As you may or may not know, I live and paddle in the Duluth, MN area. We frequently put in at the former (now vacant) Trek-n-Trail building. This site has become something of a popular put in place for people from as far away as the twin cities, apparently. Although it is not posted, it IS PRIVATE PROPERTY! Anywho, I just talked to the owner of the building and parking lot, who said that there were some people parked there last week with kayaks. When he asked them to please not block the door of the building, he was told to go to hell! Needless to say, this does not do much for the image of kayakers. The neighbor already hates us because we sully the perfect view of the lake from his expensive house when we park across the street, which IS public property. The owner said that he was not familar with the vehicle (silver, foreign make sport utility) with the nasty owner, but that it had a Twin Cities auto dealer label on it. It certainly doesnt sound like any of the local paddlers I know, because many of us know the owner of the building and get along well with him. Of course it could very well be a local person who bought their vehicle in the Twin Cities, and I dont mean to single out and disparage paddlers from there. I just know that there are paddlers from there on this list, and wanted to inform them of the situation and hopefully they will spread the word, as I will do among local paddlers. If you already use this spot: 1) the street next to the water is public. Park there if at all possible. 2) under no circumstances block the door to the vacant building! 3) respect the rights of private property owners, and dont tell them to go to hell please (sad that that needs to be said, isnt it?) If you dont use this spot, please dont start, because I see a day coming soon when none of us will be able to due to overuse and limited parking. There are several other equally good or better put-in spots within 2 miles. Cordially, Wayne *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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