Author: Kelsey Shaw

The Kinder Path Photo: Katy Walters

By Eugene Lewins and Jamie Anderson

Does it really matter if you go for a hike today?

On the 24th of April, 1932, a group of English working men went for a hike and changed the history of public access in Britain. As the Selma Bus Boycott is celebrated in the American civil rights narrative, so the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass is looked back on in Britain. Risking their own safety, they went up against forces barring access to what had for many centuries been public land.

Visualize the scene: Two days earlier, a small group from a local hiking club, the Manchester Ramblers, had been met by a group of gamekeepers who had threatened and abused them until they turned back. This time, four hundred men from the surrounding industrial towns, dressed in old wool jackets and working boots, set off along the legal footpath onto the open moorland–a landscape not that different from our own Columbia Hills–in what I imagine was a silence weighed with excitement. Andy Hemingway picks up the narrative:

At Nab Brow, they caught first sight of the keepers dotted along the slope beneath Sandy Heys. A

Photo: Eirian Evans

whistle was sounded for the troupe to stop. On a second whistle they turned right to face Kinder Scout. When the third whistle sounded, they began to scramble up the steep slope towards the keepers. Although a few minor scuffles ensued, and a twisted ankle to one of the landowners’ men, in the majority of cases the protestors just walked through the line of keepers, where they reformed and headed for the plateau.

andyhemingway.wordpress.com/kinder-trespass-80-years-on/

If the day was a success, it came at a price for the organizers. Although there had been no criminal trespass, the leaders were picked out of the returning hikers and charged with unlawful assembly and breach of the peace. They were sent to jail for up to six months.

Had the trespass been a failure?

If authorities anticipated that they could isolate and dissuade these urban hikers, then they underestimated the power of the local recreation clubs.

In 1930s England access to public land was in danger of being lost forever. Successive laws enacted throughout the 18th and 19th centuries had closed off swathes of what had once been common land. At the same time, as populations grew in the industrial cities of the north, working-class clubs sprang up to foster weekend recreation on the neighboring hills. These urban hikers found themselves opposed by estate landowners who wanted to limit access to the moors for their own grouse hunting. With dubious legal precedent, landowners employed game keepers and sympathetic local magistrates to block what had once been public rights of way.

Solutions had been proposed, but to the working men who made up the clubs progress seemed too slow at best. In the 1980’s, when I moved up to the north of England to live closer to climbing areas like the Peak District–by then a national park–these small clubs were still the backbone of outdoor recreation. Without exception their meetings were midweek at a local pub, and the primary topics were where to climb or hike on the weekend and whose car was running well enough to get there. Even then, fifty years later, there were a few spell-binding times when, amidst the beer and smoke and bullshit, a guitar would appear, and an old-timer be pushed into the forefront for an impromptu sing that included these verses, penned by Ewan Macoll, to memorialize the mass trespass. There was always something solemn in the way I heard them sung, with an uncompromising meter which perhaps matched that steady stride of those earlier men walking steadfastly up the slopes of Kinder.

I’m a rambler, 
I’m a rambler from Manchester way 
I get all my pleasure the hard moorland way 
I may be a wage slave on Monday 
But I am a free man on Sunday.

The Trespass marked a beginning of change. Faced with the heavy handed response of landowners and local magistrates, a few weeks later 10,000 ramblers assembled at a rally. Clearly they were not to be quieted. Real change came slowly, delayed by the depression, and then World War II. But as I witnessed in those club meetings, the rallying cry of the Trespass was not forgotten.  Access issues are very different in Britain and the States, but I believe we share the same passion for the freedom of the hills.

Hey hikers, for those of you on the east side, join Mazamas hike leader Meg Linza on her Wednesday evening Mt. Tabor walks, leaving from the Mazamas Mountaineering Center promptly at 6pm. Bring layers, good walking shoes, water, friends and good cheer! No sign up necessary, cost is $2 for the under 55-ers, $1 for those 55 and better.

What: Mount Tabor Wednesday Rambles
When: Each Wednesday starting 6pm
Where: Mazamas Mountaineering Center, 527 SE 43rd Ave, Portland OR 97215

Mazamas Climb Card

That’s right!  April 15 is the earliest day you can apply for a Mazamas climb.

Good news for 2013!  Starting this year, you can order your climb cards online.  Just follow this link.

Climb cards postmarked before April 15 won’t be considered.  The earlier you send out your applications (after the 15th, that is) the better your chances of getting on a climb, so now’s the time to get your hands on some blank climb cards.

In case you’re new to the Mazamas climb application process, or just need a refresher, here’s a small collection of links to help you out.

Getting Started With Mazamas Climbing – Complete Info for Newbies!

Tips for Getting On Climbs

Summer Climb Schedule

Google Map of All Mazamas Climbs

2012 Spring Thing Trail Work

Are you a Smith Rock user?  Maybe this year it’s time for you to give something back to this local rock climbing jewel by participating in the 2013 Spring Thing, a one-day chance for all friends of Smith Rock to join with park rangers for improvement projects all around the park.

Last year’s Spring Thing volunteers completed the retaining walls at the base of Cinnamon Slab, built new steps to the Dihedrals, constructed 100 new steps on Misery Ridge and did cruicial trail work at Monkey Face, Spiderman’s Buttress, Front Side, Phoenix Buttress and Aggro Gully.  Pretty impressive, right?

The 2013 Spring Thing will be held on May 11th. Register at 8am and end your day at 5pm with a dinner, auction, and raffle. “Parking passes, breakfast snacks, water, sunscreen, work gloves, tools and supplies and dinner are provided for all volunteers.”

If you can’t come on the 11th to do the hard labor, you can still help out by donating cash, materials, tools, or items for the auction.

For details please follow this link.

The mighty Hörst men

In February, Smith Rock’s iconic Scarface (5.14a) was climbed by a 13-year-old.  First put up in 1988 by Scott Franklin, and the first 5.14 ever established by an American, Scarface is the third 5.14 climbed by Drew Ruana.  You can watch a video of Drew sending Scarface here.

In March, 10-year-old Jonathan Hörst climbed a 5.14a in Red River Gorge, KY.  Jonathan, son of the famed trainer Eric Hörst, climbed God’s Own Stone.  Jonathan is not the first 10-year-old to climb God’s Own Stone, but he may be the first 10-year-old boy.  Last year, Brooke Raboutou also climbed this route, as did Jonathan’s older brother Cameron Hörst, who climbed it at the ripe old age of 11.

Earlier this month Kai Lightner, age 13, climbed a series of 5.14 routes in the Red.  Follow this link to see a video of Kai sending Southern Smoke.

On October 29 of last year, we reported on a new Forest Service plan to log a two thousand acre section of the ZigZag National Forest.  The “Horseshoe Sale” was directly adjacent to a number of highly valued trails and important recreation sites, including the Frenches Dome climbing area.

Forest Service watchdog group BARK recently announced that the Horseshoe Sale has been withdrawn.  According to Alex Brown, BARK’s executive director, the sale “was withdrawn faster than any sale in Mt. Hood’s history — a testament to the disconnect between the Forest Service’s timber program and the public’s expectations for our forests.”

You can view the original article by following this link.