I live on East 2nd Avenue between 32nd and 24th streets. I do a daily loop walk on the Animas River Trail. All has been well with this all summer. Now, school has begun, and suddenly Durango High School has many students (with a teacher) walking this walk every day. I am totally OK with that, except they are totally disregarding COVID 19 guidelines.
The trail is 6 feet wide in much of this loop, so if one is encountering someone going the other way, it is barely possible to maintain a safe social distance of 6 feet. These students and teachers are totally disregarding this guideline. They are literally walking as a horde, and take over the entire trail, sometimes leaving a foot or so for oncoming hikers, sometimes less. About half of the students are wearing masks, the rest are carrying them.
Someone once said, “If the learner hasn’t learned, the teacher hasn’t taught.” 9-R should be teaching good hygiene right now and it is failing.
Jerry BrownDurango
