My husband and I love to walk along the rail trail from Svoboda Road parking lot down to the trestles, or up to Mountain Station, or from there towards Cottonwood Lake. We also walk to the end of the waterfront path from the Prestige. We have walked these walks a few times a week for 25 years, winter and summer, fall and spring.
The vast majority of dog owners do what they need to do. If only the small minority of inconsiderate fellow Nelsonites would also shape up and pick up the poop which their dogs produce. Today we walked from Svoboda to Mountain Station. It took away much of our pleasure to see the small ugly heaps of dog poop all along the trail. Everybody knows that owners should pick up after their dogs. This is not a complicated responsibility to understand. Bags are available at the trailheads but owners should come prepared with some bags as dogs will poop.
And you need to keep watching your dog while walking and chatting to your friend so as not to miss that important moment. When there is no snow, my husband obsessively flicks with a stick the poop collections into the woods. But all I want is to enjoy a walk in pristine nature with my husband holding my hand. Please pick up after your dog and please do not leave the little plastic bag filled with dog poop next to the path. This drives my husband nuts as he, correctly and for the umpteenth time, will point out how impossible it is to understand the thinking of a person who goes to the trouble of picking up the poop in a bag but then leaving the poop-in-the-bag there.
Ilse Murray
Nelson