Why is it that driving for several hours to a road end, tramping for several more to a hut for an overnight stay, & spending the rest of the weekend getting home again is an appealing prospect – but spending 15 minutes cleaning my boots at the end of it all is firmly in the “can’t be bothered” basket?

Does this explain why, at the first sight of mud on the track, I always have to think about it before charging straight through the middle? Surely that is what boots are designed for – and it’s definitely what those who manage the track have in mind – yet I find myself resisting getting those boots dirty…

I’m the first to admit that I am an infrequent tramper –so this problem doesn’t arise too often. But I do find myself wondering – when I finally do get around to cleaning the boots, usually just before the next tramp – why bother? They’re just going to get dirty again…

With threats like Didymo 1 , chytrid fungus 2, and the inevitable spread of hook grass & other trackside nuisances – it’s not too hard to find a reason to bother.
Shifting all that dirt, with its accompanying seeds, bacteria, fungal spores or whatever, from one bit of the country to another is not going to contribute to healthy ecosystems or make me feel any better about mud. Guess I’d better get out the scrubbing brush after all….