AF Canyon

[cruiseroutfit]

Bog Mine.

Sadly the AF Canyon is really running low on many power right now... Take pictures, closeups with registration #'s if possible.

 

[kbjames]

I'm heading up that way tommorow with a few other people. Which trail do you reccomend we do? Forest Lake or Mineral flats?

 

[Goose]

I'm heading up that way tommorow with a few other people. Which trail do you reccomend we do? Forest Lake or Mineral flats?

no need to go up forest lake trail, theres still way to much snow, if you head up towards mineral basin, all the fun rocky parts of the trail are clear of snow.

U4WDA supposedly has a trail patrol coordinator, but they have yet to organize a single trail patrol event. Maybe someone from this thread could step-in and help out in this area.

I live close to the area, I would definately be willing to help out, can some one on here tell me what I need to do to get something going?
I dont know much about this sort of thing, so any input would help.

 

[Greg]

... U4WDA supposedly has a trail patrol coordinator, but they have yet to organize a single trail patrol event. Maybe someone from this thread could step-in and help out in this area.

How about creating an RME Branch of the Trail Patrol? Members who are up AFC can volunteer to help keep the trails intact. With some of the new software options on vB, it's easy to create a user-friendly group of members for just about anything.

 

[scoutabout]

Trail Patrol is a program that's part of the State Parks & Rec dept. They do a short class (3 hours?) to discuss how/what to do. The classes are infrequent, but if a big group is organized they will hold a special training for the group. We've got a lot of informal trail patrol groups and I've found them to be completely worthless. Trail Patrol should be the focus of an excursion, not a byproduct. If there were 20-30 people in the RME Trail Patrol Unit, it only takes a few people dedicated on a Saturday to make a difference. Rotate them around to cover an area each weekend. With 30 members in the Unit, three-person teams could be organized where each person only has to do 2 patrols each season and we'd have every weekend covered. Or the Unit could rotate between AF and the Snakes or something.

I don't think being Trail Patrol certified is necessary to accomplish the objective. The SP&R has their program, but UFWDA has a program as well that is quite similar. The training is just about how to approach people and for what reason and how to collect the right information to forward it to the right authorities.

Peer enforcement is a huge potential tool for closing the "management gap" that is a contributing factor to closure. I have yet to see an extremely effective peer enforcement group because most groups are very informal about it as I noted. I'm sure there are some active Trail Patrol groups in the state but I am not aware of them.

As usual, such an undertaking requires a leader to step up, make it happen, and keep it going.

 

[Goose]

Trail Patrol is a program that's part of the State Parks & Rec dept. They do a short class (3 hours?) to discuss how/what to do. The classes are infrequent, but if a big group is organized they will hold a special training for the group. We've got a lot of informal trail patrol groups and I've found them to be completely worthless. Trail Patrol should be the focus of an excursion, not a byproduct. If there were 20-30 people in the RME Trail Patrol Unit, it only takes a few people dedicated on a Saturday to make a difference. Rotate them around to cover an area each weekend. With 30 members in the Unit, three-person teams could be organized where each person only has to do 2 patrols each season and we'd have every weekend covered. Or the Unit could rotate between AF and the Snakes or something.




that seems like a setup that would work. We deffinately need to get something going. Im sure the hard part is just getting it set up.

 

[scoutabout]

It's actually pretty easy. The real hard part is finding someone to take ownership of the project and see it through. Leading by committee is a recipe for disaster. Strong leaders need to step up in the 4x4 community if there's ever going to be a chance of protecting access long term.

 

[Tacoma]

I agree with Steve on this one-- More doers, less talkers.

 

[scoutabout]

If someone would like to step up and lead a project like this, I'm always available to help answer questions, provide advice, point out resources, help get it going, etc.