annual EJS rumors

[N-Smooth]

i have been hearing that people have to register and its like 50 bucks to run any trails during ejs and if you get in the way of the red rock guys you get ticketed. could anyone clarify these for me? i'll be down there wed 12th through sun 16th.

thanks
nate

 

[olywrestle]

QUOTING TODD ADAMS of RR4W
Trail closures for the Easter Jeep Safari to the general public

Behind the Rocks: Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Cliff Hanger; Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Gold Bar Rim: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday
Golden Spike: First Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Second Sunday
Moab Rim: First Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
Poison Spider: Fist Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Pritchett Canyon: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday

The one way trails are Hells Revenge, Kane Creek and Steel Bender

Dave Adams is the Land use officer for the Red Rock 4-Wheelers and asked the BLM about Rusty Nail during the Safari. The answer he got back was something like this… The BLM considers Poison Spider, Golden Spike, Gold Bar Rim and Rusty Nail all the same trail. What this means is that essentially if one is being run, all are closed. So the official advice is to stay clear of these the entire 9 days of Safari.

I know this is hard to hear but it is what it is and the word is that BLM and other law enforcement officers have the right to issue trespassing citations.

The BLM also said that once the permitted group is off the trail, then it is back open to the public. I will let you all decide what this means but I will say this. If a group goes out on a trial like Golden Spike a few hours early and had problems, and the official trail catches up, that group could be cited.

You can view the permit at http://www.blm.gov/utah/moab/jeep_safari_ea.html

There are plenty of pissed off people and to read some of the comments go to RME or Pirate Boards. I don’t want to continue that here all I wanted to do was to spread the word.

My own thoughts and this is not official by any means, I doubt any citations will be issued this first year of the permit that has exclusive use of trails. The Red Rock 4-Wheelers only wanted this to make a better experience for their paying participants, and are just trying to spread the word. As a trail leader I personally have had arguments on the trail blocked by other groups while leading a permitted trail and it was not enjoyable for me.

There are plenty of other trails to do the entire Safari that will not interfere with the permitted groups and for the Vendor show to be a success, the number of non Safari goers at Jeep Week need to remain. We can all get along.

Todd Adams

 

[mbryson]

http://www.rockymountainextreme.com/showthread.php?t=29272&highlight=EJS



I've seen it discussed ad nauseum almost every where I go on the interweb. Greenjeep is pretty knowledgeable about the whole process.

..........The Red Rock 4-Wheelers only wanted this to make a better experience for their paying participants, and are just trying to spread the word. As a trail leader I personally have had arguments on the trail blocked by other groups while leading a permitted trail and it was not enjoyable for me.

There are plenty of other trails to do the entire Safari that will not interfere with the permitted groups and for the Vendor show to be a success, the number of non Safari goers at Jeep Week need to remain. We can all get along.

Todd Adams

My feelings echo Todd's statements about RR4W. Why is this such a big deal to non-paying people piggybacking on the RR4W event? They have maintained relationships with land use agencies and maintained the trails in question for DECADES now. If not for their work, none of us would care about Moab area trails. Show their group a little respect for what they've done for the area.

 

[V-DAWG]

Interesting........

Not trying to continue the argument everyone is avoiding, but my guess is you could beat the citation pretty easy................

 

[toys4rocks]

Why don't you just join em and not try to beat them? Buy a registration and hang out with some really good people and get entered into the raffles by doing so.

Edit: If I am not mistaken, part of the reg fee goes to help stop land closures??

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Why don't you just join em and not try to beat them? Buy a registration and hang out with some really good people and get entered into the raffles by doing so.

Edit: If I am not mistaken, part of the reg fee goes to help stop land closures??

Agreed & your absolutely correct!

Before anyone else hops on the "6 months late and a dollar short" bandwagon, read ALL of the other threads (wether it be here, MoabJeeper, UtahOffroad, etc, etc, etc), and then decide if your argument is still worth debating.

