Psalms 40:13

I agree with you. Being a person of faith myself, I feel God most particularly when I'm in the wilderness and I like that. But I completely agree that LNT philosophy should prevail in all but the most extreme circumstances. I could totally understand if someone wrote on a rock or tree their direction of travel if they were in a survival situation and were trying to self-rescue, for example. But to just write or draw on rocks or trees just because…yeah, that's uncool.

I appreciate the like-mindedness, happy trails!

Lol. Small world. I was also on the Cumberland Trail recently and someone spray painted "Amy sucks a big xxxx" on a shelter. That trail must bring it out in people.

Ryan

These small cans are the UL vandal's choice.

http://www.krylon.com/products/short-cuts-aerosol-paints/

Andy,
Thanks for the link. Good to know what's out there.

There's some stuff I want to obliterate with brown/gray/green but I wasn't looking forward to the regular sized cans.

To Ryan,

Another Cumberland Trail hiker! Have you done any over night section hikes?

Andy and Greg,

All UL base-weights should include small cans of spray paint now. UL Vigilantes

Jeremy,

No overnight sections yet, only day hikes from the Bruce Gap/Cove Lake trail head. I've gone up and over Cross Mtn down to Montgomery Fork(~8.5mi), and then back the other way, up over Devil's Racetrack and down to the Tank Springs trail head in Lafollette(~11mi). My uncle does trail building for the CTC so he is always telling me about the trail, bridges they have built, etc. They are near Soddy Daisy right now. What section are you near?

Ryan

I've done a lot of graffiti cleanup in the outdoors.
For painting over stuff on rock, I like the flattest generally matching color I can find. Masonry paint is the best. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle a liberal amount of local dirt and sand into it for texture and even better color match.

Craig, I like the "sprinkle local sand" idea. +1.

Mostly my clean-ups are in caves which are more delicate and harder to work in.

I'll disagree a little that route-finding graffiti is okay. In a true survival situation, sure. But to find your way out of a cave? NO, not spray paint. String is better than paint and far easier to clean up. Or do what real cavers do in very complicated maze-work: dip popsicle sticks in fluorescent (or reflective) paint/tape on one end. Leave the bright end pointing towards the exit. Pick them all up on your way out.

And I'll disagree with the OP that graffiti for God is okay while expressions of romantic love and anatomy lessons are not.

I find it all to be undesirable graffiti, arguably criminal on public land, and a distraction from the inspirational thoughts I have in the outdoors which are more than any human words or diagrams invoke.

People draw all of those things on my beach, but it's gone within 12 hours with the next high tide.

When you consider that Christians (and many others) believe that God created all wilderness, you have to wonder what they're thinking when they spray paint it.

Do they also spray their pews in church>?

hush my big mouth

Yeah I decided against jumping here. I have nothing to add but hurtful words to some, which I don't wanna do.
…well I WANNA but I'm not gonna

G, G, and G – don't go there….

Speaking of removing spray paint…Some brain surgeon put big red bands of spray paint on a trail in the Mt. Hood National Forest, on the trees themselves. Anyone know of an effective way to deal with it? I guess I'm afraid that if I cover it up with (brown) spray paint, that eventually it will chip away and you'll see the red again anyway. May be best to just let it weather.
Kelly

"And I'll disagree with the OP that graffiti for God is okay while expressions of romantic love and anatomy lessons are not."

I can't speak for the OP but I don't believe that is what he was saying.

Kelly,
I've used ultra flat camo paint for this. I use tan, gray, green and black. I spray just a just little of each in a random "impressionistic" style, a little wider and irregular than what's there, then step back 10' and squint. Repeat as needed. Don't try to completely cover the spot. Just break it up. It takes a little practice but although "something" will be there, it won't be a glaring blotch of red or blue or whatever.

I'm also toying with the idea of "stencils" to approximate the vertical barring of the bark. Just a chunk of light plastic (milk jug?) with a rough slot to restrict the black to a vertical path.

I'd forgotten there was camo spray paint. That should cover up really well. Now I just need to get there. The snow has seriously started on Mt. Hood. Might have to wait until the snow is gone :)
Kelly

"Some brain surgeon put big red bands of spray paint on a trail in the Mt. Hood National Forest, on the trees themselves."

Check with Forestry to make sure those aren't trees marked for removal…

Around here, if it goes all the way around the tree, the "blues" remain and "yellows" go.

Here the bozo mountain bikers just spray a blue circle on a tree on each side of the (poached) route, so it's pretty obvious what's going on.

I am not claiming that it is appropriate for Christians to spray paint the wilderness. My intention is to say that I don't think anyone should be spray painting the rocks and trees unless covering graffiti or marking trail..and that should be done in a way that leaves a minimal impact.

Jeremy: I'm sorry I misunderstood your meaning.

Generally, whatever you'd do with spray paint is done just as well but more reversibly with flagging tape (that inch-wide brightly colored tape with no stickum – you can tie it around a tree or bush.)

It is quite alright.

Thank you all for the discussion/suggestions for how to cover graffiti. I am interested to try this myself.

Fair point Greg, but pretty sure these aren't official marks. They are nothing like the usual marks I've seen elsewhere in this forest, and this particular area is actually a wilderness trail that is already wide and well-maintained. Couldn't hurt to call and ask though. With the snow, it'll be a while before I can get there.
Kelly