Pardon me while I rant.............
WayneXJ said:
When I was down there last year a BLM guy stopped me after I did the loop that goes up the slickrock on the right side of the trail just before the waterfall on Poison Spider. He took pictures and wrote down my liscence #, I never heard back from them though
This is a new route that was started about 4 years ago, the marked trail goes to the left. I think this topic should focus less on being caught and more about staying on designated trails. Not singling you out Wayne, I've run that line before myself.........
Thinking out loud here for a minute, humor me..........
Moab is under the microscope, with every eco-freako group imaginable peering down on, looking for any opportunity to paint the entire 4WD community as a bunch of drunken, unshaven, mullet-clad, trash droppin', drive-where-you-please, land rapers ............hmmmm, that sounds a lot like what's been observed at Safari and other bigger events in the last few years.....NO?
I guess our options are to stay away from Safari and avoid the association with a minority of yahoos that paint the majority in a bad light......or rally the troops and aggressively educate ourselves and the minority that feel the need to make their own routes and pollute the trails and care less about bad press or land closures, cause they drive where they please anyway.
I miss the obstacles that used to be viewed as open as much as the next guy........Hell's Gate being my favorite
, and I'll be the first to admit that I've not always stayed on the marked trail, occassionally taking an obvious alternate route on an obstacle that presented more of a challenge.......but for the last couple of years, I've been very pointed about where I drive and what image I'm portraying for the good of the sport and the 4WD community. I led a group of XJ's up HG a few years ago at our NAXJA event, got international mag press and we caught heat for it too..........but HG was NOT marked as closed at the time. I just hope that this didn't assist in the closure decision. :-\
We all need to adopt this mindset if we haven't already, because like it or not, the folks behind the camera's may not be just BLM employees, many are also card carrying SUWA, Sierra Club and Green party members. You may never see the ticket, but the photo could appear on the SUWA Website and in front of committee while they are lobbying for more Wilderness and trail restrictions.
And that's a fact, Jack.