Silent Sports

I dislike noisy motorboats, 4 Wheelers, noisy motorcycles, snowmobiles, and other noisy sports.
Perhaps that is because my Grandmother influenced me so much as a kid. She had an old leaky wooden row boat we'd fish with and she'd grimace any time a motorboat went by.
The waves would rock us. She told me they scared away the fish.

We do have a 4 Wheeler as do most of the neighbors. It is a nice way to get extra tools to different areas to fix fence, or if you can't hike...to inspect fencelines and carry things like a chainsaw.
I have no use for motorboats unless of course I was on the Mississippi River. I like canoeing on the Kickapoo. I hope to try out a kayak this year...but there I go, off track.

I guess I really don't mind snow mobiles that much, they do stay on trail and rarely do damage to the surrounding area.

I just found out that the 4 Wheelers that abruptly make a horrible racket on my 'absent' neighbor's land don't have permission from 'him' to be there. I suspect that the drunken brother who is allowed to live out on the old cabin is allowing it. This the same brother who said his dog 'shot' him. That is a whole story in itself!

Their machines are not quiet, they are loud. They seem to delight in finding wet spots and shooting rooster tails of mud high into the air while their tires dig big holes. First they just showed up on Saturdays. Then it was all weekend, and now they are coming out after a large rainfall and 'muddin'.

I've always kept an eye out on the neighbor's land since his brother died and it became Paul's land...or his land in trust. The year they let guys 'hike' out there was the year the I walked into large plots of pot growing. That was a bad time.
Well, apparently NO ONE is supposed to be running around out there at all.
I am allowed to walk, hike, snowshoe, and explore as I have done for over 20 years.

During deer hunting season the Peterson Clan takes over and the place is mobbed by orange clad hunters.

I digress.
I went to get the mail with Charlie in the rain yesterday and we hadn't used our north hill route in a while. It used to be a mere deer path. And after the 4 Wheelers started showing up...it was just a trail of bent down foliage.

I was shocked yesterday.

I don't think I'd mind it so much except that the soil here is very fragile. When it rains, it washes away the rich black topsoil. In some spots on this trail, the tree roots were showing. But since it wasn't my land and I had a MIL and husband to contend with [think health issues and LOTS of doctor appointments] I tried my best to ignore the comings and goings.

In some places the trail bites down nearly 12 inches. I guess I wouldn't mind having the trails if they weren't destroying the soil. I actually was a bit grateful at first to not have to 'brush bust' to walk through.

However. After heavy rains again, the 4 Wheelers showed up again last evening and I could hear them roaring. This trail pictured is annoyingly close to our house.

Since the owner lives across the state, I took photos of the vehicles plates and where they were parked with my cell phone and sent them to the owner this morning. I sort of feel rotten doing that, but perhaps the owner should know since he rarely comes to this gigantic section of land.
He does visit his family farm which is about a mile from here on most weekends.

Anyway.
I enjoy the silent sports. Hiking, x-country skiing, snowshoeing, riding mules, and fishing quietly along the banks of the Great River.

I'd much rather see the land preserved and not mangled.

But I guess I have been spoiled by having access to the neighbor's land for so many years.

I will ride the trails made by these 4 Wheelers and check it out. At least I know I am allowed on the land and my mule's hooves do not cause that kind of damage.