Walk 2: Desire Lines

  Beginning Thoughts:

  After reading about what desire lines were, I couldn't help but think about my walk at my parents' house from walk one. There were so many desire lines from which people have wandered from the paved sidewalk into other spaces. Even reflecting on my childhood, we created a quick way to get into the wash to go to our secret fort by clearing the cacti and bushes on the main road. Instead of taking us 5-10 minutes, it now only took us 2! Now this was over 15 years ago. The fact that this space still has an opening means that something has gone through it multiple times to keep the path from slowly getting overgrown.

Desire trail at my parents' caused by me and my siblings:

The path we carved to make a quick route to the fort in the wash. 

The path looks way more developed than what we made it to be like.

The fort, hidden away from view, with small paths around it.

    This began my spiral of thought onto, well, how do paths actually become paths? Before streets were paved for cars, there was so much more freedom on how to move in a space. People carved routes based on desire, instinct, and necessity. These informal trails, worn down by repeated footsteps, speak to human intention before their strict design.

    To me, sidewalks feel too restricting. Sometimes im walking from one space to another, and taking the sidewalk will take way too long. Why shouldn't I just cut the corner and save myself the extra time and steps? Other times, it's because im seeking shade, especially given that it's over 100 degrees here in Tucson. 

Desire lines are a result of straying from that strict paved line. 

The desire to want to see more. 

The desire to feel the earth crumble beneath your shoes. 

The desire to test societal rules and embedded boundaries—which is where that trespassing idea comes into play.

My Walk:

    For walk 2, I decided to take a drive up to Sentinel Peak, a place that signals town pride. I have been up a few times: once for a project I did recently, another for an exploration of Tucson landmarks, and my mother also brought me here a few times to have a picnic back when I was younger. I have also brought a few friends who were not from Tucson up here to see the views. 

     After driving around the mountain, I decided to park my car up at the top and walk around, No destination in mind. Just walked purely to find desire trails. Since it was 108 degrees, I kept my walk shorter, especially since it was up a mountain.

The proof it was hot—scorching even.

    After seeing the desire lines, I found that they all must have a reason for being there. After thinking of all the possible reasons, I have categorized them into the topics below. 

Convenience:

One is one of convenience. Why am I going to walk all the way around just to get to my car when I could just walk across the dirt? It's faster to just cut through the dirt to make a path that doesn't take the extra 30-45 seconds. 

Desire paths from the parking lot to the street. 

More desire paths cutting to the parking lot. 

Leisure/Comfort/Safety:

Another is one of leisure, comfort, and safety. I'd prefer to move slightly off the path to keep myself somewhat sheltered from the sun, or sometimes im walking with two other people, and we all can't fit on the sidewalk next to each other. Other times, the road im walking on is incredibly thin. As cars pass, I need to move out of the way to make sure i'm safe. 

Gravel to the right looks worn down, probably from people moving away from cars. 

Brush and rocks look pushed around to the left of the bench. Probably to get away from the heat or to see the memorials. 

Discovery:

Lastly, we have discovery. People stray away from roads to get swallowed up by nature. To explore. To be where roads take them, to take a 'road less traveled by'. Whether these trails were intentional by someone who paved them or made by the regular people with the desire to explore, they have, over time, changed to be much more than what they are, adding multiple runoff trails, wider openings, etc. 

 

Beginning of trail. 

Two paths leading off the original entrance.

Another trail leading off the main trail. 

Original trail I walked.

A run-off path up higher. It probably goes to the top of the A.

Another picture of my walk up the mountain. 

I wanted to touch the A since I never have. 

(I didnt realize it was possible until a few years ago.)

    This walk made me wonder, how were these lines started? Did someone decide to make the trail, or did so many people come up here that over time it became a trail? I'm sure there's a clear answer with some research, but It was just a thought that came to my mind.

    If you didn't know, The A on top of Senteniel peak was created in 1914 after a victorious win against Pomona College. It was a U of A student on the Team who proposed the idea in his civil engineering class who got the ball rolling on the idea. He, alongside other students, lugged rocks up on horses. So now the question is, were they the reason the lines were formed? Or is it purely because of humans' natural curiosity that the lines have formed?

Other Discoveries:

    It kind of blew my mind at how trashed the peak was. I was walking off one of the main paths and saw a cool sculpture, which reminded me of Andy Goldsworthy's work, when I noticed all the glass and trash. I'm sure someone comes up occasionally to clean the surrounding area, but it made me feel incredibly disappointed in how we can inhabit a place and completely destroy it. Being the random collector of things, I really wanted to stay and pick a few of the shattered glass pieces to make something. I couldn't due to time and the heat, but it would have been cool to tumble or make it into a mosaic. It's like it was screaming at me to take it home as it glistened in my face. Maybe I'll come back up here for my final project to do something with it. 

 

Shattered glass. There was so much, but this is a small portion of it. 

The path that led me to find the glass (left side of the pink outline of my walk map).

What made me stop—there was a desired line towards a cool stack of rocks. 

The stack of rocks on a big rock which made me think of Andy Goldsworthy's work.