APATHY is our sports #1 problem. In this day and age damn near every person in America has a webpage, wiki, myspace, yada, yada, yada, 12 email addresses, blueberry, text messaging, wireless coffee mugs, web parties, yada, yada, yada, up to date newsletters (U4WDA & RR4W ones comes to mind ), mailing lists, RME, PBB, UOOC, MJ, etc, etc, etc.... AND STILL WE CAN'T SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT CLOSURES, LAND USE DEALS, ETC. Sad reality!!!

 

[roktaxi]

RR4W have NO authority nor do they want the authority to give citations for ANYTHING. We are there only to advise / recommend that those who want to use that trail can do so after the REGISTERED group has returned to he point of entry. They will be given a list of alternative trails they may use. If they becomes beligerent or argumentative to the point of confontation, that person may do as he/she wishes without a citation or any other formal or informal reprimand. The only action that may be taken is if the person is obviously drunk or is drinking alcohol, they may be refered to the Sheriff via radio transmission. In the future, BLM or others may use law enforcement after assesment of this years event.

 

[tv_larsen]

Sounds fine by me. I don't think the RR4W asked for much, and if you really don't want to pay to run the trails, there are 356 other days every year to go to Moab.

 

[scoutabout]

wireless coffee mugs

We should have official U4WDA wireless coffee mugs.

 

[Seth]

I am totally fine with RR4W getting rights to the trails. The only problem I have is that you can't run with the safari if you are not street legal. We tried to register and were shot down. I was looking forward to getting to know some folks.... Maybe in the future they can accommodate buggies by offering at least one trail that we can meet at the trailhead or follow with our trailers. That is not asking too much, is it?... I will stop whining now.

 

[Todd Adams]

I am totally fine with RR4W getting rights to the trails. The only problem I have is that you can't run with the safari if you are not street legal. We tried to register and were shot down. I was looking forward to getting to know some folks.... Maybe in the future they can accommodate buggies by offering at least one trail that we can meet at the trailhead or follow with our trailers. That is not asking too much, is it?... I will stop whining now.

The reason for this is not what you think. As a trail leader I use license plates as a reference to check off participants. This number is used in tracking paying members and linked to the liability form that is signed each day by each member of the vehicle. In this way we also can assume the vehicle also carries insurance. BTW this is all the RR4W’s use it for and otherwise the list is confidential, as in only trail officials ever get to see it. I should add that the event insurance only allows street legal vehicles.
Todd

 

[Todd Adams]

i have been hearing that people have to register and its like 50 bucks to run any trails during ejs and if you get in the way of the red rock guys you get ticketed. could anyone clarify these for me? i'll be down there wed 12th through sun 16th.

thanks
nate

Nate,
As far as it goes the Moab EJS is one of the least expensive organized events in the country. Check out the prices for Sierra Trek at http://www.cal4wheel.com/sierratrek/sierrarun.html OK I admit they feed you but $110 a day per adult can buy a lot of food. The $50 is for the registration and the first days trail there after it is $25 per vehicle and $5 per person is paid by the RR4W’s to the BLM for land use fees. So you see that if there are a family of 5 in the vehicle RR4W’s don’t get a dime.
All proceeds from the event go back to the community or to keep the trials open.
Todd

 

[Seth]

I have a plate.... god bless idaho! It is no big deal. I appreciate all the hard work that goes into this event. The more money they can raise the better.

 

[JIM]

I'am going to tail gun on 3 RR4W trails this year. Anybody can jump in behind.

 

[N-Smooth]

what an interesting situation, i guess i should have just planned a different week. it sucks for me being that i am offroad only so i couldn't even register. i hope this helps out with keeping moab open cause it sucks to need to register to be able to wheel in moab like i have been for years.
even if i was able to sign up i can't even run the trails i want when i want? is it possible at all for me to sign up still?

 

[Todd Adams]

what an interesting situation, i guess i should have just planned a different week. it sucks for me being that i am offroad only so i couldn't even register. i hope this helps out with keeping moab open cause it sucks to need to register to be able to wheel in moab like i have been for years.
even if i was able to sign up i can't even run the trails i want when i want? is it possible at all for me to sign up still?

