[RANT]
I was at Smith last weekend with Alpinfox, Yos, and GaperJeffy working on a potential new route near Go Dog Go, and a couple of people approached me and said the area was closed.
I talked to a few other people that were locals, and the general consensus was that hiking was being discouraged, but the area was still open. There are draws on Go Dog Go, BTW.
There is a fence built just below the climb with a "No Trail" sign just above it. The whole area has been platformed up with rock and barricades to make it flat - it's not like any vegetation is going to grow back through 3 feet of rock. As well, it is an established 3-star .12c.
So when I got back to the 'Ham, I logged onto SmithRock.com, and sure enough, according to "The Park", it is closed.
I can totally understand raptor closure, vegetation rehabilitation closure, and erosion control closure,
but none of these are the issue !
It seems they just randomly built the fence to stop below an established climb, and then call the area above "closed". According to SR.com, there weren't any volunteers to extend the fence another 10 feet and 2 switchbacks to include the area!
[/RANT]
Thoughts?