Troy Section: Wright Brothers Memorial Issue & Interesting Find

[Captain Blue]

Today I did trail maintenance in Dayton around Wright Brothers Memorial in Dayton. The trail from Wright Brothers Memorial to Springfield Street is in bad shape. It will be tough going for a short section. I got some of the trail re-opened near Springfield Street. But the path heading down the hill from the Wright Brothers Memorial is choked with honeysuckle and has a few blow downs. The good news is that I was able to locate the trail leaving the memorial. The opening in the woods should be much easier to spot from the overlook as I did some pruning there.

While maintaining the trail on the hill near the Wright Brothers Memorial I discovered two marijuana plants. The two marijuana plants were in separate pots and hung in a tree. They were placed in an area with a massive fallen tree. Presumable this spot was chosen since the fallen tree was letting sunlight into the dense woods.

I reported the find to the National Park Service people at the Huffman Prairie Flying Field Interpretive Center. They told me to call the Wright Patterson Air Force Base security as the area is on Air Force property. Four young, short haired, armed men in military uniforms and berets responded in very little time. I led two of the men to the spot where the marijuana plants were. They removed them. They were nice guys and cracked lots of jokes. None of them knew about the Buckeye Trail. They took turns posing with the plants while a buddy took a photo of them with their smartphones. I was "detained" for about 45 minutes while a report was filled out. They took down my name, address, phone, SSN and place of birth. They asked why I was on military property and who my sponsor was. I had to handwrite my description of events on the report and sign it under oath with a witness present. I was told to remain on base property for another 15 minutes while an investigator determined whether it was worth his time to interview me. The investigator declined and I was free to go. I was glad the investigator did not show up as I was wearing a Buckeye Trail hat. I did not want to explain to him why the Buckeye leaf on our logo looks sort of like a marijuana leaf.

(Note to self: Next time inform Air Force base security ahead of time that I will be doing trail maintenance.)

[Pioneer Spirit]

I've walked that twice and got lost the first time.  Other than the big tree being down, I had no problem crossing over the hill.  (The first time heading east.) I had trouble after the railroad bridge where you are supposed to jump over the ditch.   There was no markings and some of the RR ballast was painted blue so I walked down the tracks for awhile.

After crossing the hill and the great big yard, there was no visible marker leading you under the bridge.  I walked around the fence and went down the sidewalk where I encountered a ADT marker on top of the bridge.  I followed the bike trail for a bit before turning around.  I lost almost an hour looking for the trail here.

We headed west this spring across the same area and I had no problems at all. 

[paveltul]

it is good to know that this stretch of BT is maintained. To bad it was as after I hiked this section. I could not find the path west from the memorial and had to go out through the gate and then follow the bike path.. Maybe I should re- hike this section, since I did not follow the actual BT there.

[rastaredneck]

 ....interesting find indeed, dude! I bet those nasty plants were put there by terrorists  and certainly not any of the fine young folk that are connected to the USAF!!

Anyhow, didn't you find it strange that they didn't know of the Buckeye Trail? Maybe you guys should move it off of US Military property since you are trying to promote use and all? I can only speak for myself but I don't think too many people want to be detained and interrogated...or sent to Guantanamo, for hiking!