their dogs’ offerings as a sign of respect.
As someone who spends much of her time on Bozeman’s illustrious trail system, I can tell the dog owners of Bozeman are true believers.
I had been hearing so much about the Poop Fairy that, one morning, I decided to look for them myself. I called my friends for backup. I needed the extra pairs of eyes if this was going to work.
They raced to my house, and we hurriedly piled into my car. We decided to investigate Triple Tree, one of GVLT’s most popular signature trails. We arrived at the trailhead and had only walked about 20 feet when I started getting the sense that something was very, very wrong.
There were countless droppings along the trail, some looking like they had been there for weeks. The Poop Fairy clearly had not paid Triple Tree a visit in some time. In addition to the obvious lack of mythical beings, I also noticed an absurd number of social trails snaking on either side of us, cutting across switchbacks and adding to the already unbearable amount of muck. Shoulder season has certainly come earlier this year.
We trudged along until our boots were completely weighed down with mud. We stopped and turned around, assessing the damage our footprints made on the trail.
“Perhaps we walk on the shoulder, or on the grass alongside the trail,” my friend suggested.
Another friend snapped back: “And destroy all of the native vegetation and tear up this ground even more?”
In the midst of their bickering, I had a realization.
“By George, that’s it! The Poop Fairy has been led astray by all the social trails! No wonder they haven’t picked up any poop, they get lost every five feet!”
Faced with unusually muddy trails this winter, users have been going off the beaten path. While typically I commend trailblazers (no pun intended), it is detrimental in this situation.
Acknowledging the fruitlessness of our expedition and how badly we were mucking up the trail, we decided to turn around and head home.
Not only does venturing off-trail discourage the Poop Fairy from doing their duty (OK, that one was on purpose), it also harms the local ecosystem by killing native plants, reducing wildlife habitat, and eroding soil.
If you find yourself walking on a particularly sloppy trail and feel your eyes wander to the social trail to your right, take that as a sign to turn around. Remember that recreating on a trail is optional. You can choose to trample vegetation and damage the trail, or you can choose to cut your losses and try again another day. Don’t be the reason the Poop Fairy can’t work. I don’t think they get PTO.
My friends and I decided to head to Peets Hill and walk on the gravel trail to continue our search. We saw fewer social trails, but there was still an abhorrent amount of dog poop.
Do I dare say that perhaps the Poop Fairy, the being I based this entire article around, isn’t real? And if so, who is supposed to pick up after dogs on the trail?
Unfortunately, I have a page limit and a deadline, so we will have to delve into this later.
In the meantime, here are some trail recommendations for shoulder season!