PMA O-Kay!
by pghportager (Login pghportager)I've spent some time in PMA's over the years, some real hard spots, as tough as the route to Stumpy's BWJamboree in some places, so here are a few thoughts.
First of all, there are portage trails to follow in PMA's?
Yikes, did we screw that part up. We just look for a likely route between lakes and crash our way through. Once or twice we happened upon old trails, but we certainly didn't expect them to be there or count on them to get us to our destination in a PMA. Overgrown should be the norm, since the purpose of a PMA is to let the area revert back to as natural a state as possible.
It is truly an attractive area to visit, but I'm not worried about less experienced travelers, because they shouldn't be heading in there until they have some experience - or they'll get some quick schooling, that's for sure. PMA's are not for the inexperienced or lighthearted, and they travel at their own risk - don't make it easier on their behalf, or it ruins it for those of us who are entering the PMA because of what it offers - solitude, challenge, adventure, pseudo-discovery.
As for the options you discussed, I quote below:
"
Joe and I discussed what options there were:
1. Leave it alone and just warn any users of the dangers.
2. Close the areas to travellers entirely-but we all know that won't stop people from accessing some of these areas.
3. Have some "minimal maintainance" done to some portages to make them more obvious, but yet still difficult to access to keep the feeling of the area similar to what it is today.
"
1. best option, how it is today, and in line with the purpose of a PMA designation.
2. hell no. That's just silly. Why ruin it for the rest of us?
3. hell no. What's minimal? Any maintenance is maintenance, and should be forbidden in a PMA.
There has been talk about fake wilderness on this site from time to time over the years. PMA's are the closest thing you can get to wilderness in the BW and still legally camp; we don't need to fake it by marking portages or removing deadfall or regrowth or making it any easier.
Another quote:
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In addition the newer maps do not show the portages inside the PMA's any longer so if someone does try to access the area without some basic portage placement and knowledge they could get themselves into dangerous situations if they miss portages that take you around rapids, falls and other obstacles.
"
Again, PMA's are not for the inexperienced. You should research your maps, find potential risks, identify areas where you think you can crash your way through (ridgelines, low spots, etc.), avoid cliffs, rapids,etc. People have to make their own decisions based on their honest evaluation of their own skill levels. It should not require a test or certification, and if they pad their own self-evaluation, and get caught out there without the facilities to get themselves out, then that's a shame - I do hope they end up OK, nothing malicious here. But to change the purpose of an area to accommodate those that shouldn't be there, well, that's counter to the purpose, isn't it?
my 2 cents.
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