Nate,
There are two things you can do. Get a Safari newspaper when you get to town (they are all over) and simply run the trails you want by selecting the ones the official group is not on that day.

There are many trails still open for registration that you can sign up for at the registration desk from 7 am till about 9am each day. However the lottery is over and many of the trails are full.
Todd

 

[rockreligious]

Sounds fine by me. I don't think the RR4W asked for much, and if you really don't want to pay to run the trails, there are 356 other days every year to go to Moab.

I agree, I have gone to the EJS for 13 or 14 years, some years I registered and some years I did not, but I always stayed out of the way of the organized groups if I didnt register..and I believe it is important that everyone either register or avoid the trails that they are on, we go down for the big weekend, then stay the following week, if we decide to register we register for saturday and have less traffic in the later week, if we do not register we donate money to the access groups anyway. there are 365 days in the year and RR4W is doing us all a service wheter you register or not.

 

[Milner]

Really I just don't understand why people get upset. It is ONE week a year. Let RR and those that want to wheel as part of the official runs do so. If you MUST wheel Moab THAT week, it is not at all difficult to have the common courtosity to choose trails that don't have RR official runs on them. Or spend some time in area BFE (and make a donation). Wheeling IS NOT FREE ANYWHERE, and if you think it is, you are mistaken. (it takes $$ to keep land open) Grand Junction and the trails there are only an hour away.

I had participated in every EJS since I was 16 until the last few years. I started leading and gunning at 17! I lived for EJS!! Why did I stop? Not because of of RR or the format, but because of all the idiots that weren't registered making it a royal PITA to get the trail I was leading through. I had people get in my face, want to fight and even threaten to shoot at us, because it was "their land" and they had no obligation to let us by. No, they were not environmentalists, they were wheelers!! I got sick of the drunken party trail mentality that some of these groups had.
Tangent: Why is it ok to wheel drunk....YOU'RE STILL DRIVING!! Drunk driving is illegal and for good reason. I drink, but if I am drinking, I take a cab! But I guess there are a lots of people that are far better drivers after a six pack I like my reflexes sharp when I am wheeling. Sure, I have no problem with a beer or two if you want. But it seens moderation is a mystery to many people
I got sick of seeing potato salad hill turn into Daytona Beach, I got sick of people tearing up the trails because they HAD to get around the RR groups. It was/is all complete Horse $hit!!!!!!!!!! NONE of it is RR fault, they do an amazing job of helping, cleaning up, maintaining peace, and keeping trails open. BUT, they can not stop the a$$holes!!
Don't be the a$$hole!! Be kind, be courtious, choose trails wisely, and just maybe consider a different week for you wheeling vaction. OR sign up for the RR trails and support the effort.

Yes, my rig is not street legal (that may change), so I to am not elligable to sign up for EJS. I made that decission after the decission to stop attending EJS. I will be at EJS this year, but probably won't even bring the Bronco. Just there to cover the vendor's showcase and RockRace....If I do take the Bronco, it will only be to run around BFE to get pics. I prefer to wheel when it is less crowded!

 

[crimsonride]

My oppinion is let them have their week. They do a lot of work for us. If you're going to go there during ejs you might as well be registered with them, it's pretty much their event. Anyway. I'm one of the guys that prefers to go there when there's less people so I'll pass on ejs and go another week.

 

[olywrestle]

What I think is that the ones who throw the biggest fit are the ones that want to go down and be part of the "Daytona Beach" crowd, and maybe occassionaly do some wheeling.

Drinking and driving isn't acceptable, period, whether on the road or while wheeling.

I repeat others on this board when I say there are plenty of others days to go down and do some wheeling in moab and not have to deal with trail closures.

If the RR4W didn't start enforcing some kind of rules, EJS would disappear altogether. It wouldn't be that difficult for the BLM to not renew the permit. RR4W takes a lot of the brunt of the bad that happens during EJS, and almost always it is not their paying participants causing the problems. Without RR4W, the trails in Moab will disappear...and I guess if that happens it will give the whiners something else to whine about.

Bottom line. SUPPORT THE RR4W either by being a paying participant or following their simple rules over the course of a week.